Day 9: Super-G!

On Friday we had yet another early morning of getting on the bus, this time we were headed further north to the Whistler Creekside for some Men's Super-G action. This was the one big ticket event Dina really wanted to see that we weren't able to get through the ticket lotto system. So we bought these tickets (along with the half-pipe) through the scalper site Stubhub (or as they put it, 'where fans buy and sell tickets'. . . . right. . . . .) We had stadium seats for this event so we had a great place in the centre of the stands to relax and enjoy the gorgeous alpine scenery of the Whistler resort while basking in the sunshine that warmed the fans from the chilly night. I started the morning off in my snowboard pants and jacket and by the beginning of the race I was down to my turtleneck and Dina was down to a T-shirt. That morning I felt like it was a sausage and o.j. morning with side of twix, I'm starting to get used to this ridiculous junk food breakfast! Luckily with the amount of walking Dina and I have been doing, I haven't been very concerned. I love cold weather and how you can eat a ton :)

The Men's Super-G, which stands for Super Giant Slalom is one of my favorite events in the alpine series. It's the combo of speed and gates. When I was a racer in high school I loved racing the Giant Slalom, but for whatever reason I was better at the regular slalom. I would have loved to have this event in the high school series (I'm guessing that we didn't have enough 'mountain' at Mt. Brighton to stage such a race).

When I was a kid, one of my ski heros was the italian, Alberto Tomba, who whenever he raced, it the crowds went wild and it was known as 'Tomba Time'. There must have been some sort of human interest story about him, since his name sticks in my memory so vividly. I believe it showed him partying, skiing, a little motorcycling, and basically whatever else he wanted. Even as a kid that ski bum lifestyle spoke to me. . . . . . . .

I also have great memories of Tommy Moe and Picaboo Street at the Lillehammer games who really influenced my ski race efforts in high school. There is something about alpine racing that really brings out the competitor in me; there are days even today when I go skiing that I just get the itch to do some gates. I'll usually beg whoever is skiing with me to go do the little NASTAR race course at whatever hill I'm at just so I can get my racing fix. One of my great everyday dreams is to live near a ski area again and race in a wednesday night beer league (aka: race some gates, then go back to the chalet and eat and drink and talk about how awesome you were that day on the hill). Watching the athletes do the course inspection really made me want to race.

Since Dina and I got to the race a bit early, we had plenty of time to do the spectator

sport of people watching. The clear fans (other than the Canadians), were the the Swiss, who had a strong showing that included a group that carried giant bells complete with bell supporting lederhosen harnesses. When they rang the bells they had to rock their entire body and the bells created a really different sort of drone clanging noise that was very distinct. You could really tell when a Swiss skier was on the course. Another strange fan was this crazy women who was dressed as a goat woman? Apparently she as some sort of animal interpretive dancer, very weird (but oddly I think I've seen her at some other sport event I've been to. . . . )

The race itself started with the commentators talking about two sections of the course called the 'Toilet bowl' and 'the Weasel'. The toilet bowl came first and had the skiers pick up some speed and it seemed to really toss the skiers around. It then fed into the Weasel section which was a hard turn to make if you weren't is perfect control coming out of the bowl. A lot of skiers lost their chance of a completing the course let alone going for a medal. An early time was set by the American skier Andrew Weibrecht, which wasn't touched until the 'reformed bad boy' as he is now known, Bode Miller came down the mountain and edged him out for the top position. At this point it was a wait-and-see period for Team USA to see if the rapidly warming snow would allow anyone else to go faster. And the the big Norwegian, Aksel Lund Svindal took the lead by 0.28 seconds. The Norway fans went crazy as the time held for the Gold and the Swiss fans (the event favorites) had to endure the disappointment of being shut out of a medal by the Americans.

