The SnowSeekers Blog

90 Degrees takes to the Stage

2010-04-26T23:15:00.002-06:00

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

It doesn't happen very often but sometimes, just sometimes, even the best of 'em get caught with their pants down.

You'll find her ripping up the slopes of Marmot Basin in Jasper Alberta- deep in the Canadian Rockies. It was last Saturday when the girl, only known as mountain megs, earned herself a new nickname.

This is the photo blog on just how she was crowned '90 Degrees"...can you unlock the mystery of how?

Just getting off the chairlift she is looking confused....

really confused...

hey did someone say oi?

the aerodynamics with those reno'ed poles was brilliant

she is just showing off the science before she shreds some gnar

And it didn't take her long to ditch the reno'ed ski poles for a pink one that was

registering at 90 degrees....

First person to email me the correct response for what happened to 90 Degrees' poles wins a set of Marmot Lift tickets valid right through the 2010/11 season – docpow@snowseekers.ca

For more on Marmot, cause you know you have to go there, get over to here and start planning your escape for next winter. Who knows ... it might just throw you 90 Degrees.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca, friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Find your snowboard stance with StanceFind™

2010-04-19T13:50:00.003-06:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Nine days ago, the SnowSeekers crew was at Marmot Basin shooting video and writing editorials, which you can find here. While we were there we ran into a fantastic fellow by the name of Sean MacCarron, who not only pioneered the non-profit Free Mountain program at Marmot Basin, but has also invented the world's first dynamic snowboarder's stance calibration device.

Dubbed StanceFind™, the device allows a boarder to determine – scientifically – his/her optimal stance given his/her skeletal structure. And it takes less than 15 minutes.

StanceFind™ has been endorsed by BASI and installed by TSA, Europe's largest independent snowboard retailer, in its stores across the UK. More recently, StanceFind™ has been adopted by two resorts a little closer to home: Big White Ski Resort in British Columbia, and Marmot Basin in Alberta.

If you'd like to find out more about the StanceFind™, as well as cre8iv-uk, the team responsible for it, headover to www.cre8iv-uk.com

Until then, though, check out these demo videos to get a better idea of what StanceFind™ is all about.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Marmot Basin's Spring Scene is Stellar

2010-04-15T09:45:00.004-06:00

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

Marmot Basin, a ski resort found minutes from Jasper Alberta, has had one of its top season's in many many years. There were a ton of times where a good friend of mine, Megan Gibson, a Jasper local, called and said "it doesn't get any better then this, another 20cms last night- and a full bowl of pow was waiting for this morning's breakfast!"

It's a classic destination that if you haven't had the chance to visit yet you need to....
For the full report visit us @ SnowSeekers. You'll find some stories here from last weekend's visit.

You could still squeeze them in over the next 10 days, they are wide open through April 25th.

Here is a shot taken on April 12 of what it looks like.....

If you are a family - perfect, Marmot's got the terrain. If you are an intermediate group of friends, perfect cause Marmot's got the terrain. If you are a couple of cats looking to get in some outstanding hikes into some steeps and deeps you'll find this here too. Just don't forget to take the camera- Marmot, in the heart of the Rockies, never disappoints when it comes to the views.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

SnowSeekers' first documentary premieres to rave reviews

2010-04-09T13:06:00.009-06:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Last night was an important milestone for not only Brandon Boucher, our director of photography, but our entire company as a whole, in that we premiered our first ever documentary, Sunny on the Slopes. The film was shown at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), in its beautiful, new NEXEN Theatre to a capacity crowd. There wasn't a seat to be had, which was a rewarding sight for everyone involved on the project.

The film was inspired by the need to encourage all ethnicities to get out and experience the snow, and as was the case with Sunny on the Slopes, skiing. The documentary profiles a young Mongolian girl, named Sunny, on her journey through the Canadian Ski Instructors' Alliance (CSIA) Skier Progression Program. Her adventure began at Edmonton's Snow Valley and ended with her skiing in the Canadian Rockies at Castle Mountain.

The film was produced in conjunction with the CSIA, and will be used as a learning tool in 200 ski schools across the country. It will also be broadcasted nationally in the fall, so stay tuned to the blog, as well as www.snowseekers.ca, for further details.

SnowSeekers would like to thank NAIT for their support, especially NAIT's Digital Media students, many of whom worked on the project. We'd also like to thank the CSIA for their involvement and unwavering enthusiasm throughout the entire process. And finally, the biggest thanks of all goes to Sunny and her family, who inspired us all, and whose passion and excitement rubbed off on everyone. We couldn't have done this without you.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

World Ski and Snowboard Festival Contest Winner

2010-04-08T12:11:00.009-06:00

The entire SnowSeekers crew would like to congratulate Pamela Basaraba, of Edmonton, AB, for winning our World Ski and Snowboard Festival contest for March. Along with a friend, Pamela will be spending five days skiing/riding at Whistler/Blackcomb while staying at the Delta Whistler Village Suites. She's also received tickets to a number of specialty events, including the Chairlift Revue and The End, an all-hours afterburner party.

Congrats again, Pamela. You're going to have a blast!

SnowSeekers thanks The Delta Whistler Village Suites, WhistlerBlackcomb and The Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival for their support of this contest.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

80s day at Sun Peaks this Saturday

2010-04-07T11:24:00.005-06:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Things are about to get radical at Sun Peaks Resort this Saturday, April 10th. Dust off your neon clothing and too-big-for-your-face shades, because the 80s are back and they don't want to see any of your two-piece snow suits or fashionably modest colors.

All staff and guests are encouraged to deck themselves out in their most bodacious outfits before they hit the slopes for some double-daffies and back-scratchers.

For any of you who may not remember the 80s (for reasons illicit or otherwise...), I thought I'd offer you a few helpful tips to get you started. When dressing for the 80s, it's important to keep three things in mind:

1. Headband – always, always, always wear a headband. Under your helmet, over your helmet, it doesn't matter. Headbands are like legwarmers, but for your face. In other words, a must-have. No self-respecting Duran Duran fan would be caught dead without one.

2. Shades – the larger the better, and you damn well better make sure that people can see through them. If people aren't able to see your eyes, they're clearly too reflective. In fact, your shades should almost be completely useless.

3. The Neon Onesie – Pastels were sooooooo early 80s. By the time the 80s got into gear, neon was all the rage. Those arrogant early 90s try their best to claim neon, but the 80s hair-bands had a firm grip on the scene way before the Fresh Prince came along. And don't let me see you in a two-piece snow suit! Have some respect for yourself, for god's sake.

Stick to these three rules, and you should be well on your way to looking as ridiculous as you possibly can this Saturday, or, as 80s as you possibly can.

If any of you guys take some stellar Polaroids this weekend, send them to rick@snowseekers.ca and I'll put 'em in a blog next week.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

"Sunny on the Slopes" Premiere

2010-04-06T10:17:00.004-06:00

SnowSeekers is pleased to invite you to the release of its documentary, "Sunny on the Slopes."

Earlier this winter, SnowSeekers – in partnership with NAIT's Digital Media Design program and its students – filmed 10-year-old Sunny Gantumur as she took to the slopes for the first time. The film, produced for the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance, will be seen around the country to encourage people of all ages to get outside and enjoy the snow through skiing.

The documentary chronicles Sunny's trials and tribulations in learning how to tackle the snow, lead by her Snow Valley instructor, Christina Schmidtke, and follows them from day one right through 'til when Sunny was ready to take on the Canadian Rockies at Castle Mountain Resort.

No one involved could have imagined what happened over the course of Sunny's adventure.

Join us Thursday, April 8th, at 7 p.m. in the multi-million dollar NEXEN Theatre at NAIT to find out how it unfolded. The NEXEN is located on the second floor of the Spartan Centre for instrumentation Technology in Room Y240, located on 117 Ave & 102 St., east of the NAIT HP Centre.

Seating is limited. Showing is from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.

If you plan to attend, please contact jim@snowseekers.ca and he can set you up with a parking pass for the night.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Bobselds: the sasquatches of the Olympic Games

2010-04-04T20:11:00.001-06:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Sadly, I was only able to attend a single Olympic event during my nine days in Whistler. Fortunately, though, that event was the 4-man Bobsled. These things are fast on TV, but they're really fast when they're ten feet from your face. Faster than a Tiger Woods sex scandal. So fast that it is nearly impossible to get a good photo.

Sorry, let me rephrase that. They're so fast that it is nearly impossible to get a good photo when you're using something that has the shutterspeed of a box camera. I half expect my camera to let out a huge puff of smoke every time I take a shot.

Needless to say, my photographs left a little to be desired. The following is a montage of how my afternoon went.

"How hard could it be?" I thought. They're not moving that fast.

I was sure that I had the dexterity and peripheral vision to

capture a vehicle moving at 140 kilometres per hour.

I still don't know if I took the photo too early or too late.

I swear that this is a different photo. My problem was clearly

that I was trying to get in too tight on the track. But I wanted

that money shot.

Wanting to at least capture something in a photo, I

stood behind some people. Unfortunately, those people

became the entire focus after yet another miss.

When in doubt, shoot the Olympic Rings.

I'd like to tell you that this was meant to be just another

shot of the Rings, but a bobsled is just off camera. I think.

Things were getting quite ridiculous at this point. I feel

the need to point out to you that there's about a 3-4 minute

wait time between bobsleds. So I would wait 4 minutes

every time just to get a shot of some dude in a tuque.

This is as dynamic as it was going to get for me on this day.

A shot of a guy filling in divots with snow. Wow.

It was at this point that I started to worry that I wouldn't

be bringing any decent photos back for my piece. Hence,

the Canada hat. People eat this stuff up. Theoretically.

Realizing that my tight shots weren't cutting it, I moved

back. To similar results.

*Sigh*

A couple of Brits who found a silver lining to Great

Britain's disappointing Olympics. The sign reads

"CURLING WAS BETTER".

This was my breaking point. I had been standing in freezing

rain for nearly two hours trying to get anything that could be

used. After this shot, I got fed up. "Screw it!" I said. "I'm going

back to the rails, and I'm not coming out until I get my shot."

Persistence, as they say, pays off.

Almost there ...

ALMOST THERE ...

SUCCESS!

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Brandon's Photo Of The Day

2010-03-25T18:11:00.007-06:00

BRANDON BOUCHER, SnowSeekers Inc.

So today in the SnowSeekers office we had a discussion about the photos appearing on our website. We found that there were SO many great photos that we had taken, that never see the light of day! So not only are we soon going to be proud owners of a brand new photo gallery on the website, but I am going to dedicate a blog every week for my "photo of the day" but I guess it would be called "photo of the week." Regardless, today, it begins!

I stumbled across a LOT of good photos today.

These "photos of the day" are only based on my personal thoughts toward the photos, keeping composition, lighting etc in mind.

I hope you like it!

Photo taken by : Doc Pow

Subscribe to www.snowseekers.ca e-newsletter and be automatically entered for a chance to WIN a 5-day trip to the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, British Columbia. Make sure to share with friends.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Go rest high on Pilot Mountain

2010-03-24T09:43:00.000-06:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

SnowSeekers visited Banff's famed Johnston Canyon two weeks ago , and the had the pleasure of being guided through the Canyon by Anick Cadieux, a guide with Discover Banff Tours. If you plan on taking a trip to Johnston Canyon in the future, I'd suggest you book a guide. This was my second visit to the Canyon--my first with a guide--and my experience was markedly better with Anick by my side.

There's a remarkable amount of history surrounding the Canyon, and during the three-hour trek we learned a lot of it. One remark, in particular, caught my ear.

In 1927, the log teahouse at the base of the Canyon was purchased by Walter and Marguerite Camp. This began a rich history of Rocky Mountain lodging in Banff. Since then, Johnston Canyon has become one of the top hikes in Canada (literally, at 4710 feet above sea level).

Walter Camp is something of a legend in Banff, a town treasure and a man who treasured his town. Before he passed away, he asked that his ashes be spread on top of Pilot Mountain--the one mountain that can be seen from both Banff and Lake Louise. Even after his death Walter wanted to watch over his beloved town, which he did. Marguerite had his ashes placed on the mountain via helicopter. And when Marguerite passed on, her ashes were laid there as well.

This was just one of a dozen or more anecdotes. I had expected to be impressed by the beauty of the Canyon, but I had no idea its history was so rich and interesting. Do yourself a favour and take a tour. You'll learn a little something, and come away with one hell of a photo album.

Subscribe to www.snowseekers.ca e-newsletter and be automatically entered for a chance to WIN a 5-day trip to the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, British Columbia. Make sure to share with friends.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

We weren't sure we could believe it

2010-03-23T08:40:00.002-06:00

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

You'll note a blog below by Dan, our digital guru here at SnowSeekers, announcing our new snow reports on SnowSeekers.ca.

He came to me the other day to tell me that he wasn't sure that he could trust what was coming out of Mount Washington's website, reporting of a 600 cm base - almost twice that of Whistler Blackcomb's. "They must be inflating that number, I can't trust it," he said. Well the numbers don't lie; they are true. Mount Washington, just outside of Comox, BC, is experiencing one of their snowiest seasons in history – actually their second on record – only next to the infamous season of 1998-99.

"We’re extending the season by two weekends after April 11th and we’re delivering an extensive and entertaining event calendar to everybody next month,” explains Don Sharpe, Director of Business Operations.

One of the really interesting things about Mount Washington, next to these epic conditions, is its location: an island. Vancouver Island, to be precise. So, in April you can head out for an adventure like few people on the planet can ever get in on. A surf and snow safari, get in a few days on the skis or snowboard and then head off to Ucluelet for some surfing (between the two is only a two and a half hour wicked drive).

Enter into to win our trip for two to Whistler and you may just have the best April ever.....

Subscribe to www.snowseekers.ca e-newsletter and be automatically entered for a chance to WIN a 5-day trip to the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, British Columbia. Make sure to share with friends.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

His name is Rusty, but his skills aren't

2010-03-22T11:23:00.000-06:00

RICK MACDONNELL, Snowseekers Inc.

A little more than a week ago, the SnowSeekers "road dogs" were in Fairmont, British Columbia, where we visited the Fairmont Hot Springs, as well as the Family Ski Hill that's just minutes from the resort. You can read all about the trip here.

As you more than likely know, for every destination we visit, we profile not just the on-hill and off-hill activities, but resort destinations and dining opportunities. On this particular trip we were fortunate enough to be taken care of by Rusty Cox, the Farimont's Chef de Cuisine. We soon found out that in addition to being an incredibly cool guy and an absolutely dynamite chef, he is also a world-renowned ice sculptor.

Rusty sent me this photos a few days ago, and I just couldn't keep them to myself. They absolutely blew me away. There's a reason why he travels the world doing this stuff.

Enjoy.

Probably my favourite. Amazing stuff.

I should email this one to Peter Jackson.

Yes, the entire bar (and the walls surrounding it) is ice.

Subscribe to www.snowseekers.ca e-newsletter and be automatically entered for a chance to WIN a 5-day trip to the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, British Columbia. Make sure to share with friends.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Improved Snow Conditions on SnowSeekers.ca and SnowSeekers iPhone Go-Guides

2010-03-19T15:50:00.004-06:00

DAN MOORE, SnowSeekers Inc.

