Bremerton’s Bree Schaaf culminated her first full season as a bobsledder with an impressive fifth-place finish at the 2010 Winter Olympics at the Whistler Sliding Centre in Whistler, B.C. Schaaf returned to the Canadian track last week to begin preparations for the World Cup opener on Thanksgiving Day. I talked to Bree during training at Park City, Utah, and she was in the process of getting herself jazzed for the season.
As you can imagine, coming off an Olympic year, it’ s not as easy to get motivated this time around for a lot of the winter sports athletes. But Schaaf, now 30, is still a relative newcomer to the sport and she’s excited about her chances of a high finish on the World Cup. She ended up No. 9 a year ago. Bree teamed with Emily Azevedo, her Olympic brakeman, to win an America’s Cup race in Park City, Utah, last week.
Bree spent part of her summer in South Africa, trading in all of her miles to volunteer for two weeks on a game reserve for Wildlife Act. Look for a story on Bree in the next day or two.
For those of you who might want to drive to Whistler to watch the races, tickets are $10 and are available at the Whistler Visitor Information Center. You can also call (1-800-WHISLTER (944-7853). Kids 6 and under are free, but still need to obtain a ticket. If you’re a skier or a snowboarder, the conditions should be great for this early in the year.