About 10 skiers after Aksel, there was an unusual accident at the very bottom of the course (most competitors if they went out did so in the Toilet bowl or Weasel) with a Swedish skier and the course had to be shut down for about 45 minutes. During that time, the course warmed up and all the slightly soft spots at the top and the entire bottom of the course seemed to melt and become fat-kid slush snow. Everyone who went after the accident didn't have a chance on the spring snow conditions that plagued the course. The leaders were sent to hang out in the athletes' tent to wait for the others to run the course. There was no fear of an overtaker as the times climbed at the temperature did.

Dina and I stayed for all 64 racers and decided to stick around for the flower ceremony even as other fans started to leave. Canadian medal hopeful Erik Guay was 4th, so the Canadian fans were a bit disappointed. I was happy for my boy Bode and the little known Weibrecht. As we were leaving we walked around a bit and I happened to be in the right spot at the right time to get a chance to get a picture of the Champion Askel Lund Svindal. Right at that moment I decided I had a new boyfriend. I mean seriously, look at how cute and tall he is!

Downhill skiing events are one of those things that I think is almost better to watch at home than at the event. While in the stands we only saw the last 5 turns of the race, most of which was an easy tuck home. The rest of the time we watched a big screen that showed the upper parts. Dina speculated that we should have just gotten ski passes for the mountain and tried to watch somewhere along the top of the course where you could see the difficult Weasel or Toilet bowl portions and then been able to ski the rest of the day since we were up there. I had to agree, although how would I have gotten to sit in the sun and eat junkfood all day? Skiing Whistler myself will have to wait for another day and another adventure. When can I get back there? I want to be like Aksel :)

Day 8: Ladies Half-Pipe Throwdown!

On Thursday I got to go to the sport that is a more recent passion of mine: Snowboarding. I have no ‘when I-was-a-kid-I-dreamed-of-being-a-snowboarder’ type story for this one, mainly because when I was quite young, the sport didn’t exist in the mainstream. One Christmas my parents had gotten us kids one of the early snowboards that resembled more of a mono-ski with a tip in front (no metal edges) than anything like what you see in today’s modern boards. I think it was mainly used as a makeshift sled when all the other better sleds were in use.

My little sister Katriina (Triina) was the first one to reject the amped out ski race

culture that I was all about and give the more laid-back and chill sport a try. Triina is the one who got the passion of the board in me. I was back from college for the holidays and was helping her make an elephant piñata for her high school Spanish class. Triina had made plans to go snowboard that night, but was not done with her project as she had hoped and her friends came to the house trying to persuade her to come out. My mom, who knew the value that the piñata had on Triina’s Spanish grade, insisted that she stay home and finish the pachyderm instead of going out. She was however willing to compromise; she sent me with them as a substitute. Triina’s friends taught me to board that night and I’ve been hooked ever since.

I’m not much of a rider, that is Triina’s domain, and I don’t have the free-ride passion for doing steeps or back-country riding like I do for skiing. My snowboard focus is the Half-pipe. I just love the thought of doing jumps and spins while going down the mountain pipe. If I were a kid today, that is where you could find me on the hill. (FYI, Best kiddie half-pipe to learn on? Crested Butte, CO)

So when it came time for Dina and I to put ticket requests in the lottery rounds, it was my number one pick: Ladies Half-pipe. This also happened to be just about everyone else’s top pick too, as we lost every round of the ticket lottery and didn’t get any in our attempts. This was one of the few big ticket items I was ready to pay the scalper fees to go see.

The Thursday morning that we went out to Cypress

Mountain was a sunny glorious morning with clear skies. All fears of the warm weather that had been plaguing some of the other events were put to rest; the clear skies meant the night had been cold and the pipe was solid. Dina and I had a late night over at the Swiss house, so he was in rough shape and I went ahead of him to the event. I had my now usual pizza and o.j. breakfast and just relaxed as I watched the girls take their practice rounds before the start of the qualification round.

Our seats were worth every penny of the scalper price. We were almost directly center and right next to the reserved seats that were for the athlete’s families (Team Bleiler was right across from us). And the Ladies? They were amazing! This was my first time seeing a half-pipe competition in real life and was amazed how high they got up in the air for all the jumps.