Recently, I updated our snow conditions page to include not just links to the snow conditions pages of the various resorts around Alberta and BC, but also to include graphs of the snowfall this season. Hopefully this will give our users an easier time deciding where to spend their weekend with less page navigation.

For now the aesthetics of the graphs are pretty basic, and we will probably look to improve them long term, so be sure to check back.

Yesterday I also updated most of our SnowSeekers go-guides (iPhone apps) to include past snowfall information. So, when available, our apps will now also provide users with snowfall in the past 24 hours, 48 hours, and 7 days, as well as snowfall to date and base packed snow on the mountain. This has been one of most requested features for our apps so I was very glad to finally drop it in. Go-guides that have this functionality currently include all apps except for Comox - Mount Washington, and the Vancouver mountains (Cypress, Grouse, and Seymour).

In the future I am also looking to add additional stats to our apps and snow conditions page including lifts in operation and open runs. So if you love getting information on the conditions at your preferred hill and getting updates to your favorite apps, keep checking back!

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival 2010

2010-03-19T13:13:00.000-06:00

You Could Be Here

How would you like to be at one of the hottest spring parties in Western Canada? The TELUS World Ski & Snowboard Festival is a kick-ass event running Apr. 16 to 25, and it has it all: big air events with competitors from around the world, A-list entertainment that covers all music genres, parties that go all night and a large cultural side that includes competitions between some of the best photographers and filmmakers around, plus much more.

You could win a 5-day trip for 2 to the TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival in Whistler, British Columbia by going to www.snowseekers.ca/wssfcontest and entering today. Tell your friends.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit www.snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

The Olympic experience

2010-03-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

This Olympic journey has been three weeks in the making for the SnowSeekers crew, but in a sense it's also been six months (since the season started), 2.5 years (since the company started), and a decade and a half (since the bids for Vancouver began).
For some, these past few weeks have been the culmination of five year's work, others, their entire lives. But when that calendar page flipped over to March 1, the journey was all over.
This morning came with a weird mixture of accomplishment and melancholy.
On the one hand, we did it. We came into Whistler as the little company that could, and stood shoulder to shoulder with the big boys.
The content that's been produced in the last three weeks has made us all proud. It's validated all the work we've done and showed us where we're capable of going.
On the other hand, we did it, and now it's over. This entire season has been one big prelude to the Games, and now that they're over, that build-up is gone.
It's time to find a new goal, whatever that might be.
Sochi, 2014?

Who knows. Four years is still a ways away, and there's no telling where SnowSeekers Inc. will be then. All I know is that this Olympic experience will only serve as a launching pad to bigger and better things for all of us.
A psychic even told me so.
I've seen some amazing things in my time in Whistler. Unlikely triumphs, tragic defeats, career-defining performances, and life-changing events. But I've also experienced kinship with complete strangers, people who literally live continents away and can barely speak my language.
It's taught me a lot about compassion and community, how similar we all are when borders aren't involved.
But I've also seen human faeries frolicking through the Village and killer rock shows almost every day. A giant sasquatch punched my friend in the face. Needless to say, I've laughed a lot since I've been in Whistler.
As Whistler's psychic told me just a few days ago, my future will be defined by my present. My experience at the Olympic Games will affect me in ways that I can't even imagine.
All that I can do is wait for it to happen, and blog about it along the way.

For full stories and videos on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Celebrating together

2010-03-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Even though they were a few hours away from the Closing Ceremonies in Vancouver, the people of Whistler were as awash in the glow of victory as any of their provincial neighbours last night.
Every screen in the Village – both big and small – was tuned in to see Canada's best deliver a send-off to the world. Whistler's Village Square was jam packed with hundreds of excited onlookers as they watched the Closing Ceremonies on the big screen behind the Whistler Live! stage.
"We're not there (Vancouver), but we are at the same time," said Mark Roberts of Oshawa, Ontario. "With the crowd here, the big screen, it's almost better in some ways because you get the feeling of the crowd, but the intimacy of watching the performers on this massive screen. It's quite the party."
A party is the best I could describe it.
Along with the crowd standing in Village Square, every patio around was armed to the teeth with revelers. The Amersterdam, Citta's, and La Bocca all provided a great place to catch the action while enjoying some dinner and drinks.
There was a considerable amount of nostalgia on display last night. People were already looking back on the Games as if they happened two years ago, and a couple of hours.

"It was an amazing, amazing experience," said Patrice Henry of Gatineua, Quebec. "My life is now divided into two parts, before and after the 2010 Olympics. I'm not sure if I'll ever see anything like this for the rest of my life."
And while most were already longing to have the last two weeks back, there were some who were only looking toward the future. Slava Mischenko of Kiev, Ukraine, decked out in a 2014 Sochi jacket, has already started counting down the days until the next Winter Olympics.
"I'm not from Sochi, but I'm excited for them," Mischenko said. "I can't wait to be there in 2014 when Russia does what Canada did in these games."
After stopping to ponder for a few seconds, he continued. "Well, maybe not exactly what Canada did, but hopefully close. Fourteen medals is a lot!"
The crowd was full of Canadians from coast to coast, along with visitors from dozens of countries around the world.
For two weeks we laughed together and cheered together, sang and even cried together. For two weeks this was Whistler, one big happy international family.
Driving away from Whistler this morning, we were all sad to see it go. But, when you think about it, 2014's only four years away.
Think Sochi!

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Hockey game the perfect ending

2010-02-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Without a doubt, one of the top three moments of my life.
I can't recall a time where I've felt such euphoria, such uninhibited joy. I hugged more strangers in the last hour than I have in my entire life. My hands are red from the high fives I've given. My throat is run raw from the screaming I've done.
GO CANADA GO!

I've never been so glad to be 25, else I would have taken a heart attack. Those first few moments of overtime were taxing, to say the least.
The entire SnowSeekers crew was holed up in Merlin's since 10 a.m. this morning. The doors didn't open 'til 11a.m. By the time we were allowed inside, the lineup was at least 200 strong (it stretched back to Monk's Grill).
Luckily, we had the foresight to get there early enough to reserve some prime real estate
"I'd hate to be one of the poor souls who thought they'd get in here at Noon," said Jon Vaughn of Margaree, Nova Scotia. " It's the men's hockey gold medal game, for Christ's sake. If you're not prepared to wait five hours to see this, then you don't deserve to."
For weeks, the pundits have said that if the men's hockey team didn't win gold, the Games would be a failure. As if that pressure wasn't enough, Canada went into their game against the United States one gold shy of the Olympic record for most gold medals in one Olympic Games.
In one fell swoop Team Canada satisfied the hopes and dreams of an entire nation, and set an Olympic record in the process.
I can't even imagine what it was like to be inside B.C. Place as the crowd of 18,000 strong belted out GO CANADA GO. When Cole Harbour's own Sidney Crosby scored the game winning goal, the crowd at Merlin's went off.

Cheers and chest-bumps went on for the next 10 minutes, all throughout the medal presentation ceremony.
It couldn't have been a more fitting end to an amazing Olympic Games. Canada's golden boy, Sidney Crosby scored to win it in overtime against the best goalie in the world – Ryan Miller.
It's hard to imagine that a little more than two weeks ago, the public was crying for the first gold medal on Canadian soil. Now, we've set the record for not only the most golds on home soil (eclipsing the U.S.A.'s record of 10), but we've set the record for most golds ever at the winter Olympic games (14).
Whistler, along with Vancouver, has played host to one of the greatest Games in Olympic history (winter or summer). Without a doubt, we've raised the bar for future Games.
Sochi's got some work to do.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Wow, so this is Whistler

2010-02-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

It's embarrassing, but today I finally got in a ski on Whistler Mountain. In my defense, the frickin' Olympics are kind of going on right now, so don't start building my cross or anything. Realistically, I can ski any time I want and I may never experience the Olympics first-hand ever again. Not much of a toss-up, in my opinion.
That's what I thought.
Oh my God! This place is incredible! I am such an idiot for waiting until the second to last day to hit the slopes here. On my second trip up the chair I literally sulked.
Like a child who's played with his own toys for a week before realizing his friend's toys kick so much more ass, I pouted my way down the mountain for the rest of the day. I hate to even think of what I must have looked like riding the chair lift.
"Dude, he is okay?"
"I think his girlfriend just broke up with him."
"Ahhh."
The original plan was to ride with Doc Pow and colleague, Brandon Boucheur for the afternoon, but on our first ride of the day – our first ride – I lost the boys amidst the fog of Whistler Bowl and that was that.
It kind of worked out, though, as it allowed me to explore a bit of this behemoth on my own.
It hit me at one point that, just six months ago, I was a little boy from Nova Scotia with next to no skiing experience. Now, I'm busting down Boomer Bowl on Whistler. I still shake my head at it.

I'm shaking it right now as I type this. It's straight-up stupid that I do this every day, that I get paid for this stuff.
What really surprised me about the hill was how empty it was. It's not that there aren't a lot of skiers and boarders out there, it's that the mountains are so HUGE, dude.
No matter where you go, it's almost like you've rented the hill for the day. It's incredible, considering that it was a Saturday afternoon during Whistler's busiest month ever.
Thankfully, we'll be hitting up first tracks tomorrow before heading to Merlin's for "the game." One afternoon wasn't nearly enough. Hell, a week isn't enough.
Something tells me I'll be back though.
And by "something," I mean Doc Pow.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

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For the love of pancakes

2010-02-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

No disrespect to Doc Pow and the bountiful breakfasts that have been cooked up in the SnowSeekers RV all week, but today's pancake breakfast at Canada House was the best meal I've had before noon all Olympics long.
I stuffed myself on pancakes and sausage, and treated myself to my first juice box since I was probably 15. It was in keeping with the atmosphere, though, as dozens of kids were on hand to make crafts, listen to some tunes, play the Nintendo Wii, and get their pictures taken with Quatchi and Miga.
It was hilarious to see how the kids largely ignored the athletes, including Canadian Olympian, Jason Myslicki (nordic combined). They were way more interested in the mascots, mounties, and, predictably, the games.
Luckily for the Olympicans, there were a fair number of adults who wanted nothing more than to shake his hand and congratulate him on a job well done (myself included).
Kids are kids, though, and no amount of Olympic glory can trump Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.
Mayor Ken Melamed was also on hand to say a heartfelt thanks to everyone who got involved with the Games, participated in their own way, and made these past two weeks something that Whistler can be proud of.
Given the considerable negativity in British Columbia in the months approaching the Olympics, I have to say that both Vancouver and Whistler have come through and then some.
"I haven't spoken to a single person that hasn't said that this has been the best time of their lives, here in Whistler," Melamed said to the gathered crowd at Canada House. "I'm getting a lot of request to do it every year. I'm not sure we can pull that off, but let's celebrate and enjoy this time together. Thank you, again, everyone in Whistler for being here and helping to welcome the world."
As I heard the mayor speak I suddenly realized that in about 30 hours this would all be over. This Olympic journey has been a long time coming for so many people (talk to Doc Pow and he'll regale you with a delightful tale of his 14 year wait), so it's kind of surreal to think that by tomorrow night we'll all be heading back to our regular lives.
While we're here, though, I can't think of anything better than to chow down on some syrup-drenched sausage. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my juice box, please.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

The need for speed

2010-02-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Try as it might, the pouring rain couldn't dampen spirits at the Whistler Sliding Centre today, nor could the bracing cold, or the agonizingly long lines that, I swear, must have stretched from Whistler all the way to Penticton.
All was forgiven and forgotten as the Men's 4-Man Bobsled competition got underway.
Much like yourself, I've seen bobsleds on television. I was aware that they approach 150 kilometres an hour. But to have actually been there within 10 feet as they whizzed by in a blur, ice and snow from the track literally hitting me in the face, was incredible.
These sleds take off faster than a Tiger Woods sex scandal.
"You can try these out all you want, but you're filling out your will first," said Claudia Henderson to her husband Todd, after the Russian-2 sled flipped over and skidded upside down across the finish line.
Todd had mentioned that the sliding centre will be opened to the public some time after the Games are over.
It was difficult not to side with Claudia on this one. There were probably a dozen crashes during the two-heat event. The fact that not a single rider was seriously hurt amazes me.
I'm not sure who manufactures the helmets, but these Games have certainly been a commercial for them.
If there's a silver lining to be found here, though, it's that a piece of the Russian-2 sled broke off and landed right at my feet. That, my friends, is called a souvenir.

The atmosphere was so much greater than I anticipated. I had assumed that bobsledding would attract a much more subdued crowd than the one I was a part of today. This place was raucous as raucous can be. There were dudes without shirts (for three hours) in the cold rain and snow. I'm sorry, but no amount of beer can compensate for that lack of body heat.
There were Brits and Aussies and Japanese and Dutch people all over the place, vehemently supporting their respective sledders. And right underneath the fans was slimy, filthy muck.
"With a little more rain we could have had a mud wrestling match!" said Anthony Charnley of Soutpark, England. He, along with a few friends, had brought along a marker and a board on which they would write whatever they had to say to the rest of the crowd.
"Curling was better" said one. They were obviously nonplussed about Great Britain's 21st place finish today.
This being my first Olympic event, my expectations were met and then some. The day was capped off with a marvelous run by Canada-1, led by pilot, Lyndon Rush. Honestly, could a sledder have a better name?
In the second-last run of the afternoon, Rush and company powered past the Germans to take sole position of first place, before the Americans came right behind and blew past Canada for first place.
It was an electric finish to what was an absolutely stellar day at the Sliding Centre.
"We went to see a hockey game a few days ago, and this was just as fun," Claudia said. "Hockey gets a lot of the attention here in Canada, but these other events are every bit as entertaining. Hockey players don't fly by you at 140 kilometres, I'll tell you that much!"
It was a unique experience, to be sure. Being that it's (probably) the only event that I'm going to witness here at the Games, it was an awesome one to see. I'll definitely be tuning in tomorrow to see how the event turns out.
And to Anthony: If curling was better than this, you were watching a different game than me.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

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Listen up bosses, the spirits speak

2010-02-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

I'm not what you'd call a paranormal fan. I don't buy into ghosts, or spirits, or the netherworld. I regard clairvoyants in much the same way I do Criss Angel or David Copperfield: they're charlatans who trick the willfully ignorant into handing over hard earned money.
Given this preface, I did something strange today. I went to a psychic.
Although I put absolutely no faith in their wisdom or mystic understanding, psychics have always intrigued me. Maybe I've watched too many episodes of Carnivale, or maybe I'm just desperate for some sign that there is something out there that's greater than my understanding. I don't know.

