Kitsap at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver

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Men’s Giant Slalom and Women’s Bobsled all in one day. Both of the events had elements of speed and finesse. Each of them had their own flavor and were unforgettable experiences.

The Men’s GS involved a total of 103 skiers. The earlier you went on the hill, the better the snow conditions. After the course had been run a few times, the ruts started to form on the course, causing difficulties in the mixture of control and speed. Since this was an event where the combined time of two runs were added, the more competitive skiers were scheduled to run first.

We decided rather than be stuck in the front of the crowd we would hang back and watch the skiers with some space around us. We were very glad we did since the international flavor of the crowd really brought a sense of global unity to the event. The combination of the giant (maybe 18″ around and 24″ tall) bells of the Swiss fans ringing and all the international flags waving really rang home the variety of countries all the skiers represented. Many of the skiers were not going to win, but the thrill of just simply competing (and hopefully finishing) an event was enough reward for years of training. Towards the end of the skiers, skills diminished, the snow was worse and times slowed. The announcers encouraged the crowd to welcome the athletes efforts and we responded in a big way.

We made a family decision to leave between runs. The snow was clearly falling in the distance, two hours of waiting was ahead of us for the second runs and we wanted to enjoy the bobsled to cheer on Bree Schaaf. After a nice warm up, lunch and coffee break back in the condo, we caught the bus into town. We thought the buses would be slow and packed, but quite quickly we were in Whistler Village.

We arrived at the venue with plenty of time and totally bewildered about where to stand. See the speed in turns 15 and 16, see the curves in the middle of the course or see the start? After discussing, debating and a few false stops we decided to stand on curve 15, in an indent where the pedestrian underpass allowed fans to be about 2′ from the track. We had a sweeping view of the whole curve 16 area and a great place to watch the crowd. We also could watch a screen showing the upper part of the race, and the pre-race live band. During this time we found we had picked the fastest part of the course.

Click for video USA 3 start, run 2 The first sleds to run the course are called forerunners. The did flash a notice about them being in track, but all we heard was this rattle ratlle whoosh as they went by us! These weren’t even the competitors. Once the 21 competitors sleds started, we watched the screen and knew when to watch them swoosh by while turning quickly towatch their progress through turn 16. I tried to take photos, and realized fairly quickly that at the speeds they were travelling quality shots were going to be panning shots as they slid by at nearly 90 miles an hour, 2 feet away, or as they came through turn 16. I had fun, but it was much better to watch in awe. The mixture of speed, steering and physical ability to get the sled moving really showed the athleticism of these women.

Between runs we elected to walk up to the starting house. I think a lot of people had the same idea. The lines were huge and we saw a variety of sled sliding by us on the slope. We arrived near the top just as Bree Schaaf and Emily Azevedo were starting their push and we watched them slide down in front of  us. There was a small set of bleachers to stand on while we watched the sleds being readied and we saw several sleds being pushed.

After a trip back to the condo we watched the bobsled on TV, ate a nice dinner and rested. After all, we are on vacation at the Olympics!

Dave Neault

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