The qualification round was by far the best part of the competition. All the girls did amazing routines that contained a collection of frontsides and backsides and grabs and crazy rotations with numbers going well into 2-3 revolutions. I was so pumped up! I felt just like a little kid and I wanted so bad to get out there and try some myself! The qualification round had the top ladies that I was cheering for: Kelly Clark, Hannah Teeter, Gretchen Bleiler, and Torah Bright all in the top five. Those girls went straight to the Finals while the remaining ones had to fight it out for the remaining 6 spots that

would be decided in the semi-finals. It was literally an entire day dedicated to the half-pipe.

The semi-finals had the Canadian’s hometown girl, Nicole Mercedes

boarding that kept the fans pretty happy. In addition to Team Bleiler, there were quite a few American fans out there to support our ladies as well as Torah Bright’s whole family that came to support here. It was so fun being so close to the families and see all their banners, and flag, and bibs, that they had to support their athlete.

The Finals were the only slightly disappointing part of the competition. It seemed like the excitement of the Olympics got to everyone and there were a lot of falls. I love the fact that so many of the girls were going all out and

going big, but when you fall, it knocks you out of the running for any of the medals. It’s the catch-22 of the sport. Go big and possibly fall or play it safe and go home with a medal since everyone else fell. . . . . . Dina was more upset about the falls than I was, but that is part of the philosophy of snowboarding that I love. Snowboarding is a throwdown. Its not about the medals, its about going out and spitting out the biggest, sickest, most gnarly run possibly and hope it pans out. Sometimes you go big and lose it like Gretchen Bleiler did. And sometimes you hit it perfect like Torah Bright. She brought out all her best tricks and came down a Champion. I love a good throwdown! Congrats to the Aussies! Oy! Oy! Oy!

Day 6 and 7: Hockey Nights in Canada

The Canadians love hockey. They love it more than curling, more than snowmobiling, ice fishing, or any other completely stereotypical Canadian activity you can think of. They may even love it more than beer, although those two generally go together so its hard to say. The Canadians love hockey so much that they named and dedicated an entire evening every week of the season, just to celebrate the sport. ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ was a staple sports event on the television at the Ketola house brought to us on the Canadian channel CBC. In the past they used to be the official Olympic carrier for the Canadian Olympics. getting to watch on the channel instead of CBS or NBS is just one of the perks of living near the border. (Incidentally, if you do live near the border, watch the Olympics on CTV, they do a WAY WAY WAY better job of covering the events than NBC. NBC coverage of the Olympics sucks. Always has, probably always will.)

After my most excellent day of watching curling what could be a better way to end the night? Why with a little Olympic first round hockey of course! Dina and I did some double duty event hopping that night. After we finished watching curling, it was such a beautiful sunny day that we decided to skip the bus and just walk on home. The weather for the last few days had been phenomenal with blue skies, temps in the 50s, and sunshine that would make even Floridians jealous. The city of Vancouver is surrounded by gorgeous, snow capped mountains so the views of the skyline against them makes for a fantastic walk home. Along the way we stopped at a steak house to get some delicious Canadian beef and fresh salmon, a perfect meal to build on for the coming night.

Our first hockey night in Canada was between the powerhouse Russia (backed by some names that would be familiar to Red Wings fans) against the underdog Latvians. For this game Dina and I were the very last row up in the stadium (seats were still quite good) so we got a full view of the Russian and Latvian fans going to town. And by the Latvian fans I meant the Canadians who were clearly rooting for the tiny republic. This was evident when the place went wild whenever the Latvians got close to scoring or a good check was done. Both sides booed when the cameraman found a lone USSR flag being waved around. That guy didn’t put it back up the rest of the game. No commies allowed at this hockey game.