All I know is that I've always wanted to experience a reading personally, and in light of the potentially life-changing adventure I'm on right now in Whistler, I thought that there was no better time than the present.
And so, at The Oracle at Whistler, I met with Brett MacDonald, who'd I'd normally call a "self-proclaimed" medium, but considering the amount of diplomas hanging on his wall declaring his qualifications, apparently there's some kind of governing body that oversees this sort of thing.
I have my doubts that it's Hogwarts, but it appears that such places do exist.
Brett (first name only please) took me through your pretty standard tarot reading, where I first selected 10 cards from a stack of 78. After I chose my 10, Brett jumped right into things and hit me with a right hook to the jaw: "He is little known in his field."
Gee, thanks Brett. I'm not saying you're wrong, but you could have eased me into this thing.
I then discovered that my future will be defined by my past, that I will often look back with nostalgia on current events. I make my living through creativity, he said, and that at that very moment my mother was worried if I was doing okay.
Take my word for it, all three of those are true. Especially the last one, I'm sure.
I then asked Brett, specifically, how this whole Olympic experience will shape both me and my future. I chose 11 cards from the pack. After pulling out a card, Brett said, "They're not paying you enough."
Ahem ... are you reading this, Doc Pow, Barb? Brett says I'm awesome and you two should pay me more. Given that he's all in touch with higher powers and whatnot, I'd listen to him if I were you. You might wake up tomorrow as a turtle or ... a snowblader, rather than a snowboarded or a skier.
Hey, it wasn't me that said these things. It's the spirits, man. The spirits!
At this point I noticed something strange. In a 78-card deck (no two are identical), I managed to choose the same six or seven cards over again with only 10 chances to do so. Things were getting weird.
After reiterating my creativity and how my passions will shape my future, I was told that my strength is internal. Maybe Brett foresaw this, or maybe he just looked at my less-than-imposing physique, but regardless, apparently my strengths are character, courage, and conviction.
The reading ended with my "positive" card. I chose the Burden, which is an odd "positive" card to choose. This indicated overload, Brett said. The burden of success.
He says that my company is sometimes overwhelmed with responsibilities, but at the same time they show our worth, that we're proving something to people.
You still reading this, you two? Brett says we kick ass. And that you need to give me money.
At the end of the day, do I believe in psychics more than I did before? Not really. But if the experience taught me anything, it's that if there really are spirits out there, then they're on my side.
Maybe it's all thanks to Doc Pow's meditation, but it sounded like, for myself and SnowSeekers, the Olympics are only the beginning.
Now give me my money!

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Just imagine an Elmo made of mittens!

2010-02-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

As of this morning, there have been no reported deaths by way of "mitten mauling" in Whistler Village. From what I saw today while waiting to get into The Olympic Store, I suspect that those numbers have been smudged a little.
The mittens in question are, of course, the red Canada Olympic mittens that you can see on the hands on about 70% of the planet right now. I'm sure the only places that aren't crazy over these things are where mittens are an unnecessary nuisance (call centres, computer stores, anywhere pencils are being used) or where people don't even know mittens exist.
People are crazy for these things! I actually saw two grown women – one of whom I'm sure had grandchildren watching – have a tug-o'-war over a pair even though there were dozens of others sitting right next to them.
Flashes of Tickle-Me Elmo came to mind, and I was just waiting for a full on throw-down between two desperate dads determined to wipe their child's tears away with some mitts.
"This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen," said my fellow linemate, Tom McIntosh. "I've seen lineups before, but this is absolutely out-of-this-world crazy."
What he was referring to was the line of 50+ people waiting for the doors to open at 7:15 in the morning. The doors don't open until 9:00 and there are already dozens of people waiting!
I rode the shuttle with a couple a few days ago, who went to the Olympic Store at 8:15 a.m. and didn't get inside until almost 10 a.m.

In the words of my new good friend, Marge Thorgrimson, "They're just mittens, people!"
Thorgrimson (amazing name, by the way) is a native of Seattle, Washington who's as gung ho for the Games as the next person, but she, too, was overwhelmed with the lines and, especially, the intensity.
"It's all about the mittens for some of these people," she said through a laugh. "But they're a collector's item, probably the number one souvenir from the 2010 Games. So it makes some sense, I suppose."
We each looked up and down the lineup again, before turning back to one another. "Or maybe not," she said.
Sane or not, people are right to take home a pair before the Games conclude. They're certainly the hottest commodity when it comes to 2010 memorabilia. But people ... please ... settle down. You're all a bunch of raving loonies. But then again, given your Canadian heritage, that might actually be somewhat appropriate.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

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Brits love their pints – and so do Canucks

2010-02-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

"Whistler's leaning more towards the British scene, I think. More and more of us are coming over. It's much more friendly here, I think, than in England. Just talking with other Brits on the chairlifts and stuff, there's definitely a new wave coming across the sea now. With any luck we'll outnumber the Aussies soon."

So says Kent native, Billy Clarke, an Englishman who now calls Whistler home. He's been here for three months, and if you can believe it, the Olympics were an afterthought for him.
"I was just coming for the snow, mate. The Olympics were a bonus, to be honest." After a laugh, he continued. "The hill is amazing, you know, and the fact that the Olympics are here is just awesome."
After chatting for a few minutes about some British beers, I couldn't take it any longer and decided to try some out for myself. And in Whistler, there's one place the Brits go: Elephant and Castle.
"We've been open for almost three months, and since then we've developed kind of a cult following with the Brits," said General Manager Mark Forest.
Over a pint of Fuller London Pride, Forest caught me up to speed on the disparities between Canadian beers, and those of our British forefathers.
"Well, for starters, British pints are imperial pints, so they're 20 ounces. We don't do pitchers of beer, but we do have the 20 ounce pints. We serve various styles of British beers, lagers and pilsners. We rotate our beers around, but we always make sure that we have the favourite British beers on tap.
"We have Boddingtons, Fuller's London Pride, Strongbow, and then we rotate around with some of the smaller brews. And of course the IPA, India Pale Ale."
The story of India Pale Ale is well known. When British soldiers were in India in the 1800s, they simply had to have their beer. But it was so hot during the summer season that the beer was going bad. So the soldiers added more hops, which acted as a preservative.

"Thus, you get a hoppier beer, India Pale Ale. It's become a British Staple. It's a lighter beer, but it's good."
There is such deep British heritage in Canada that, naturally, British pubs and beers still hold some influence. You'd be hard pressed to find a city in the whole country without at least one classy British establishment.
"It does surprise me that we're the only British-style pub in Whistler. There's a part of British culture, and there's a part of Canadian culture, and that's beer," said Forest.
Although he's a big proponent of the British varieties, Forest is also a fan the Western Canadian microbreweries.
"There's one in Victoria, B.C. called Phillips Brewery, and it's amazing. They won one gold and one silver award at the GABF, which is the Great American Beer Festival.
"You've got breweries from Halifax to B.C. to California, to Mississippi in this thing. There's 4,000 breweries that enter. For an up and coming brewery in British Columbia to take gold, that's amazing. We're talking a seven year old brewery."
In the words of Billy Clarke, speaking of Whistler, "It's awesome. Absolutely awesome."

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

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The naked truth

2010-02-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

With just one walk through Whistler Village, a person can marvel at and take photos of a dozen sculptures and statues.
There are the obvious favourites, like the massive Olympic rings just outside of Medals Plaza and the Inukshuk in the heart of the Village, but there are also ice sculptures, wood carvings, and granite statues to be found in nearly every nook and cranny.
In spite of this wealth of artistic creativity, one piece in particular has stood (its very muscular) head and shoulders above all others in terms of attention and significance: Slapshotolus, a sculpture by Edmonton artist Edmund Haakonson.
Located at the Pride House in the Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre, the sculpture has garnered nearly universal acclaim for its unification of both life and sport, gay and straight, serious and humourous.
The piece shows how these disparate elements can all existent in not just a single work, but a single being, and typifies authentic human experience.
"Slapshotolus is a physical representation of the philosophical ideal of living one’s life with truth and honesty to one's self," Haakonson said.
"The sculpture is a visual symbol of living without armor, the idea that one who lives a noble life does not require more protection, does not need to seek cover because there is nothing to hide from or be ashamed of."
Works of art, be it paintings, sculptures, novels, etc., are often created with this same intention towards eloquence and expressiveness, but it takes rare talent – genius, really – to achieve the desired effect. With Slapshotolus, Haakonson has done that and then some.
The power, grace, courage, and purity of Olympic sport is on full display here. It's not just a stunning example of homosexual expression, it's more so an Olympic expression.

"The sculpture is classical Greek imagery with a modern makeover. The individualized body (as opposed to the stylized conventions of ancient Greek art) recognizes our culture's focus on individual achievement, whereas in the ancient world the emphasis was on the collective.
"I've kept the body nude to acknowledge that connection with ancient Greek art. The nude form symbolizes purity, innocence, and truth. I chose the hockey player because, well, it's Canada. Come on."
Haakonson has felt overwhelmed with the positive feedback he's received for his sculpture, which took roughly seven months and an estimated 500 man hours to create. Given the statue's possibly controversial ... bravado .... Haakonson could not be happier with its reception.
"There's something absurd about a hockey player wearing only skates, gloves, and a helmet. Even though ancient nude art makes sense to us, and playing hockey makes sense, the combination of the two is funny.
"But I've been so happy to see that people haven't fixated on that, that they are able to marry the serious and the humourous to appreciate the work as a whole."
Before arriving in Whistler, I imagined that my most profound and enduring memories would be much the same as everyone else's. Instead, it's been some of the more unusual, unexpected experiences that have come to define my time at the 2010 Winter Games.
Meeting Haakonson and receiving a personal viewing of Slapshotolus is another in a long line of unique snapshots that have formed into an amazing, life-changing collage. It's not a four-foot statue made of bronze, but it's just as beautiful.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

An hour of reflection amidst the chaos

2010-02-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

It's called the Norwegian Church Abroad (or Sjomannskirken), and it has served as the hub of Norwegian activity during the 2010 Games. Norwegians, and honoured guests, have been treated to waffles, coffee, Norwegian newspapers, and wonderful hospitality in what's become a home-away-from-home.
While Norway House (as it's referred to around the Village) has provided a quiet place for respectful reflection, the Norwegians organized an ecumenical service at the Whistler Public Library this afternoon. They were gracious enough to allow me to attend.
Knowing the service would be delivered in Norwegian, I wasn't sure how much of the service I would understand. I grew up in a very strong Catholic household, so I thought that, at the very least, I would recognize some similarities in the services and be able to participate without looking like, well, a Canadian among Norwegians.
By some stroke of luck I took a seat next to Torv and Valeri Hugdahl of North Vancouver. Torv was born in Norway and emigrated to Canada in 1956, where he met Valeri.
Through what some would call an act of God, but I was set up with a Norwegian-to-English translator for the whole service. Someone was looking out for me, it would seem.
Despite the much needed help I wasn't completely in the dark. Following along with the program, I recognized words like "Kristus" (Christ), "Pontius Pilatus" (Pontius Pilate), "Frans av Assisi" (Francis of Assisi), and obviously, "Amen" (Amen).
Bravo, I know. I was in desperate need of help, so I was extremely appreciative of the Hugdahls, my guardian angels for the hour.
In what was a nice touch, there were several moments during the service when a translator would provide some help for the Norwegian-challenged among us. The first reading was particularly poignant, given present circumstances.
James 1:12 - Blessed is the man who endures trials.
As we've seen on the face of many Olympic athletes this week, athletes like Joannie Rochette, Irene Wust and Petra Madjic, there's no victory more precious than one that could easily have been a personal defeat.
Much like these Olympic Games, today's service played tribute to perseverance, dedication, and a dogged pursuit of a goal.
Unfortunately for you all, there was a lockdown on photography during the service due to the attendance of the Norwegian Royal Family. They weren't the only celebrities on hand.
We were all treated to the vocal stylings of Christine Guldbrandsen, a pop star in her native Norway, who sang the hymns – absolutely beautifully – as well as an English rendition of You Raise Me Up (Josh Groban).
As a long-time parishioner, and an admirer of words, I couldn't help but recognize the cadences of the sermon, the ebb and flow of the scripture. In a strange way I could almost fill in the gaps for myself, even though I didn't have a clue as to what was being said.
It allowed me to connect the dots between our cultures, our languages and feel the peace that such services bring.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

A true Olympic fan

2010-02-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

For Patrick O'Meara of Connecticut, the Olympic Games have become a bi-annual event. After attending the Sydney Olympics in the summer of 2000, O'Meara has experienced every Olympics since, both winter and summer.
One might think that these vacations would start to become old hat after 10 years, but according to O'Meara, each one is as overwhelming as the last.
"I've now been to Sydney, Salt Lake, Athens, Turin, Beijing, and Vancouver," O'Meara said, "and each experience has been totally different to the ones previous.
"Each Games brings with it a different city, a different country – a different culture – so you're guaranteed a different feel each time. They've haven't gotten old yet."

O'Meara isn't even sure how the adventure started. He decided to take his vacation in Sydney some 10 years ago, to coincide with the Summer Games, and he had such a good time that he just felt no choice but to relive the experience every other year.
"It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the Games. I can't imagine someone getting to see the Olympics up close and personal and not wanting to feel that again. If you're not affected by the atmosphere then there's something wrong there."
Decked out in a Team Finland hockey jersey – at a Team Canada game, no less – O'Meara proudly displayed his favourite aspect of the Games: the camaraderie, the community, the sense of togetherness and support that the different countries participate in.
He acquired his Finland jersey four years ago in Turin, Italy, during a hockey game between Finland and his beloved Americans.
After sitting alongside a group of Fins and laughing and joking and getting to know one another, O'Meara traded away his Team U.S.A. jersey for a Team Finland one.
So much for trading pins.
"As much fun as the events are, the village experience, the different music and stuff that you can see, the real fun is between people. It's sitting down at a bar with complete strangers and leaving with what feels like new friends."
When asked how his Vancouver/Whistler experience stacks up with the five previous, O'Meara had difficulty answering.
"It's hard, you know, comparing each one. Like I said, they're all so unique that I can't really compare them in a quality sense. What I can tell you is that the Canadians have been great, and that this place is as beautiful as anywhere in the world. I couldn't be more impressed."
As much as the different cities contribute to the experience of the Olympic Games, O'Meara's experience has been forever changed with the introduction of his children into the proceedings.
Aged five and seven, his two kids are already on their third Olympic Games. On this day, though, they were nowhere to be found.
"My wife took the kids to see one of the art galleries in the village. Pottery, sculptures, that sort of thing." O'Meara, instead, headed to the Brew House for a little hockey. "'Pick me up when you're done,' I said."
Grasping his beer and lovingly patting his jersey, O'Meara and I raised a toast to the Games, to hockey, and to ... new friends.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Canada vs. Germany (post-game)

2010-02-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

It pretty much went according to plan. Team Canada walked over Germany 8-2 in its qualification game tonight, setting up a thrilling quarterfinal game against the highly powered Russians tomorrow.
Most comforting was the play of the line of Sydney Crosby, Jarome Iginla, and Eric Staal, who were united as a trio for the first time in the tournament. The trio combined for three goals, six points, and dominated the Germans on almost every shift.

Coach Mike Babcock had been playing Crosby alongside all-star winger Rick Nash for the previous three games, but the two were split up after combining for a minus-6 in their last game against the Americans.
Nash, paired with Anaheim Duck teammates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, finally got on the score sheet as well, scoring the team's eighth goal with a blazing wrister from his off wing in the dying minutes of the third.
"6-2, 8-2, what's the difference?" said Mike O'Donnell, a passionate Canadian fan who predicted a 6-2 Canadian victory earlier in the day. "Under promise and over perform, am I right? It couldn't have gone much better."
Even the two German goals – which might have been cause for concern given that the Germans have far from a potent attack – couldn't be blamed on goaltender Roberto Luongo, who started in place of the struggling Martin Brodeur.
By all reports, he looked much sharper than Brodeur did against the Americans.
The question now becomes whether this game was a case of Canadian skill and talent, or a just "a win over Germany."
According to O'Donnell, the Canadians deserve all the credit for the victory.
"The important thing to focus on is the fact that they were better than the Germans in every facet of the game, and by a large margin.

