Kitsap at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

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It was 3:30 a.m., and I stood at the front of the line, watching a packed gondola head up the mountain without me. The good news: My mom and I had each received one of 100 daily complimentary tickets the Today show is offering its morning viewers who come out to see the show in Vancouver. (The price is typically $45 per person.) The bad news: We were told there were only 100 seats inside the chalet, and with the capacity-filled gondola disappearing into the distance as it sailed higher, chances were slim that an inside spot would be ours.

Just happy to have a ticket in hand, we settled for being the first two in line on the next ride up. As the gondola arrived but the gate didn’t open, word started to spread that a Today show correspondent was on the way, and we’d hold until the person arrived. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of the mystery person and exclaimed, “That’s Jenna Bush!” Most of the crowd didn’t react, as most weren’t American, but I got to stand just feet away from the former president’s daughter on the ride, and she was sweet enough to take a photo with me, despite the ungodly hour.

At the top of Grouse Mountain, located in North Vancouver, the Today show has set up shop for the duration of the Olympics, and they were just beginning the morning’s broadcast when we arrived. Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Al Roker, Ann Curry, and Natalie Morales were all there, along with Jenna Bush Hager, Kristi Yamaguchi, and a few other guests. Because the crowd of people ready to line up at 3 a.m. and stand in the snow is considerably smaller than the typical gathering outside the New York studio, the show had a small, intimate feel, and we were able to talk to the hosts during commercial breaks and get pictures, autographs, and signed scripts. They were all incredibly nice, but Ann Curry was especially friendly, stopping to have conversations with fans and even giving away her hand warmers when she spotted someone who looked cold.

My sign made it on TV lots of times, including about an hour into the show when a cameraman asked if my mom and I wanted to be on camera and set up a shot coming back from commercial break where it opened with us waving. My mom also got plenty of face time, as she was clearly visible near the end the show during an interview with Ann Curry and Kristi Yamaguchi. Although she hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of getting only a couple of hours of sleep and making the trek in the first place, she was soon on the phone with pretty much everyone she knew, urging them to tune in. (I sang a few bars of Dashboard Confessional’s “Vindicated” to her after the trip, but I don’t think she was appreciative…)

Not having access to the chalet didn’t matter, as they ended up doing virtually the entire show outdoors, and no one on that first gondola we narrowly missed got inside, either, so it all worked out (and we got the bonus celeb sighting). Not even a few almost slips on the ice or my hour and 45 minutes of sleep dampened my spirits. All in all, it was a great experience to be able to see live a show I watch most mornings, and we were even back in time for breakfast — it isn’t often that you get a full day in before the sun even rises.

– Haley Shapley

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There are a few things in life that I’m really bad at: eating food with weird textures, mailing things in a timely manner, making major decisions without the help of a pro-con list, and waking up in the morning. (All right, there are more than a few things, but let’s start with those.) So what compels me to wake up at 2:15 a.m. and head to Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver to stand in the audience of the Today show is a bit of a mystery. Because the show airs live on the East Coast, it begins at 4 a.m. here in Pacific time, with tickets handed out at 3:30 a.m. My mom isn’t exactly thrilled with the idea: In her words, “it would be easier to fly to New York and stand in the audience there.” I disagree (and have been in the New York audience before, anyway), so off we’ll go.

It’s after midnight as I type this, so I’m looking at a solid, um, hours and 45 minutes of sleep. If you happen to be watching the show Monday morning, look for me in the crowd — I’ll look something like the picture at the right, just with a lot more layers.

– Haley Shapley

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