Overall that game was one of holding off the inevitable ~which was a Russian win. The Latvians simply didn’t play to the same level that the Russians did. Both sides were plagued with penalties, so it was power play after power play alternating sides (although there were a few more for the Latvians out of sheer frustration). I chalk up the difference to the rules and ice size that favors the NHL players vs the Europeans (Bigger ice, similar rules, etc). I speculate that on the big ice with international rules things may have been closer than the score of 8-2 revealed.

The next day was the game I was really excited for: the Finland vs Belarus game. This is mainly due to the fact that rarely do I get a chance to root for the motherland Finland. Cheering and seeing the other Finland-freaks was clearly the best part of the game for me. I had my Finnish flag, my blue and white tank top, and most importantly my flag painted cowbell. Even better was that the person sitting next to me was another 1^st generation Finn Joel on the Canadian side and his cool flag-waving wife Cindy. Across the crowd there were several Finnish groups that had fun hats and various body

paint, even Santa Claus came to cheer the team on. There were so many blue and white fans that we got to chant “Suomi” with the whole stadium (that is ‘Finland’ in Finnish for you non-Finns out there). The Canadians were clearly split on who to cheer for and seemed to just clap for good play in general (that and I was told that Sami Salo plays for the Vancouver Canucks).

Overall it was a good game with the main lot of scoring and assists done by the NHL

players (Such as Red Wing youngster Filpulla and Duck’s Selanne). This game had no excessive penalties or bad play. For the first period and a half it was a pretty even game. After that it seemed like the Finns had worn out the Belarusians and the inevitable went again and Finland added another win to their round robin score. It was such a fun time! I hope the Finland vs Sweden game goes well!

Day 6: Curling! (Or what a day that was!)

I have some sort of unusual fascination with the sport of curling. I'm not sure what originally did it; if it was the first time I curled at Winter Carnival when they added it as an event or if it was the watching it at the Lambda Chi house while eating mealplan during the Salt Lake City games. Or perhaps it was the highly amusing Canadian curling movie, "Men with Brooms" that is so great, or perhaps it is the shear fact that it is the only sport I can think of that has it in the rules that you can play and drink on the ice at the same time. Or the fact that Mrs. DeBruyne, my neighbor looked exactly like the late women's curling champion and 1998 Olympic gold medalist Sandra Schmirler (my personal curling hero). Or it could be the fun that is just throwing stones and getting to yell at people to broom "HARD!!!!!" all while keeping a straight face. I don't know, all I know is that I Love curling!So when I got to sit in the third row right in front of the Canadian women's house for the round robin competition and watch the USA, Sweden, Denmark, Swiss, Japan, Germany, and Russian ladies curl at the same time. . . . .Wow, what a day that was!

First of all, the curling rink not only served the usual beer,

wine, sausage, and sandwiches but they also served sushi and wait for it. . . . . . . . Canadian version of Cornish Pasties! Differences between them and UP-style? They have the same main ingredients (beef & potatoes) but they taste a little bit different, like it was more beef stew-y inside. I still put ketchup on it and it was delicious. Mmmmmm pasties. . . .

Inside the rink, (which after the Olympics will be converted into a community centre) had 4 sheets (curling surfaces) separated by some very official looking carpet. We were so lucky to get such great seats; not only in location, but also by the fact that we were surrounded by hardcore canadian fans who knew the game inside and out. At first I didn't know which game to watch since all 4 were taking place at the same time and the fact that I enjoy listening to the commentary that they have on the TV that tells me what specific strategy is going on. I was for a moment overwhelmed, but then I started listened to the surrounding commentary by the old guys behind me and the zealous guy next to me. Between those two conversations I had all the insight I needed to really enjoy the game. I even got to learn some new curling terminology that I had heard, but I guess never quite understood what it meant. The old guys were a wealth of knowledge, once again, I felt so lucky. The fans out there were crazy into the game and a bit more rowdy that I had anticipated (but then again, this is the Olympics, so things are extra exciting). Everyone seemed to have a cheer for the game they were watching, even the international fans got into it. My favorite is by a swedish fan, "We are blue we are yellow, we are anything but mellow". So corny, but so full of enthusiasm! You just have to love it.