"The Crosby line looked fantastic, all four lines scored at least a goal, and Luongo did what he had to do. With Luongo, he wasn't going to have the opportunity to come out and look incredible, because the Germans simply don't have the talent to match Canada."
O'Donnell, a former hockey player himself at Northeastern University in Boston, is a former New Brunswick native who's wife is American. They attended the Canada/U.S.A. game on Sunday in Vancouver, and the duo are eagerly looking forward to a rematch.
"The atmosphere for that game was absolutely incredible," said Jenn O'Donnell. "I was one of the only people in the entire crowd with an American jersey on, so naturally I was getting it from the crowd. It was all in fun, though. We were hugging after the game. It was great."
The Olympic Games are so very different than other international hockey tournaments like the World Championships or the World Juniors. In those tournaments, opposing nations are considered enemies. Fans hate them and revel in that hatred.
With the Olympics, though, it's interesting to see the sportsmanship amongst the fans. Everyone still wants to see their teams win, obviously, but they're just as happy to celebrate other's victories as well.
"It's like one big happy family here," Jenn said. "We fight, we compete, we cheer and boo, but at the end of the day, we're all playing for the same team."
Let's see how sportsmanlike the Canadian fans will be on Wednesday after the game against the Russians.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Canada vs. Germany (Pre-Game)

2010-02-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

It's a slippery slope that Team Canada was on. The loss to the Americans on Sunday was a shock to the system, for sure, despite the fact that the Canadians carried the play for the majority of the game, and were the victim of some shaky goaltending in their own end and some stellar goaltending in the other.

The Canadian men are the most stacked team in the entire tournament (sorry, Russia, but you have nothing on Canada, depth-wise), and were expected by many to roll into the gold medal game.
A narrow victory over the Swiss and a loss to Team U.S.A. has shaken the team's confidence. One might think that their anxiety would transfer over to their fan base, but based upon the reactions from the crowd at Whistler's Brew House, the Canadian fans are already looking forward to a Wednesday match-up against Russia in the quarterfinals.
"I'm expecting nothing less than a 6-2 victory," said Mike O'Donnell, a native of New Brunswick who's lived in Boston for the past 20 years, where he attended Northeastern University and played varsity hockey and baseball.
"There's not a single player on the German team that would make me think twice about a Canadian victory."
Most of the onlookers were seeing the game as a tune-up for Russia, their only worry being that Canada might not beat Germany by enough. That, and the performance of goaltender Roberto Luongo, who wouldl replace Martin Brodeur, who's uncharacteristically poor performance has effectively moved him to the bench for the remainder of the Games.
Bobby Lou, as the Vancouver fans lovingly refer to Luongo, will likely ride the Olympics out as Canada's starting goaltender, a position that many fans thought he deserved from the beginning.
"Brodeur was handed the starting job because of his reputation, not because of his talent," said Chris Munro, who, along with Dave Munro, comprise Spy vs. Spy. The band played to the Brew House crowd prior to the game.
"Luongo is the better goaltender, he's younger, and he's playing to his home crowd (Vancouver)," Munro continued. "Now that he's been handed the reins, so to speak, I feel much more confident."
Regardless of the goaltending situation, most fans were in agreement that what Canada needs more than anything is a good thrashing.
"What they really need is to go out there and hand the Germans an 8-0 loss, or something like that," O'Donnell said. "They need to get the offense going, get their confidence back, and feel like they have a goalie back there that'll stop pucks when they need him to."
Heading into a quarterfinal against the Russians, the Canadians would definitely need their edge back. It seems like they've lost that swagger, that belief that they're the best team on the planet.
They'll need that back if they hope to challenge the Russians in the potential game tomorrow.
"If the Crosby line gets going, we'll be all right," Munro said.
The question is: what if it doesn't?

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

You! Tube!

2010-02-23T15:36:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

There are certain activities that, when doing them, one can't help but feel like a kid again: Go-Karting, watching Looney Tunes, pouring milk in a bowl before cereal ("it tastes better...").

After my afternoon excursion, I feel the need to add tubing to that list.
Tubing is something that has no business being as fun as it is. I've done it a few times now, and I still get permagrin each time down the hill. A grown man shouldn't be this delighted to spin down a hill in a tube. It makes me laugh so hard – every run – that it's downright embarrassing.
After two hours, the park operators were starting to give me strange looks.
"I'll never tire of seeing the stupid faces you make, though," hollered one.
"You look like you're being tickled," said another.
That was an acute observation, I thought. It's a very similar feeling. The uncontrollable, childish laughter is much the same in both cases.
Although, tubing has yet to make me wet my pants.
Tubing is truly an activity for the entire family. There are very few activities that both five- and thirty-five year-olds can enjoy together, to pretty much the same degree.
Professional wrestling is one, Duck Hunt is two, and tubing is three.

It's very cool to see people from every age group enjoy something together. There were five year olds, 10 year olds, 20 year olds, and 40 year olds all tubing together, all having a great time.
Activities like this can't be emphasized enough. As marketing gets more and more targeted in pretty much every activity these days (thanks for that, Internet), it's nice to be able to find some harmless family fun.
Or not even family ... seriously, go by yourself and you'll be too excited to miss them.
If your children are less than 10 years old, I beg you to take them tubing. I can guarantee that they've rarely felt so empowered in their entire lives. The independence of zooming down a hill – alone – while parents watch from the sidelines, is a difficult feeling for a kid to achieve in a safe environment.
Tubing is as safe as they come. Take advantage of it – especially if you are at the Olympics and the kids are starting to get antsy. What a great way to burn off some energy ... and get a tonne of smiles and laugher.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Down the rabbit hole

2010-02-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Whistler Village was ever-so-slightly brighter today, blissfully alive with dancing faeries and pretty pixies. Adorned in ruffling tutus, hats shaped like flowers, and flowers shaped like hats, the revelers displayed a sense of wild, unadulterated glee unlike anything I've seen.
Their goal has always been to make that glee tangible. Thus, Kelsey's Creations was born.
A Whistler original, Kelsey Faery has been crafting outrageous outfits for as long as she can remember. When she realized that the world just didn't have enough hot pink polka dots – especially hot pink polka dotted clothing – Kelsey set out to create a company dedicated to bringing "tangible glee" to the masses.
"It's all about expressing what's inside of you," said Matt Burt, a close friend of Kelsey's and one of her models for the day. "It's what a lot of people are feeling, but don't let out."
Kelsey, along with four other merrymakers, made Whistler Village their canvas. Dressed head to toe in Kelsey's own creations, they looked like a living, breathing extension of Alice's Wonderland.
Their "ruffled, sparkly confections of glee and mirth" spread through the crowd at Whistler Live!, brightening everyone's face. It's near impossible to feel apathetic in the face of such unrepentant gaiety.
"It's fun, dressing up and letting loose," Burt said.

"If more people were like Kelsey, this world would be a much happier place."
If only everyone was willing to open themselves up to such a zany, madcap world. I, for one, was envious of their bravado, their ability to ignore social norms and just ... be.
It was one of the strangest sights I've seen in a while, and certainly the strangest I've seen in Whistler, but there's a part of me that wishes I had what they had.
It was just another example in an already long list of culture clashes in Whistler Village. But, like the others, it's been embraced and celebrated wholeheartedly.
It's unfortunate that the sense of community created by the Olympics doesn't always exist out in the real world. It shows that such community is possible, though, if people would just shrug off their own prejudices and intolerance.
"You should try it out sometime," Burt said. "You'll be surprised at how free you feel."
Baby steps, Matt. Baby steps. I am tempted to try out that hat, though.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Hey Rosetta! Yes, you!

2010-02-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Kids, punctuality pays off. Forget all this "fashionably late" garbage; good things happen when you're on time. And if you're lucky – like I was today – you might experience something you might not have otherwise.
The plan was to hit up the Hey Rosetta! show at the Whistler Live! stage in the village this afternoon. They're an amazing Atlantic Canadian act, and I was in need of some serious east coast flavour.
Excited as I was, I headed over to the Village Square about 45 minutes early, because you never know when a band is going to invent the "reverse encore." A man-boy can dream.

When I got there, the place was already full to the brim. Knowing that there was no way that several hundred people would show up in hopes of a reverse encore, I figured that something was up. Lo and behold, Wassabi Collective was on stage playing to their latest crowd of converts.
Never before has a bongo solo caused me to have an emotional reaction. Never before have I screamed "Whaaaaat!" without first having misheard someone. This thing was sick.
Unable to contain my excitement any longer, I busted out into what must have looked like my impression of a wacky, waving, inflatable arm-flailing tube man. I call it dancing.
Wassabi Collective is a seven- or eight-piece band masquerading as a five-piece. Singer Melissa Meretsky sings, raps, and plays the aforementioned bongos. Fellow frontman Brent Hongisto sings, raps, and plays guitar.
The group is rounded out by Jimmy Lewis (vocals & drums), Rahj Levinson (keyboards), and Andrew McCormick (bass). Their genre-busting fusion of pop, rock, hip-hop, reggae, jazz and funk was the perfect expression of what the Olympics are all about.
"We take a lot of different elements that don't usually belong together, and we make it work," Meretsky said. "It's one of the themes of the Olympics, really."
Hailing from Nelson, British Colmbia, the group had an idea about what to expect from its Olympic experience, but "It's been so much more than what we thought it would be. The crowds have been amazing, and we've had just the best time. There's really nothing to compare it to, for us."
Best of all, the band actually handed out free copies of a limited edition CD during their performance. When I say handed out, I mean completely free.

Needless to say, I was on a high when Hey Rosetta! finally took the stage. As sad as this is to admit (I'm from the east coast), I've never seen them live. There's always a bit of uneasiness for me when I see a band live that I've listened to for years, but Tim Baker (vocals/piano/guitar) and the boys did not at all disappoint.
There's little I can say here without losing all sense of journalistic integrity. Originally, this piece proceeded for three paragraphs during which I made verbal love to the band. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, so I'll synthesize that same sentiment into something more digestible.
Hey Rosetta! are truly one of this country's unheralded treasures. They've won a host of national awards, and still, that's less than they deserve.
I only hope their presence at the Olympics presents them with the international acclaim they've earned.
Not bad for a bunch o' newfies.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Cleaner, greener transit

2010-02-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Throughout the past 10 days, Whistler has showcased record-breaking performances from some of the most incredible athletes in the world. But it's also showcasing a record-breaker of a different kind: the world's largest fleet of hydrogen fuel cell buses, the only byproduct of which is water.

The 20 emission-free buses make up over 60% of the Whistler bus system. The project will serve as the most northern example of the "hydrogen highway" initiative that's spreading through North America's west coast.
The Province of British Columbia's investment in the world's first hydrogen bus fleet and fueling stations is also underway in Victoria.
"The transit initiative in Whistler is a big step towards sustainability. These new buses allow for reliable, accessible service that reduces maintenance costs at the same time," said Joanna Morton, media relations spokesperson for B.C. Transit.
"The hydrogen buses are actually constructed of less moving parts than a regular bus, which leads to quicker, most cost-effective maintenance measures."
The new hydrogen fuel cell buses – each with 37 seats, a 60-person standing capacity, and a top speed of 90 km per hour – are approximately twice as efficient as internal combustion engines and emit no smog whatsoever.
The buses are also built with wider doors, extendible ramps, and hydraulics that allow the bus to be lowered nine inches, which means more accessibility for wheelchairs and strollers.
"This initiative isn't just about sustainability, it's about creating the most efficient buses possible. Accessibility is a large part of that."
Although the buses look almost identical to the rest of the Whistler fleet, they're very different. By combining hydrogen and oxygen (air), the fuel cell motor converts chemical energy directly into electricity to power the bus. The only byproducts of the reaction are heat and water.

The cell itself requires no recharging as long as hydrogen and oxygen are present. According to the BC Ministry of Transport, the buses will have a range of 310 miles, a top speed of 56 mph, and an estimated life of 20 years. They also make less noise than traditional buses.
The fleet was made possible by a $45 million grant from the B.C. government, with help from the Government of Canada. The buses were built by a consortium that includes Burnaby-based Ballard Power Systems, Winnipeg-based New Flyer Industries, California-based ISE Corp. and Calgary-based Dynateck.
"The plan is to have the buses remain in Whistler for the next five years, and then we'll make a decision on where to go from there. But when you can build cleaner and greener, there's no question that these buses are a glimpse into our transit future."

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

A dance, dance revolution

2010-02-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Let's make a few things abundantly clear: I don't like dance music, I don't like dancing, and I especially don't like it when dance music is combined with dancing.

I'm already plotting ways in which I can skip out on my own wedding reception. But at Merlin's' Silent Disco Night, something strange happened: I listened to dance music, I danced along to the dance music, and I enjoyed every single minute of it.
I'm as shocked as my future wife no doubt is. I usually avoid these evenings like the plague, but if I heard that Merlin's was putting on another Silent Disco Night –featuring the talents of DJs Mike the Alien, Jimi Ray, and Canosis/Metal – I'd be there before you could say, "Is that guy wearing a donkey mask?"
The theme of the Silent Disco is this: each person is given wireless headphones upon entrance and each set of headphones has three channels. Each channel is dedicated to one of the three DJs playing on the dance floor. Everyone can switch between channels at will, listening at the volume they desire, but the bar itself is SILENT (aside from the occasional "I love this song!" or "No! No way! This is our jaaaaam!").
I've had few moments in my life more hilarious than when I took off my headphones for the first time and heard the throngs of people singing like they thought no one was listening. But people were listening, and they were laughing.
Laughing with them, mind you. Ya, right.
Not to exclude the efforts of the other two DJs, but I'd be remiss if I didn't talk at length about Mat the Alien. Decked out in a full-on donkey mask (the point of which still escapes me), Mat rocked the crowd all night with the likes of Metallica (Enter Sandman), AC/DC (Thunderstruck), and Queen (Another One Bites the Dust), but mixed in with more typical club fare, such as MIA (Paper Planes) and Run DMC (Tricky).

His ability to not only combine these disparate genres – seamlessly – made for the sickest DJ performance I've ever heard. Absolutely incredible.
Merlin's is certainly worthy of its reputation as one of the best bars in Whistler. The three levels allow for plenty of dance space, while still leaving room for the resigned boyfriends to chill out minus all the random bumping and grinding. Merlin's strikes that perfect balance between bar and dance bar.
If you have one more night left in Whistler before you leave for the mundane existence that is life without the Olympics, you won't be disappointed if you spend it at Merlin's. And if you somehow, some way hear about a bar that's having a Silent Disco Night, do it.
Seriously, though. what is up with that donkey mask?!