With all my new found knowledge, I was now prepared (or at least guided) to be able

to watch all 4 games at the same time. I knew which game to pay attention to when, who was trying to do what, and who was in position to score the most points. It was so awesome, I totally feel like I can now say that I am a true fan (vs an enthusiast).

The Canadian women were playing the very tough Swiss team and most of the rink was cheering for them. There was a small but vocal American crowd that was cheering for the USA ladies who were battling the Japanese. Through out the games there were intermittent, 'Go Canada' and much quieter 'Go USA' cheers. Some guy even had a blowhorn that played the first line of the 'Star Spangled Banner' and 'Yankee Doodle' that was let loose after a key American point

or stone was placed. Most of the time though, the cheering was for Canada and the fierce curling battle that they put on. When the Canadians finally won the final end and the Swiss conceded defeat, the place erupted and people started to stand up. However there was one game still going on and that was between the Japanese and the USA and that one was a nail biter. The USA was down by a point, but had the possibility to tie it up in the 10th end. After the final stone was thrown it was so close, they had to call for the special measuring device that figures out which stone is closest to the button. It was completely silent in the rink as everyone waited for the results: USA or Japan. . . . . . .

Well, it turned out to be Japan. No luck for the Americans. What impressed me was that there was no comment from the canadian fans other than, 'Well, that was a great curl, it came to down to the stick!' I just love the gracious sportsmanship of all the fans out here at the Olympics, its truly inspiring. I can't wait till I get the chance to sit with the curling fans again and see what more I can learn about the sport!

Day 5: Pavilions

Monday was our one 'day off' of going to an event. Which was great since after all the early mornings, little sleep, and a few nights of drinking, we were ready for a rest! So what do you do when you are taking a break from watching the games? You go to the Pavilions that are located all over the city. These pavilions are meant to highlight the country/province that they represent so they usually have some sort of educational/tourism aspect of it as well as the most important part: food and beer. Going to Pavilions is like doing Senior Walk at Epcot (pub-crawl for you non-MTU people), you come for the entertainment, but you stay for the beer.

We are lucky that we live a few steps away from several ones. Right across from the condo is the Russian Pavilion, which is huge! They went full out and rented the entire Vancouver Science Centre to highlight their country and the location of the 2014 Winter Games: Sochi, Russia. We got there a little after noon and the place already had a huge line that took about 20 minutes to go through security but then you were in. I learned all sorts of things about Sochi (they build cars there and its a resort city near the black sea). I also learned other previously unknown things like, the Russians really like hockey (that seemed to be the only sport they highlighted despite them having a large figure skating tradition). They also had really pretty Russian ladies all over the place to clarify any questions you might have. . . . Yes the Russian pavilion was apparently for the men: hockey and ladies. (although none of the bars were open when we got there, it may have been to early)

So if Russia was for the men, then the Saskatchewan which featured the Canadian Mounties was for the ladies (two good-looking mounties available for your photo

opportunity pleasure). They had a cool small bubble dome that had all the info about Saskatchewan like they are a leader in potash and lentil production. Also Saskatoon seems like it might be a cool place to visit and not just because the name is fun to say. Right after the that tent is the other tent which has the live bands playing all night and the food and beverages. (they have buffalo burgers and berry tarts as well as local Saskatchewan beer and wine) We got to make some new Canadian friends as we danced out to some fun Ska band one night (US pairs figure skaters were out there kicking up their heals as well. . . . .they did a cool lift on the dance floor, pretty awesome!)

The Quebec house is right next door. The have an open air building that is there for the sole purpose of being a party palace. The Quebec house is all about the music. They have a fantastic live stage setup with great local Quebec bands every night - the line in the evenings has been pretty long to get into this place, so you have to get there early! You can get great Quebec wines and cheeses at their food and beverage station as well as fancy sandwiches (the duck and camembert is supposed to be delicious).