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Heidi's limited edition

2010-02-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

Made by skiers, for skiers, heidiskis were inspired by the longest days and most spectacular conditions. Today, at the Switzerland House in Whistler's Marketplace, Heidiski founder, Heidi Blum spoke of the company's goal to change the expectations for how skis should perform.

In what was my first visit to one of the many "Houses" scattered throughout Whistler Village, Switzerland brought the goods, literally. The light Swiss breakfast – an assortment of muffins, croissants, breads, and fruit – was the perfect pick-me-up after a tragically short sleep the night before (stay tuned for my story on Merlin's' "Silent Disco" night).
Swiss House is a classy joint, but even classier still was Blum's presentation on her beloved heidiskis. The 20 or so of us who attended the breakfast/presentation walked away thoroughly impressed.
Handmade in Switzerland, heidiskis are created tip-to-tail with 100% Swiss white ash for the perfect combination of longevity, strength, and flexibility. Most skis that "claim" to have wood from tip-to-tail actually use it in about 90-95% of the ski, with the tip being made of carbon fibre and plastic.
Meticulous personal attention has been paid to each and every ski; it takes one person two whole days to craft just one heidiski. For advanced to expert skiers, these skis allow for smooth, relaxed, high-performance skiing in all forms of terrain in every possible mountain condition.
Heidiskis include P-TEX 5000 bases for speed and durability, Rockwell 48HRC extra wide steel edges, beveled ABS sidewalls, and carbon reinforced mounts.
"For 2010, we've taken another step in the continuing heidiskis evolution." Heidiskis now integrate a titanale layer, which increases torsional resistance and maneuverability.

Originally from California, Blum moved to Montreux, Switzerland in 1989 to attend the prestigious Art Center College of Design in La Tour de Peliz. Living and studying in Switzerland, she found her perfect world: amazing skiing on her doorstep, creative projects on her desk.
"Heidiski was founded out of my love for skiing, adventure, the great outdoors, and a passion for design," Blum said.
The 2010 version of the heidiski features an amazing "wood dragon" graphic, inspired by Himalayan art. The graphic is meant to express the natural wood aspects of the skis, as well as the company's commitment to provide 10% of its profits to the American Himalayan Foundation.
"The team is proud to give back to the mountains that have inspired them."
Those interested should act fast. Heidiskis only produce about 500 pairs a year, ensuring that the company remains a passion product more-so than a money-making venture.
For more information on heidiskis, visit www.heidiskis.com/olympicnews
*Photos courtesy heidiskis
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

A true champion

2010-02-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL

When Melissa Hollingsworth went into turn six during her fourth and final run on Friday, she hoped it would catapult her into first place and a gold medal. But the smallest of small mistakes led to a rough exit, and eventually a fifth place finish.
What was supposed to be her crowning achievement became, in a hundredth of a second, the worst moment of her professional career. In one of the most heartbreaking moments in Canadian Olympic history, Hollingsworth claimed that she had "let the entire country down."
Thirty-six hours later, Hollingsworth met with the media to discuss her final race and demonstrated as much class, perseverance, and inspiration as any gold medal winner could have.

"After it happened it was hard to even get out of bed in the morning," Hollingsworth said. "But [my family and I] made the decision to go to the medal ceremony. I thought it would be part of the healing process."
After breaking into tears, Hollingsworth continued. "That was really difficult. But we definitely supported each other, and ... and shed our tears together. But then we got to watch Jonny jump on the podium like a passionate Canadian, and I wouldn't have missed that for the world."
"Jonny" would be Jon Montgomery, who won the gold in men's skeleton just hours after Hollingsworth's loss. Without a hint of jealousy, she relished in Montgomery's victory as much as she would have her own.
"We won the goal medal. Jonny did it. And I was the first one screaming when I saw his run. I was very proud of him."
After Hollingsworth's loss, the story of her Olympic journey immediately shifted to one of tragic failure, and wrongly so. What has been lost during these past 36 hours is the focus on the journey itself, what each and every one of these athletes goes through.
Hollingsworth is widely recognized as being the best female skeleton racer in the world, having won seven World Cup Medals in 8 races this season. She is a two-time World Cup champion ('05-'06, and '09-'10).
The fact that a fifth place finish has caused such emotional upheaval throughout the entire skeleton community demonstrates the prestigious position Hollingsworth is in.
When asked what she's learned from this experience, her response was instant. "I know that some athletes, if this happened to them in their home countries they'd be [criticized]. I haven't experienced that from anybody. The citizens, the media, everyone's been so supportive and I really, really appreciate that. The messages that I'm getting ... it just shows who we are and what we're capable of as Canadians.
"I'm really hoping that [my story] inspires the next generation of Canadians to dream bigger. It doesn't even have to be the Olympics, but just to be a better person and to believe in yourself and to believe in big dreams."
When asked what she'd like to say to Canadians all across the country, she said, "I want to tell the Canadians ... 'Thank you.' Thank you for your support, for your understanding, for your compassion. Thank you for dreaming your dreams, too."
A gold medal ambassador if there ever was one, Hollingsworth had one more thing to say. "When the race was over, 2014 flashed in my mind.
"I'll be back."

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.
For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

What a difference a day makes

2010-02-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

RICK MACDONNELL, SnowSeekers Inc.

What a difference a day makes. Twenty-four hours ago, I was camped out on my living room couch in pajamas, sporting only one sock and a three-day puberty beard, watching the Olympics on CBC and TSN like everybody else.
Today, I rubbed elbows with Jeff Blair (one of this country's most prolific sports journalists), had breakfast with Otto Tschudi (a two-time Olympian and the youngest World Cup skier in Norway's history), and interviewed Melissa Hollingsworth just days after one of the most emotional moments in Canadian Olympic history.
Seeing the events and the venues on television was one thing – experiencing them live was something else entirely. There is a vitality to Vancouver and Whistler that simply can't be felt through a television screen. Every person, whether Canadian, American, Austrian, Chinese, or what have you, has embraced the Olympic community in a profoundly beautiful way. There is an ever-present sense of hope here.
Having never been to the West Coast before, I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of Vancouver. I've heard it said before that Vancouver is one of the world's undiscovered treasures. After flying in last night and spending a few hours travelling around the city, I wholeheartedly agree.
It's certainly the most beautiful city I've ever been to, and I've lived in nearly every region of this country.
Now that I'm in Whistler, where I'll spend the rest of my time at the Games, I can't wait to experience everything that my colleagues have annoyingly bragged about for the last week. If the next seven days are like the last eight hours, this is shaping up to be an experience of a lifetime.
I've realized that's what the Olympics are all about: creating memories that will last the rest of a lifetime, no matter if that person is an athlete or a spectator. These are moments that most of us will never forget.
The significance of each and every event is overwhelming, which is why I'm so amazed by the poise and willpower of these athletes amidst such tremendous pressure.
To paraphrase Melissa Hollingsworth, many of them have been thinking and training for 15 years (or more) for a single moment of greatness.
One shot. One opportunity. The remainder of their lives will be drastically effected by a single movement, one that leads to a monumental achievement or a tragic failure.
My chest tightens up just thinking about it. I can't even imagine what it feels like to actually do it, and succeed.
These are extraordinary human beings. I feel incredibly fortunate to be here and see it for myself. I only hope that through what you're seeing on television, and what you're reading from SnowSeekers, brings you closer to realizing it yourself.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Metal count

2010-02-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Though my pin collecting became somewhat of an obsession, I am quite proud of what I’ve managed to acquire during the games. I am leaving the best place on earth tomorrow and it’s time to weigh in on exactly what I got and where I got it.
These are my top four favourite pins, each are rare and sought after; but more importantly, each one has its own story and memory of the Olympics.
Number 4: “I Feel Slovenia.” On our second night, we were invited to a media party at Slovinia house. You can see the whole thing on our video blog: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8AF6xtwEq0&feature=channel
The house was jammed. There was a wild mushroom and pepper soup like I’ve never tasted; Nancy Green gave the welcoming speech; everyone was excited for the Olympics to really get going.
One of the Slovenian volunteers approached me and we began speaking in a friendly manner. I felt bad because our entire team wore our Jamacian team shirts we got the night before. I asked to get a Slovenian shirt to better promote their team in the village. The volunteer peered around, squinted at me, and whispered in a thick accent, “come this way.”
She loaded me up with Slovenian swag and spirit, not even asking for a thank you in return. Like the pin says, I felt sLOVEnia.

Number 3: “The Volunteer Team pin.” The mascot pin was acquired on the Alberta Train. Though it doesn’t sound very good, this pin depicts a trail of lies. Early on in pin trading, I began to lie about the rarity of each pin in order to get better ones.
This tactic, however, backfired when I was in fact lied to and got swindled out of two truly rare gems. In fact, since that day I’ve been trying to track down replacements to no avail. The pin I got back turned out be something I could buy from 7-11 for a $1.25. Harsh.
Getting back to the Train, when I was supposed to be interviewing Katerina Witt – two time Olympic German Gold medalist for figure skating – I couldn’t help begin trading with a mother-daughter duo who both had the most supreme collection I’ve seen yet. They might as well have had diamonds draped around their necks. I instantly began salivating.
She opened the negotiating by going after the impressive looking, but truthfully dull, 7-11 hunk-o-junk. I talked it up just as it had been talked up to me and was able to snag two extremely rare beauties: team France and the mascot pin. It is, in fact, the volunteer pin and only those who volunteer at the Olympics receive it.
You can’t buy it, and no one gives it away. It was insidious, borderline villainous and against the spirit of the games, but I had to have it.
Number 2: “Clear green leaf with skier.” I saw this pin on a list of five most sought after Olympic pieces. After partying with some members of the USA Olympic team in Long Horns, I was ready for my bed. However, as soon as I stepped on the bus home, I knew it wouldn’t come soon.

Six Norwegian girls were celebrating their country’s success by belting out their national anthem. This sparked up the Canadians and an anthem war ensued. Moments like these are what makes the Olympics so great to be at. Eventually everyone fell into laughter, but I fell in love … with a pin.
It was perched on her touque like the idol in the first Indiana Jones movie. I delicately rubbed my fingers, and approached her. By this point I had many great pins, and had let go of my obsessive lying and swindling; I offered a very good trade.
She ended up with a U.S. Department of Special Security. Don’t know where it came from or really what it was, all I know is I haven’t seen another one.
During the trade, I noticed my stop about to pass; however, I was committed and decided I’d just do the whole loop if it meant getting this pin. The deal went down and we began chatting a bit more, as I now had lots of time. The girls, somehow, also missed their stop and asked the driver how best to get back.
This driver, most likely a volunteer, turned the bus around to make sure the girls got home okay. As it turns out, we missed the same stop. The driver’s kindness and willingness to go so far out of his way to help these internationals, just here to cheer on their country, will continually inspire me.
For this reason, I’ll continue to where this particular pin at home.
Number 1: “Ghana Ski Team.” Please read my full blog on the snow leopard: http://snowseekersblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/on-trail-of-snow-leopard

Writing these blogs in the media house one day, I was about to pack up, and head out to find some stories. Then I noticed a press conference with Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong and decided to stay. After hearing Kwame’s story of struggle and perseverance, they opened the floor to limited questions.
Already touched by his story, I asked him to speak more about the physical dedication it took to become a competitive Olympic skier in just six years.
He seemed like he’d avoid the question, then simply said, “I had to be my own coach, my own baggage carrier, my own physio therapist. If I got hurt I had to fix myself. It was such a difficult experience. I never want to repeat it.”
I’m not sure if a tear came to my eye or his, but the quiver and sincerity in his voice held back real pain. Kwame truly embodies what the Olympics wishes it could be. He is the enduring human spirit that reveals humanity’s true potential. Feel free to read his story and support his several causes by sponsoring a spot on his race jersey:
www.ghanaskiteam.com/newsite/kwames-army-paddy-power/sponsor-a-spot
I know they’re technically just pins, but in some degree each one connotes a memory so much better than photos, or videos ever could. These pins are treasures; I am a rich man.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.
For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Olympic spirit hits the rails

2010-02-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

As I type this, the world is a very comfortable, relaxing place. I am sitting aboard the Rocky Mountaineer Train travelling from Whistler to Vancouver in style with country music star, Aaron Lines strumming a pretty stellar instrumental. He is here to help the province celebrate Alberta Day and they are doing it in style with the transfer from one Olympic site to the next – linking Vancouver to Whistler.
The train’s been rebranded for the month by the Alberta Government and is travelling as the Alberta Train – and we were here for the party.
The provincial government’s mission was simple: to provide an opportunity for travellers from all over the world to experience a little piece of Alberta while they are here for the Olympics. hey did it through a few means, including utilizing the latest in technology supplying iPod touches for guests loaded with content on what keeps the province one of the world’s top spots.
Of course Calgary, Alberta was home to its own Olympics back in 1988, the last time Canada held these games. To celebrate that moment, Travel Alberta welcomed two-time gold medalist, Katarina Witt on the train with us.
“The hospitality and the friendliness of the people is what I remember best,” said Witt during our interview. Witt has been in Vancouver and Whistler as a journalist for ARG German TV – a broadcast rights holder – Germany’s NBC.
Chief executive officer for Travel Alberta, Bruce Okabe asked Witt what her impressions were of the Alberta Train.
“It’s a very great thing to be able to sit back and relax while on a train like this,” she said.
The perfect ride to the perfect place; I couldn't imagine riding into Whistler any other way. It’s not just during these Olympics that you can do this, the Rocky Mountaineer offers up the experience any time at www.rockymountaineer.com/olympicnews
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

God’s glacier

2010-02-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Welcome back to Whistler Whereabouts. Since I’ve been riding a lot of Whistler alpine, I decided to check out what Blackcomb had to offer. I’m not going to say I’ve been missing out, just that I wished I could have been in two places at once.
As good as the fresh tracks on Peak, Franz, Harmony, and Symphony were, they don’t have the immensity of Blackcomb Glacier.
After taking the Glacier express above the Horstman glacier, it’s time to get on the Showcase T bar and head up to the top. The T-bar leaves the tree line well behind and transports you along a sun-soaked bowl, lined with rocky spires, and untouched lines.
Once at the top, it’s just a short stroll to access the Blackcomb glacier. It’s not a fresh powder morning, but as far as blue birds go, this is bluer than a smirf milkshake.
It’s bluer than the blood of a lumberjack. It’s galactic blue. It makes me wonder how the colour blue ever got associated with depression, because this blue is what I live for.
It’s an impressive site from the top of the glacier as you look down into a bowl cut by the same natural forces that helped carve the Rockies. I can’t helped but think of Revelstoke’s North Bowl. Though this would surely be its great grandfather.
Just getting to the other side of the accumulation zone is longer than some runs on major resorts. Just as you get into the broad bowl, you can ride the Blow Hole – a wind-loaded crevasse that runs in between the sidewall of the ice and a rocky spire.
Being on a glacier, the snow is different than the rest of the hill. Some turns are yielding and soft, while others are crusty and quick. At one point it felt like I was riding on the accumulated fuzzy ice found in old freezers. While that may not sound ideal, it was a big thrill for me since I’ve never experienced that type of snow before.
The impressive scale of the glacier is only matched by its surroundings. I am reminded of driving on the Banff-Jasper parkway, except twisting down from the mountain tops are the unique signatures left by avid skiers and snowboarders.
My guide Hayley Ingman is pointing out little hikes and chutes that are, “good on powder days because you can always find snow there.”
Unlike my previous entries, which left me speechless mostly due to the conditions and circumstances around poaching them, Blackcomb Glacier has stupefied me with just how much terrain can be accessed from it’s entrance. I have a knot in my neck from craning it upward, scoping all the lines. “I just can’t get over this,” I say to Ingman.
“You should see it on a powder day,” she says with a look of someone who has seen God.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

On the trail of a snow leopard

2010-02-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

There’s a well-known joke amongst snowboarders: What’s the difference between a beginner skier and a professional? About a week.
For Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, know as the Snow Leopard, however, it took six years of unrivaled dedication, and perseverance to be able to bare his nation’s flag in the Olympics. For the average medal-contending Olympian, skiing is a life long, expensive pursuit. An average Olympian spends 250,000 euros ($355,000C) per season on staff, travel, equipment, and training.
Not to mention the incalculable amount of money, opportunity, and support these athletes receive growing up.
Kwame, on the other hand, had to begin in a nation without snow, start a program without any funding, and achieve some kind of result at the Olympic games.
Beginning at the bottom, Kwame’s first mission was to secure funding. This is a success story in itself as he alone had to make sponsor contacts, and work tirelessly just to acquire necessities like skis. The most impressive funding tactic was the Sponsor a Spot program.
Anyone can go online and purchase a leopard spot on Kwame’s racing jersey, for five dollars (3.5 euros).
Moreover, one dollar from each spot goes to support one of Kwame’s three charities: a snow leopard conservation program, and two programs helping underprivileged children from both Britain and Ghana learn to ski.
That appears to be Kwame’s main goal. He’s very clear, however, that he is a sportsman and a competitor. He takes these games and his sport very seriously. After all, Kwame notes that in the beginning, “I was my own coach, my own physio, my own baggage carrier. It was a difficult experience. One I don’t care to repeat.”
But after the Olympics are over, Kwame, who is now sponsored England’s Base Camp Group, will utilize the media attention he’s received, not for his own benefit, but to foster and build a strong ski program in Ghana. That way young athletes will have the chance to compete at the highest level without having to go through everything Kwame has.
What’s the difference between a beginner skier and a pro? A lot.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Travel in style on the Alberta Train

2010-02-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

So many ski trips begin early in the morning. Forcing yourself to get up, load up, and head out can be tough. Normally – at least for myself – I’m either stuck in a car smelling like double-doubles and McGriddles, or a bus packed with uninterested strangers.
But today is Alberta Day, and today things were different. SnowSeekers had the pleasure of riding the Alberta Train from North Van to Creekside, Whistler in style.
Boarding the train in the morning dark meant the rainbow-coloured cars were only hinted at. This reminded me of the Alberta people themselves. Their brilliance can always be noticed, but you need to introduce yourself for their true colors to illuminate.
A few stars clung to the early sky and could still be seen through the bright lights of Vancouver. We boarded the train and headed up the spiral stair to our seats. As I walked down the aisle in search of an empty chair, I was greeted with inviting looks the whole way, as if to say, “Have seat, I’d be glad to meet’cha.”
After deciding to sit with the Calgary Stampede princesses, the train lurched down the tracks. As I met my new seatmates, Vancouver’s night skyline came into view. The open space in-between the dining car and the lounge car was refreshing. The wind swirled around and the clicking tracks kept time.
Further out of town, the sun snuck over the peaks, and I met some new folks.
“How’s the train ride?” asked Sandy Best – public relations for Lake Louise.
Everyone seemed to agree, the train is the way to travel, especially for Albertans. Everyone relaxingly skipped from seat to seat, meeting and greeting as they went, just like home.

With such an eclectic crowd and elegant setting, it felt like a Wess Anderson film, or a Jack Karowack novel. The destination truly was in the journey.
Once everyone had their coffees, Bruce Okabe, chief executive officer of Travel Alberta, personally thanked everyone for coming by handing out iPods. We then all headed down to the lounge car and enjoyed country music star, Aaron Lines strumming away to the growing morning glow.
The soft blue light slowly changed to a dense gold as our mobile home-away-from-home plodded along. When we arrived into Creekside, strangers had become friends, and everyone was a little reluctant to leave.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Head first on the Alberta Train

2010-02-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Growing up in Alberta makes you a little crazy, and extremely outgoing. After all, how many places is sliding head first down a river-valley ice-bank, in –30C, considered recreational … and social?
It came as no surprise, then, when I met the perfect example of an “Albertan” on the Alberta train from Whistler to Vancouver. Hadley Lamotte is a skeleton athlete, and just like the province, she’s easy to talk to and a little bit crazy. Though she’s not competing in the games this year, it’s likely Canada will be cheering her on in the future.
As the train chugs through Squamish, Lamotte answers the question everyone asks when watching skeleton: why?
“It’s a total rush,” she says with a contained exuberance. “The sledding community is really tight knit. We all come for a love of adrenaline. We love to train and we live to slide.”
Even at this early hour, Hadley is jittering with energy. You can tell she’d prefer a coaster track to the relaxing plod of the train.
As mentioned in our video blog, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nOtSVifJ9A&feature=channel, sledders can pull up to eight Gs on some tracks; fighter pilots do seven to 10, but they have special suites.

“It’s not so bad,” retorts Lamotte. “We’re laying down flat so the extra weight of the gravity forces through the banks are manageable. Our centre of gravity is so low, we’re actually considered the safest. It’s when you begin oscillating and your head and feet are dragging on the ice, that gets a little hairy.”
She says this all through a kind of deranged laugh, as though she likes flirting with losing control.
As crazy as her sport is perceived, Lamotte finds one Alberta past-time even worse.
“I went GT snow racing with my nephew the other week. I felt bad because I push it down the track, but I got on that thing with him and screamed all the way down. Those things are nuts.”
Even though she’d rather be going head first down a sheet of ice, Lamotte agrees that if you have to be travelling, the train is the way to do it.
“It’s relaxing and you get to meet everyone on your own time and pace.”
It was time to move on – after all this is what train travel is all about, so I bid Lamotte a good day and headed down the aisle eager to find out whom I might meet next.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

BS, bull riding and snowboards

2010-02-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

The afternoon was winding down and I was enjoying some beers in the lounge car of the Vancouver to Whistler Alberta Train with Alberta country music star, Aaron Lines, chuck wagon driver, Kurt Bensmiller and bull riding champ, Ty Elliot.
In case you don’t know, chuck wagon racing is the biggest event at the Calgary stampede. You could say the venue is the Olympics of Chuck Wagon, with a million dollar purse up for grabs. This ain’t Canadian Tire money. Within the sport are a few family dynasties. The Bensmillers are one such family.
“My mom cooks for all four camps. My dad, myself, and two brothers. We’re all married now too, so everyday we all congregate as a family and have meals together.”
The Bensmillers definitely have a competitive spirit, and are taking the Alberta Train to the games for three days.

“It’s funny,” says Bensmiller, “people come up to me and Ty and say how crazy our sport is, but we were at the luge today and we think they’re insane. Than there’s the skeleton which is even worse.”
Like being at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, Elliot notes how the games have, “a similar atmosphere you can’t get on television. The best part is the people and being in the crowd watching, even though you can’t see the whole event.”
They both agree the Alberta Train is, “the only way to travel as everything’s at your fingertips. You can move around and meet people in a familiar Alberta setting.”
As crazy as their sport is, if they could pick any sport to do outside of hockey, they’d be in the snowboard halfpipe.
Elliot, Bensmiller, and Lines are great of examples of what makes Alberta, the train, and the games great: the people.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Hurry hard at Alberta House

2010-02-18T15:48:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Across the street, the Check Republic is battling it out against Slovakia. At Cypress, Shaun White is winning gold for the Unites States, again. But, as far away as the events of the games can transport someone, it’s always familiar times at the Alberta House, especially on Alberta day.
Many of Canada’s athletes hail from Alberta, including silver medalist, Jennifer Heil and silver medalist, Mike Robertson. As such, there’s a great chance you’ll end up sharing a beverage with one of the athletes.
Tonight, the line up was long. People waited about an hour to get into the open-air patio. However, once in, they were rewarded with a number of great Alberta-based muscians belting out classic tunes, an Alberta centric menu, some home-grown Big Rock selections, and a chance to share a brew with Kevin Martin.
One enthusiastic Albertan recognized the curling guru and shouted, “Hey Kevin, let me get a picture for my Grandmother.”
The crowd laughed and Martin responded, “Well you’re gonna at least get in the photo aren’t cha?”
What can I say – even the pro athletes are small-town Albertans. Even though the entire men’s curling team had a game against Sweden the next morning, they couldn’t pass up such a great time.
At one point, a Calgarian – appropriately named Mike – asked if it was okay to set his empty glass down on our table. Since our table had been turned from a dining platform to a booze station, the question caught us off guard.
Because the question caught us off guard, Mike retracted his glass in polite embarrassment. Once everyone realized what just happened, everyone all had a good laugh at our over-the-top manners, shook hands, and stuck together for the rest of the night.
Alberta House is a fantastical embassy for a province contributing so much to the 2010 games. Even if you’re not from Alberta, come down, make some friends, and get your yee-haw on.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Inside the velvet rope

2010-02-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

As we approached the entrance to the Pan Pacific hotel, a rhythmic thumping could be heard. Salomon was having a party, and just like its free ski sessions, it was about to go off.
Past the velvet rope, the SnowSeekers’ team entered a full frontal fun assault. To our right was the Free Ski TV projecting across the dance floor in mind bending HD (check the video out at www.salomonfreeski.com/caus/freeski-tv.aspx).
In front of us was the swag table, complete with the RGB colour spectrum of hats and shirts. Behind that was the full ski line, manned by a model and four tubs of beer.
Finally to our left, Kelly and Amanda-Jane were just getting the finishing touches on their new clothes … made of paint … only paint.
Slightly distracted by the ‘new clothing line,’ Ryan – sales and marketing for Salomon Canada – took me through the line up. This year’s line has crazy going on, including the rocker, making the skis spring from edge to edge and float better through the deep stuff.
The line even toys with materials; using innovative cores like bamboo, the materials create unexplored flex patterns, stability, and strength.

As the party got into full swing, people were pouring into the Pan Pacific to see what all the fuss was about. Standing around with team riders, a few people from Powder Magazine and some others from Tourism Whistler, we realized our everyday conversations about things like Facebook and poutine are way cooler being three feet inside of the rope.
If their skis are even half as good as the party, skiers who rock the Salomons are going to tear the mountain down.
P.S. our video director, Brandon Boucher had a great time. Check out the Flickr pics.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Whistler Whereabouts: Powder harmony

2010-02-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Welcome to the fourth installment of Whistler Whereabouts.
I awoke to the sound of bombs. Muffled and distant, their heavy growls signal another day of deep turns. Groggily, I sighed heavily and got up; the bombs continued.
Sound is an important connector for skiers and borders. Since I was being taken into both Harmony and Symphony bowl on Whistler Mountain today, I decided to keep my ears open. One of the first sounds I heard this morning was an Australian accent from my tour guide, Matt Mohr.
“How ya goin?” he asked, with a strong shake of my hand.
After some initial discussion about snowfall and just how good it was up top, we decided it’d be best to try for Harmony bowl. A short hike from the Whistler gondola and we were standing on top of the run, Rabbit Tracks.
The stiff wind bristled the pines, like some kind of organic wind chime. The bowl was devoid of people and sound after our boots rested, and the team took a moment to pick a line.
All four of us blew off a wind lip then jet streamed a fresh pow-line to the bottom. Going that fast through fresh sounds like a predatory hiss. As if a snake is giving you fair warning, though you’re not sure where it is. It’s all around.
Immediately after stopping, another familiar sound: laughter – inundating, enthralling, laughter. It’s the only noise that has any chance of describing how we felt. As we make our way down to the Harmony chair, others join our laughter. Everyone in line – all eight of us – were either laughing, or religiously silent.
“Unlike the Coke bottle effect of Whistler Bowl, you get to the top of Harmony and pretty much pick 1,000 different ways to go down,” said Mohr. “There’s all these little sections with six to eight turns in each. The best is linking all the sections together in one continues run. Then when that gets tracked out you can access about 1000 different areas from Harmony.”
Our run took us right underneath the lift line and linked together Little Whistler, the Camel Humps, and the trees to skier’s left of lower Harmony Piste. During this run, a new sound emerged. It’s a sucking breath as waves of snow break head high, every single turn.
Blowing through a solid cloud, everything goes white and you emerge like a rabid snowman, frothing at the mouth and hungry for more.
Like colliding sofas, Mohr hits my glove in a fierce high-five. “How’s that for ya?”
All I can do is exhale and beam.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Whistler Whereabouts: A walk in the park

2010-02-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Welcome back to Whistler Whereabouts where I ride specific sections of the mountain each day and tell you about them.
You cannot come to Whistler without checking out one of the two Nintendo Terrain parks. Having one on each mountain, Whistler Blackcomb has every level of rider covered when it comes to all things park.
If you’re just starting out, hit the Whistler park; the jumps are mellow to medium and the rails and boxes will let you progress without taking a trip to the hospital.
Once you have your intermediate skills down and you want to begin infusing some creativity and challenge into your tricks, then pop over to Blackcomb and head up the solar coaster chair. There is a dedicated lift specifically built for park laps.
Unlike any other mountain I can think of – save maybe the T bar at Red Mountain – the Cat Skinner chair is only as long as the park itself, so there’s no mucking about getting to the hits.
The Blackcomb park is spit into two sections, an intermediate park with good jump, rail, and jib lines. Then there’s the pro park.
You need a special pass for this park which you can get from the guest relations desk in the village. These are the Hollywood big guns. Often the cheese wedges are taller than a grown man, and the tables start at 12 metres (40 feet) and go up from there. You can see these monsters from the intermediate line which helps motivate riders on difficult tricks.

After all, if you’re trying to progress your board slide from a straight rail to a 270 on, and you look over to see someone hurtle themselves 15 m (50 ft.) through the air, spinning like a falling cosmonaut, suddenly your trick doesn’t seem so impossible.
Even if you don’t ride park, it’s worth it to take a ride up the chair to see something you’ll hardly ever get to see on any other mountain: pros going big.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

• Photos courtesy TOURISM WHISTLER

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Swiss bliss

2010-02-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

Nadia Durig, from Kelowna, British Columbia, jumped at the chance to represent her family’s heritage by getting in on the action happening around the games. And she did it the best way she knew how, by producing a tasty treat to show off to the world.
“With my Swiss roots I have chocolate running through my veins,” said this Red Seal chef whose uncle calls Switzerland home.