The Ontario house and the Canada Hockey house is another one that is right outside

our condo. They have the same winning combination: beer and entertainment. The lines outside this place have been incredible. Dina and I have plans to hit them up later in the week. Other houses that we plan to hit up this week are the other Canadian province houses that are located further into the city. We also are going to hit up the 2 German houses, the Swiss house, Irish house, and the ever famous Heineken house that is located right outside the speedskating oval (I love the Orange fans!). The USA house is apparently not open to the public (but they have a gift shop? Lame USA, lame).

In addition to the Pavilions, there are several 'livecity' locations where the city has set

up nightly live music stages (Wilco opened them on Sat) in some of the parks and squares around town. There are also many pedestrian areas that they closed the roads and have let the people take to the streets to run around and celebrate. The Canadians with their success in the men's moguls, snowboarding, and the hockey have kept the streets painted red with maple leafs. The excitement level has been running on high since the winning of the golds and its likely to continue through the next two weeks. The Canucks have set up one heck of a party and they intend to be the belle of the ball if they can help it. Being in the middle of the action with everyone in such great spirits has helped make my Olympic experience that much better. Go Canada! And let the good times roll!!!

Day 4: Nordic Combined

If Saturday was the absolute most miserable weather for spectators, then Sunday felt like it was dream. There was no rain, no sleet, no wind, and there was plenty of food and space. It was such a relief! Dina and I had a few hours of sleep before we had to get up to Whistler Creekside (we got home from the moguls even at midnight, then had to be at the shuttle at 5:30, meaning we got up around 4:30am) The shuttle ride to Creekside was so nice, we had the roomy tour buses (vs the city/shuttle buses), so we were able to get some much needed sleep the ~2 hours that it took to get out there for the 10am competition start time.

Whistler is absolutely beautiful! To get to the site you get to hike up a gentle trail that leads you through the trees, over a beautiful creek and up to the mountain. Along the way, we passed a few art exhibits such as a totem pole carver and a snow sculpture team from Saskatchewan. We talked snow building and I admired his case of tools.

The venue itself was put together so much better than the Cypress one. After we got

there we immediately bought some rain gear in

hopes that Murphy's Law would thus keep the rain away (if you have rain gear, you won't need rain gear. . . . .) After that we also got some food since Cypress had run out (although that wasn't a concern at this site, since it seemed to be so much better prepared) I had o.j. and a sausage while Dina had salmon chowder - yes, the breakfast of champions at 8am. We got a fantastic spot along the fence, right where the athletes walk pass to go back up the mountain. There was one round of practice/warm-up jumps, so all 45 men went past us. I got to see a whole lot of ski jumping that day!

The crowd was different this day, there were a lot of clear international groups there as well as the Canadians. There was a strong German and Swiss crowd there as well as the Norwegians and my people, the Finns. The finnish people tend to have a strong showing in ski jumping every year and this year they were on top. Janne Ryynaenen flew an amazing 105 meters down the mountain and earned a 34 second lead in the cross-country portion of the nordic combined with the closest competitor being an American Todd Lodwick.

The corss-country venue was a different location so we had to do a small hike to the stadium where that took place. While we waited, I did a little pin trading with a fellow finn as well as get a great spot up on the hill directly parallel to the starting line. During this time the sun came out again and it people relished in its warmth. The kids were running around sliding on their backs down the hill, the people were in a festive mood, and the food lines weren't long at all. It sort of reminded me of the atmosphere of a ski town party at the base of the mountain.

Going into the cross-country portion of the race, I figured that all the excitement was finished since the ski jumping was over, and a half minute lead made it seem like the gold was in the bag for the Finn and a silver for the Americans. Oh, how I was wrong. . . . The 10km race was crazy exciting! The lead position changed like 5-7 times in a race that was only 25 minutes. At the first lap, Janne kept the lead and only lost 10 seconds to Todd who was working hard to catch up. Then on the second lap the Finn fell!

And lost all 26 seconds! Soon he was second behind Todd. Then on the next lap there was some sort of scramble and a Japanese guy came out of nowhere and took the lead, then another half lap later there was another scramble and he was gone, the American and Finn were gone and they were replaced by another group of skiers and the result was A frenchmen Jason Lamy Chappuis, American Johnny Spillane, and a random Italian Alessandro Pittin. The whole race was crazy exciting with apparently just about anyone having the chance to win in the 'cross-country-skier-cross' portion of the event. I loved it! I would totally see this event again in the future! I give it 2 thumbs up!

Day 3: The First Medal of the Games

On Saturday we headed over to Cypress Mountain for our first event, the ladies freestyle moguls. I have been a fan of this Olympic event since it was first introduced to the games in 1992 in Albertville, France. Donna Weinbrecht (who I’ve been told I sort of look like) won the very first gold medal for the event for the USA. She was so fast and did the coolest tricks; she inspired me to tackle the moguls on the local hill I grew up on, Mt. Brighton. To this day moguls to me are a never-ending quest to get faster and be able to bomb down them just like her.

The bus ride to Cypress Mountain was well organized and had people giving away free hot chocolate and coffee at the start. The line moved quickly and we got to the mountain in no time (with a slight delay that we were unsure was the bus or the driver stalling the bus out) Getting in to all the events you have to go through security and have your ticket checked which is a bit of waiting, but not too bad.

The Cypress Mountain venue was very small. There was a small warming house, a smaller-sized grandstand, one small food tent (several very long lines), and an Olympic merchandise store. When we got there it was sprinkling on and off, but that soon changed to raining pretty steadily on and off. It was cold and windy rainy, pretty miserable for us fans. It also made the bumps soft, which is not what the athletes like, but it does make the landings softer for the tricks. Cypress has had a problem with weather all season. They had a ton of snow early in the season (Whistler opened a record early), but then it warmed-up and never seemed to get cold again. Helicopters and trucks bringing an estimated 300-400 loads of snow were deployed for the mountain to actually be able to put on the event.

Despite the weather (one reporter stated that the fans should have all been awarded the Order of Canada for enduring the 7+ hours of rain, sleet, and wind), it was an awesome time. They had a DJ that was spinning some great tunes a different one for each of the runs and it was like a dance party as people tried to fight the cold and not let it dampen the party spirit that was on the mountain. The ladies themselves put on one heck of a show; first in the warm-up qualifying runs and then in the actual competition. The speed of those ladies was crazy fast! They all seemed to have a variety of tricks that they pulled out on the 2 sets of kickers located at the top and mid-bottom.

The crowd was a mix of Canadian, American, and then the random other countries. The Canadians had hopes of winning their first home won gold medal and their girl Jennifer Heil was the favorite to win. The USA was also favored to medal with Hannah Kearney and Heather McPhie. In the qualifying round, those three girls were at the top.

In the final round, the ladies go in reverse qualifying order, so the top girls were at the end. What a show did they put on! Another Canadian Kristi Richards who had a medal chance fell halfway through the 2^nd set of bumps, but then paused and regrouped and skied out the rest and for the last kicker did one of the best tricks of the evening. Heather McPhie also had a fall and was knocked out of the competition, which allowed Shannon Bahrke to swoop in and win a bronze. The show down between Jennifer and Hannah was intense as both skied phenomenally, but there is only 1 winner and that was Hannah. The USA fans went wild. The Canadian fans, clearly disappointed still put on a good face and still cheered. Just great sportsmanship by the fans. I was so excited and proud, I had a few tears in between ringing the cowbell and flag waving and yelling. It was a great moment.

The bus ride home was a mess and we were starving since they ran out of food and the lines were huge, but it was worth it for the chance to see that the USA bring home its first medal of the games!