The village here in Whistler is packed full of nations who are showing off their culture via houses. The House of Switzerland is everything from the land of the Alps; it's a house that showcases the best of the country – which last night, included this competition that was caked in chocolate.
“Our history is in chocolate, we are very famous for this,” said the director of the Swiss House, David Grolimund. “For us it’s about quality, creativity and utilizing some of the country’s finest ingredients.”
The Swiss take one of their biggest exports seriously but certainly leave some for themselves.
The 7.7 million Swiss consume over 11.6kgs of chocolate per year – each. And in the spirit of that consumption, the Swiss government called on three chefs to come up with their best chocolate dessert and in honour of Valentine’s Day. Olympic visitors got to vote on their favorite.
Durig heard the call months ago by the Swiss Government to be a part of history and bring her passion to the slopes of Whistler Blackcomb. And it proved to be the right decision.
Her Swiss Bliss, a layered mousse of three types of chocolate took gold last night (Feb. 14) which, for all of us in the audience, was just the ticket to a sweet success.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Together we stand

2010-02-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

The cowbells clanged as the crowd began to chant, “Robbie, Robbie, Robbie.” Posted up just below the fifth gate for the Men’s Downhill, everyone was going peanuts as one of the Canadian medal hopefuls pushed out of the gates.
All nations are represented in the crowd. Thankfully someone has a bull horn and is shouting out the times and leader positions as they come in on his iPhone. When they announced that Swiss favorite Didier Defago had taken the lead, a large Swiss contingent is unsurprisingly overwhelmed.
They chant and wave and everyone in the crowd smiles for them. Though we all want our own nation’s athletes to win, you can’t help feel residual joy for the people celebrating beside you.
Like a wave of sound, the cheer follows Robbie down the run. Than at the notorious gate three, Robbie connected and the bells fall silent. It looks like he’s just about to go down as the gate shatters off his helmet, but being the professional he is, he sticks it out, tucks in, and keeps going.
The crowd snaps out of it, and explodes as Robbie blows by.
This is one of the biggest events in the Olympics, only made better by sharing the moments, bad and good, with everyone from around the world, just here to cheer.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Forget the games, try the food

2010-02-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

“I have a Canadian for Will,” shouted the chef, holding a beautiful disaster. The tin corrugated dish – normally reserved for Chinese take out – bowed under the sheer weight of the meal it contained.
Thick cut potatoes, topped with cheese curds, a river of gravy, and a full sausage awaited. My arteries shuddered as the plastic fork stabbed the monstrosity. I stuffed my mouth and began shaving years off my life with each glorious bite.
It’s the Olympics, and the best food from around the world is at my finger-tips.
My first experience with international flavour came at Bavaria House with a giant salty pretzel. The outside was dense and crisp; the inside was a doughy cloud, perfectly salted. One quickly turned into seven, as empty beer glasses – taller than my forearm – piled up beside the plates.
Next was a wild mushroom and pepper soup from Slovenia. If this dish is ‘common,’ the Slovenian quality of life is anything but. It was a rare treat in that I have never tasted anything like it. When you taste something completely new, your brain and taste buds have a sit down and try and work out all the flavour intricacies.
Because of this I can only describe what it wasn’t. It was not watery, greasy, salty, thick, processed, or bland. It was the perfect soup.
Sadly, I will not be able to taste everything the world has to offer at the games; but damn it, like the athletes themselves, I’ll give it my best.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Collector or addict?

2010-02-14T20:53:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

It began as a formality. “Here, have a pin,” said Nancy Greene during the Slovenia House opening last night. I didn’t even look at it. Just stuck it to my lanyard and smiled. But something changed as I pinched the backing, pierced the canvass, and pressed the trinket into place.
“Vancouver 2010, Canada,” read the pin. White and silver with appropriate national and Vanoc colours. Had I known what I was about to get into, I never would have said, “Thank you.”
Pins are the currency of the Olympic games. Pin collectors, buyers, and traders populate the village like undercover police; they could be anyone. As the addiction worsens, people disappear, their faces go, their names go, all I see anymore walking around the most electric place on the planet are the pins.
Volunteer 2010, Munich applicant 2018, Swiss house in both English and Swuisse, Intrawest corporate pin, and the Quatchie Zambonie Visa collection, this is all I can think about.
It’s gotten so bad I tried to trade my team Ireland for a line cook’s nametag. What’s worse is that I got it. I feel like I really hit rock bottom when I saw what looked like a rare white rectangular Canadian pin on the ground, only to realize – as I picked it up – it was, in fact, someone’s unchewed gum. And yet, I can’t stop.
The pin collecting is a great way for even the most out-of-shape spectator to get into the spirit of the games. The transaction of trading usually begins with meeting someone from another country. Then you connect to that person, not through language, but through your shared sport of pin collecting.
There’s a round of competition in which both collectors try to “win” the transaction by getting the better pin. Finally there’s a ceremony in which both ‘athletes’ congratulate each other and say, “Have a great Olympics.”

Everyone has their own tactic for trading up and acquiring rare and sought after pins. My tactic is quite amateur: I lie.
By telling people the pin is harder to get than it actually is, I have been able to get some pretty great items. However, this backfired when I realized that I am not the only one to have thought of the tactic. I began to wonder if I had, in fact, been trading crappy pins for other crappier pins.
I met a gentleman who could only be described as eclectic. He waved a double-sided flag, Canada on one side and America on the other. He said, “It’s not about competition, it’s about coming together.” I believed him.
After giving up three solid pieces, I received what I thought would be my crown jewel. A circular gold, flag encrusted, double pinner that reads “Whistler Blackcomb Pin Collector.”
On the back it says the pin is limited to only 2010 pieces.
After showing it off today I was gloating to one gentlemen who replied simply, “Oh ya, you can buy those at Seven Eleven for a buck.”
I suppose just like the games themselves, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but it’s always a treat just to be playing the game.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

A meeting with gold

2010-02-13T21:57:00.000-07:00

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

One of the best things about travel is you never know what or who is around the corner. That sentiment couldn’t ring stronger than here in Whistler at the Olympics. At a media reception tonight at the Whistler Media Centre – one of the epicenters for the world’s media in Whistler Village – I was in mid-sentence when I turned around and said, “Hey that is Ross Rebagliati.”
It took seconds for me to make my move to get in a chat.
For those of you who need a refresher, back in 1998 at the Nagano Olympics Rebagliati won an Olympic first – gold in snowboarding, only to have it stripped after a drug test, which tested positive for marijuana.
Rebagliati was taken into an interrogation room where IOC representatives from around the world grilled him – an 18 year resident of Whistler – about the lifestyle that he was a part of.
At the time, snowboarding was a demonstration event at Nagano and there were a lot of misconceptions about the sport and the people.
Anyway, the decision was quickly overturned and the IOC reversed its decision, re-awarding Rebagliati his medal.
Within days, he was back in the village here in Whistler.
Being in the crowd that February in 1998, I can tell you the atmosphere was almost exactly like last night’s as Canadian athletes took to the stage during the opening ceremony festivities.
It was pretty sweet – 65 athletes who couldn’t make it down to Vancouver for last night’s opening ceremonies paraded through Whistler before a crowd of about 25,000 strong. Mike Janyk, Canadian Men’s Slalom athlete and Whistler resident, took the mic for a bit to speak about the support he receives from the community. Something Rebagliati talks about as well.
“This community is fantastic. They’ve even named a park and a run after me. Whistler is this incredible place that never disappoints its own.”
Stay tuned for more unexpected experiences – word is we may even be out snowboarding with Rebagliati later in the week.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Whistler is live!

2010-02-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

DOC POW, SnowSeekers Inc.

Are you ready for a bash? The folks in Whistler are. Thirty-eight shows over six stages that run from 9 a.m. through 11 p.m. each day. They have brought in some hired guns including some of the Whistler’s finest to produce this experience that includes Shawn Pozer of Boombox, a Vancouver-based production company, who just got back after working with the Super Bowl.
Kristine Robinson is with Whistler Live!, managing the six stage sites that are sprinkled around the village. “This is a fusion of sport and entertainment,” explains Robinson.
And she’s right. Over the course of the games, the folks from the community are working to bring these stages to life.
“Damien Marley, Swollen Members, Bedouin Soundclash and several cultural events are just some of the performers who will be a part of the celebrations,” she explained.
Going off their experience and success of such event as Whistler’s World Ski and Snowboard Festival in April and events in the summer such as Crankworx, the team is working to bring the best of Whistler to the roughly 40,000 to 50,000 people who are expected in Whistler each day.

Having been to both events, I know what it feels like to be immersed in a crowd of soon to be 10,000 of your closest friends with an awesome band on stage. The vibe is like something you’ll ever experience anywhere else – this is Whistler at this best.
They’ve been waiting for the moment for over 50 years – they’ve bid for the game five times, first starting in 1964! In this case, it’s ‘sixth time is the charm.’
For a full look at what is happening in and around Whistler through the games, you can check out www.whistler2010.com/whistlerlive

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Whistler Whereabouts: Whistler Bowl

2010-02-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Welcome back to Whistler Whereabouts, my daily report on specific ski and snowboard areas of Whistler Blackcomb.
Today’s area included some of the best runs I’ve ever, or possibly will ever have: Whistler Bowl and the Peak chair. (Please read my blog, Waiting for it to better understand the atmosphere in the lift line, waiting for patrol to open the area. Moreover, check out the trail map to follow along the areas I’m speaking to:
www.ski.com/resorts/trailmaps/tmn_whistler.jpg)
My first taste of the Peak chair admittedly came yesterday during a white out wind storm. The light was dangerously flat and the only discernable features were the many cliff banks that define the area. In fact, the poor visibility made the chair ride a bit horrifying as massive slabs of rock would materialize out of the mist and snow, then drop away into nothing. It made me wonder just how high up I really was.
Going down was like reverse blindness, just piercing white in every direction. Feeling my way down a combination of deep pow and the crests of mammoth moguls was disorientating. However, through the maelstrom it was easy to know how good this area could be.
Today, I realized that potential. Rising above the clouds, the Peak chair area was draped in sun and snow alike. After waiting in line for the area to open, it was finally time to experience what I previewed a day earlier.
The Peak chair accesses four glory bowls. Each one is jammed with steeps, chutes, cirques, couloirs, glades, cliffs, and all manner of intermediate and extreme terrain. From left to right there’s Glacier Bowl, Whistler Bowl, and West Bowl.
It’s a hard decision when you reach the top and throngs of people are scattering in every direction trying to get the freshest tracks on the best lines. But you have to make a quick choice since more people are following close behind, ready to grab your perfect line before you can.

I decided to go with what I vaguely knew, Whistler Bowl. Straight up, the bowl is a typical alpine fare, meaning it’s wide open and loaded with snow all the way down to the tree line. You can follow the bowl into gladded areas called Doom & Gloom and Frog’s Hollow. But that means taking two chairs back to the top, burning a full fresh run.
Not knowing, I began to follow a sharp traverse leading skier’s right, heading under the lift line, high up in the bowl. What I didn’t know is that the traverse led to a tight couloir known as the Coffin. You can’t turn, you have to air over a few drops, and it’s straight down.
I opted out, angry for wasting time. Somehow I found myself on the ridge separating Whistler Bowl and Glacier Bowl. Looking at the steep never-ending line I had to double check if the area was actually open. It was.
In 19 years of skiing and snowboarding, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve experienced a run like this, and one of those times was cat skiing. It just kept dropping away as my edge sunk deeper into the fluff. A skier came on my left and crossed my line with a slash. I blew through his sluff like a fireman running out of a burning building. I was painted with snow and took a hard breath in. It felt like breathing for the first time.
The run began to mellow as I came into the Saddle. My adrenaline level began to drop as my euphoria level began to rise. I looked back at my line in admiration for only a second because more skiers and riders began pouring over the crest. It reminded of the scene in the Lion King with the stampeding water buffalo.
Back in the lift line, everyone was silent with glee. I am told on a normal day you only get one run before it’s all tracked. I managed to get three, all fresh. The Peak chair takes skiers and snowboarders to the top of Whistler mountain, but today it might as well have been the top of the world.
Stay tuned for more runs like these.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Truly Canadain

2010-02-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Canada House opened today as any good Canadian venue should: with breakfast. The pancakes, music, and maple syrup were all in plentiful supply this morning as Canada House opened its doors on the first day of Olympic competition.
The mood was all "Please" and "Thank yous," "After you" and "I insist." Even though it was packed, everyone was eager to make space for one more hungry Canadian. Families with kids, and glass-eyed spectators alike ate with verve and cheer.
We as Canadians, after all, have a lot to cheer about at these Olympics as our nation gets to host the world and demonstrate our hospitality.
Even though the games represent the panicle of international competition, the mood within the village is anything but competitive. The conversation this morning buzzed with last night’s ceremony event.
In true Olympic opening ceremony fashion, something had to go slightly wrong.
Off the top of my mind, I remember a foible in Sydney with the hydraulics, and a big scandal in Beijing involving the replacement of one little girl who could sing for a more aesthetically pleasing one who couldn't.
However, unlike those ceremonies, ours was received by Canadians with whit and comedy. We are able to laugh at ourselves and let others in on the joke. By comparison to other opening mishaps, cutting to Steve Nash awkwardly looking around, signaling the hydraulic malfunction was more hilarious than embarrassing. Moreover, the rest of the ceremony was downright spectacular. The lighting effects with the whales, the fiddling and dancing routine, and KD Lang’s beautiful rendition of Halleluiah were just a few highlights.
So what if the delegates were a bit late and Wayne had to fend off some ‘jovial’ yahoos when travelling to the outside torch site. As Canadians, we expect these lesser important quirks.
Remember when Chrétien got ‘attacked’ with a pie to the face? Or when our flag was hung upside down during a medal ceremony? Or who could forget Rebagliati’s ‘performance enhancement’?
While other nations would be embarrassed, we take it in stride, and let out a collective chuckle over some pancakes.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Whistler Whereabouts: Franz, Old Man, and some killer glades

2010-02-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Welcome to Whistler Whereabouts. Because Whistler Blackcomb is so massive with so many places to ski and ride, I’ve decided to ride a new section every day and tell the tale of my experiences.
My first day, however, may very well be my best. I began the day at 6 a.m., heading to the village with a “first tracks breakfast” ticket in tow. This program allows anyone with a lift ticket to head up early and get breakfast on top of Whistler at the roundhouse lodge. It was a great spread, with a fine selection of bacon – essential for early morning fuel.
At some point, someone clangs a giant bell, and everyone stuffs down their stray pancakes, and gulps the rest of their juice and coffee, then scrambles outside for first tracks. Since you can access several areas from the lodge, people are breaking off in every direction, making it impossible not to second guess your decision.
Thoughts like, “Those people look like they know where they’re going.” creep in. But then you strap in and commit.
The area I committed to included the Old Man area, followed by Franz and the glades skier’s left of Franz. These funneled down to the highway 86 cat track, eventually leading to the Big Red Express chair, and back up to the Roundhouse lodge. (head to Whistler’s interactive trail map at media.intrawest.com/whistler/trailmap/index.html?int=banner-nonflash_mapbtn_101807 to follow along).
Getting first tracks through this area was varied and quick. The wide open meadows of Old Man nicely gave way to the chutes of Franz and the spacey glades left of Franz. The trees themselves looked like Old Growth cedar, making a steep face very technical and picturesque. In two hours, we lapped these lines no less than seven times. Each time fresh tracks were had.
Though it contains a few traverses, and a bit of planning, the area itself is steep and technical. If the snow wasn’t there, I would have had a difficult time on a board. But on skis, it would make for some seriously technical riding. Stay tuned for part two of my day, and the highlight of my life: Whistler Bowl and the Peak Chair.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Waiting for it

2010-02-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

Nearing the top of the hill, on the second last lift before the top is bittersweet. The sun crests the clouds and two things become immediately apart. The conditions are ideal, but the chair to access them isn’t open.

Bombs are going off and every so often a patroller skis a line and gets back on the lift, only heightening the tension and angst. Every time the chair begins to turn, you think it’s time. Then you see a rope drop and you can’t put your board on fast enough, only to find out it’s still not time.
“Sorry folks, it’ll be half an hour at least,” says the liftie. Even still, the line is beginning to build.
After a few more runs, the line is full and there’s no more risking it. It’s time to line up and wait. The mood is almost somber. It has gravity. It’s maybe like watching a meteorite about to land on earth and change your way of life forever, but nobody knows where or when or how, all they can do is wait.

The ski patrollers again ski down and skip to the front of the line. Everyone hears the ding ding of the chair lift start cycle.
“Is it just for the patrol?” someone asks. The patrollers don’t make eye contact with anyone in line, and just push strait to the chair. The machine lurches forward about to pick them up. Everyone is waiting for some kind of update before the patrol leaves. The line is silent. The patrol turns back and says, “Strap up everyone, it’s time.”
The meteor lands and everyone screams and rushes and panics, then it gets truly crazy. By the time I make my way to the front, the first chairs have unloaded at the top and people are imprinting tracks in the untouched bowls and chutes. A skier pokes out at the top of air Jordan – a triple drop section that combines for about 120 feet. Everyone in line goes nuts. Poles are banged together, boards a slapped on the graound, cheers, yells, and “DO IT!” fill the air.
He points his pole and lets go. He lands the first drop and takes off the second. Landing in the larger patch a slab breaks off, hurtling towards a 60 footer. He pops out with just enough time to set himself, then lets go again off the 60 foot face.
Sticks the landing and everyone’s world has been changed forever. My chair scoops me up and I turn my gaze to scan for the perfect line. They’re all perfect. Soon it will be mine turn. I can’t wait.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Aussie makes the cut

2010-02-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

“That third gate is seriously wicked,” said Max Isaac as he looks over the men’s downhill course. Today is training day for the skiers, and according to Isaac they’ll need to pull out all the stops to top the podium on a course that isn’t “a token Olympic downhill.”
Isaac is a ski school instructor from Australia. He’s been working in Whistler for five seasons and flies home ever summer to work the winter season in Australia. That way, he skis all year round. The man knows what he’s talking about.
As a downhill racer gets a little sideways through a gate and over a steep, Isaac winces. He’s cheering for a hometown friend.
“I grew up in the same town as Jono,” he says with pride. He’s referring to Australian skier Jono Brauer, one of two Australians to be selected for the competition.
According to Isaac, Brauer was recognized as a natural talent at a young age. He’s been training with the Canadian team for a long time and is the first Australian to qualify for all the Alpine events.
Unfortunately, Brauer has had several major injuries and corresponding surgeries.
“He has trouble even walking,” notes Isaac. “He has had to avoid training, instead just rocking up, doing one ski before the event, then just going for it.”
The Alpine ski events are notorious for season and career ending injuries.

Just this year during the Lake Louise world cup event, American favourite, T J Lanning suffered shredded knee ligaments, a neck fracture, and shattered Olympic dreams all in the same horrifying moment.
But, that’s what makes Brauer so astonishing. Even after all the injuries and all the surgery, and all the abuse his body ahs taken, he’s here in Whistler competing one more time for Olympic Gold.
Isaac, will assuredly be right along the fence cheering Brauer on.

Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Fine tuning in Whistler

2010-02-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

“There’s way more to it than people realize,” says Stefan Jones. Standing in the Whistler tuning station I was about to learn just how true Jones’ statement is.
Typically, getting your skis or board tuned involves a quick drop off. You hand your equipment over to the someone dressed in wax-stained attire; they look back at you with a mixed air of superiority and apathy; you try your hardest to sound like you know better.

Usually phrases like ‘core shot’ and ‘base grind’ are about as far as you go before submitting, giving up and saying, “What ever you think is best.”
In this sense, getting a tune is a bit like taking your car into the mechanics: you’re not sure exactly what’s wrong with it, you just know how to describe it in vague, generalized terms. It’s also the right thing to do, because a good tech does know more than you and shouldn’t care what your opinions are.
“I know exactly what the equipment needs just by looking at it, and that’s a skill that only comes with years of experience, riding particular snow conditions, and working with all kinds of equipment problems.”
Almost like an artist seeing the stroke pattern in a painting, or a musician hearing sheet music, Jones sees the structure and functionality of a ski or board.
“Different skis and boards have different structures depending on their use. After all, you’re not riding on snow, you’re riding on a thin layer of water cushioned by a thinner layer of trapped air,” explains Jones, like I understand any of it.
Apparently skis and boards melt snow underfoot as they ride around. Different skis will trap and use air pockets differently, depending on if they are slaloming, racing, or free riding. In this way, techs imprint a pattern, or “structure” in the wax on the base of the ski or board to maximize its functionality. After getting a tune, take a look at your equipment and notice the pattern imprinted.

In order to imprint this pattern, Jones uses a high-dend tuning machine, complete with ceramic diamond grinding stones, and diamond imprinted steel tuners.
“The machine has over 300 signatures I can put onto the equipment, and it’s all in German so that took some time to learn.”
There are so few of these machines in Western Canada, one person composes the entire maintenance department. Again, Jones knows what kind of riding you’re doing, and what conditions you’re doing it in.
After the machine grinds and imprints a signature, then the equipment gets waxed. Again, depending on temperature, conditions, rider type, equipment type, and a host of things the average skier or border never thinks about, wax plays a vital role.
“This chunk here costs about a $150. That’s not even the high-end stuff either. A vile of the powder runs about $275, and it only lasts for one or two runs.”
The Whistler tuning station has one last phenomenon worth mentioning. Unlike the rest of the village, the tuning shop is staffed almost entirely by Canadians. Given all the knowledge, experience, and time it takes a tuner to get as dialed in as Jones, it’s no wonder the locals are the only ones accepted.
Without riding the mountain every day, in every type of condition, for many years, you can’t understand how best to tune the equipment and read the customer’s needs.
“It’s not just their skis or boards the customer is trusting us with, it’s their lives.”
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

First impressions

2010-02-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

WILL COLFORD, SnowSeekers Inc.

After skiing and snowboarding for 19 years, getting my first turns at Whistler today left serious impressions.
Not to brag, but I’ve ridden nearly every resort in Western Canada. I rode the day “epic” became cannon. I’ve had turns so deep, my board ran into bioluminescent sea creatures. In short, the last two decades have been good … really good.
However, my life as a rider will forever be divided into two categories: before and after Whistler. Coming into town it’s very clear Whistler is not a typical ski town; it’s a mecca. There’s a reason Whistler is consistently ranked amongst North America’s best ski destinations, and it begins in the village.
The cobblestone streets are lined with the best restaurants, shops, pubs and clubs. Each one potentially contains your idea of a perfect party. Each menu contains your idea of the perfect meal. Each shop has that perfect item you can’t find anywhere else. Sure the chains are present, but they’re buried within the most eclectic collection.
Of course the good attracts the bad. Prices go up. Pretensions rise. Exclusivity becomes the norm. The only element devoid of this phenomenon, however, is the riding. It’s all good. To get an idea of what Whistler Blackcomb is like, picture your top five favourite mountains.
Then think of what makes them your top five: terrain, specific areas, hiking, glades, groomers. Then take those five elements and put them into one hill. Heading up the 7th Heaven chair, I saw the Sunshine Garbage chutes, Revelstoke’s North Bowl, Lake Louise’s glades, Terminator from Kicking Horse, and Red Mountain groomers. Then I realized, I was on one chairlift, of one section, of just one hill.
I’m not going to get into specifics yet; suffice it to say I’m looking forward to the next two weeks of exploring just what made Whistler a host mountain for the 2010 Olympics, and the best winter destination in North America.
Stay tuned to www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews for daily blogs, videos and more throughout the Olympics.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Fourteen years goes by in a blink

2010-02-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

By DOC POW

In 1996 I was living in Vancouver, British Columbia working with the now concluded PGA Tour – The Air Canada Championship. Our golf tournament office shared space with this tiny office of three, who at the time were working on Vancouver’s bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Working on my tourism management diploma, I was in their office every day poking my nose around to learn just how a city bid for the world’s largest sporting event.
That summer, Vancouver went up against Toronto who received the Canadian nod to go up against Beijing, and we all know who won that bid process. That left Vancouver in the winter spot for 2010 (which as a snow addict I couldn’t have been happier about).
Fast forward 14 years to today and now I am sitting in Whistler with 24 hours to go before the world’s biggest winter festival and sporting experience kicks off. We drove from Edmonton to Whistler – a 14-hour cruise that took us to Vancouver to scoop up our broadcast and accommodations trailer for the three weeks. Who could afford the $2,000 a night for rooms? As a start up media company, not us – so we got smart and last August rented ourselves a 31-foot deluxe trailer – our new home away from home.

Our company, SnowSeekers Inc., one of Canada’s leading snow-minded new media companies, is here to bring you a look at the culture of the Olympics, all the concerts, the parties and stories to answer the question of why Whistler is now welcoming the world. Our team of journalists will do this through You Tube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Flickr to bring this exciting look at the games. We are pleased to hook up with audiences in the UK, Australia, the US, Canada and over 154 countries from around the world who will be following us through our partnerships with www.basecampgroup.com, saltmotion.com, www.freshpeaks.com and more.
Every day you can expect from us a daily video blog, editorial, photos and updates from the epic centre of the Olympics. For the full experience, please follow along at www.snowseekers.ca/olympicnews
Stay tuned – there is LOTS to come!!!

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

On the hunt for bison and the aurora borealis

2010-02-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

Wow - talk about a feast. Just finished an amazing all-you-can-eat Alaskan King Crab dinner at the Sawridge Inn here in Fort McMurray. An excellent start to our Alberta Ice Road adventure.
True, it's a little different from SnowSeekers' usual slope-side outings, but we're all about the snow and enjoying winter to its fullest – and travelling the ice road definitely falls into that catagory – especially when you throw dog sledding, ice fishing and keeping an eye on the night sky for the famed aurora borealis - the Northern Lights.
Bill Rockwell, a local tour guide with Altacan Tours and expert on shooting the dancing lights, gave us a tutorial on the best way to capture the memory no matter what type of camera you have, and to a person, we are all stoked to see if we can match the images he's taken. Fort McMurray and points north are suppose to be a hot bed for the lights - let's hope it clears by tomorrow night.
Bright and early tomorrow morning, we hit the road - next stop Fort Chipewan and on to Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories on Sunday. It's my first time being this far north and I am definitely excited. This entire area is part of the Wood Buffalo National Park which takes up a big chunk of Northern Alberta, sides into NWT and is Canada's largest national park. It's also home to the last free roaming herd of wild wood bison.
Can't wait to see these big bruisers, plus once we hit Fort Smith, we will be hanging out with Sonny MacDonald, a renowned carver who has carved pieces for the Pope and of for the Queen. I'm sure he has one or two stories to share.
Alas, internet is sketchy in these parts, so you will have to stayed tuned to SnowSeekers.ca to see how this journey ends and whether or not I survived Alberta's Ice Road. Top speed is 45k.
Hope you are finding some truly out-of-the-way snow adventures this weekend,
Barb

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Sunny On The Slopes TEASER

2010-02-01T19:02:00.000-07:00

As we mentioned before, Sunny On The Slopes is currently being cut. We are very excited to release the final cut here at SnowSeekers, but we have something for you to check out in the mean time!

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Lessons learned

2010-01-28T02:43:00.000-07:00

By Mark Sereda, SnowSeekers Inc.

Since joining the SnowSeekers team in early January of this year, I …‘the newbie’…’the rookie’…and/or even ‘the intern,' have learned some important lessons that I feel read the best in blog-format: short, informative, and (most importantly) useful. Not only am I learning how to professionally operate a camera and advancing my editing knowledge/skills, but I’ve also picked up some interesting life/athletic lessons along the way.

As a treat for those of you who drop by the website/blog, I offer my advice through recent personal experiences. Enjoy.

Nordic Skiing.
Kimberley, British Columbia offers up great viewpoints during some adventurous trails, perfect for Nordic skiing. After being relieved of camera-duties, Doc Pow took me down a few challenging paths, which he said took him back to the good old days. It had been a decade since I had last fitted my feet into Nordic skis, and knew some learning was at hand, or I suppose foot.

Turns out the entire body plays a big role in smooth movement on these skinny sliders. It began to slowly come back and soon enough I was coming up with entertaining descriptions of the movement-style required. The best was my idea to think of it as doing a “backwards-moonwalk” because your toes stay to the ski and you're propelling yourself forward. Think about it!
Extras:
- I keep my knees parallel to the set tracks to maintain balance.
- I noticed that pushing my ankles out, inside the tracks, during downhill slides helped me stay in the tracks.
- Always stretch before taking part in Nordic skiing and prepare yourself for some serious exercise, especially if you’re trying to keep up with Doc Pow.

But Nordic skiing with Doc Pow was relaxing compared to our recent tour with the Olympic Torch through Alberta. If I learned anything on that tour, I learned how to shoot on the fly – fast. The learning curve here at SnowSeekers is steep to say the least. If you haven't seen any of the footage, feel free to drop by www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Maximize your winter vacation with SnowSeekers Go-Guides

2010-01-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

On January 14th, SnowSeekers officially launched 12 Go-Guides for the iPhone. These digital tour guides--downloadable as iPhone applications--give you all the latest and greatest information about 12 of Western Canada's greatest resorts, right on your phone.

Each app includes:

a complete overview of the mountain and all available activities
a digital trail map
local dining and accommodation listings
an RSS feed with daily snow reports
tips from locals on where to ski, drink, and eat
a full listing of town hotspots, with event details
a GPS locator that tells you where you are in relation to your place of interest
phone numbers, web links, and google maps of all shops, restaurants, accommodations, transportation, and off-hill attractions

Everyone wants to leave a resort knowing that they had the best time possible. Knowing what activities and amenities are available goes a long way to maximizing your winter vacation.

For prices, a list of titles, and other info, visit www.snowseekers.ca/iphone.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Lake Louise's spins a little frozen magic

2010-01-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

The SnowSeekers team is spread far and wide this weekend. The film crew is in Revelstoke shredding and paragliding - hope they keep their pants clean. And some of us are here in Lake Louise for the Ice Magic festival and a few runs at Lake Louise resort.
After an enjoying an excellent dinner show at the resort (the Torchlight Dinner), I took a stroll around the staging area here at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, where the carvers are set up; carvers from around the world I might add - from New Zealand to Russia.
It was the first evening of competition and the blocks of ice are just that - for the most part, beyond carving out some rudimentary designs, it still looked like mammoth blocks of ice. But some of the carvers were kind enough to show their end designs on little signs - pretty impressive. Can't wait to see what happens today.
While I'm spending the day with the carvers and doing a little snowshoeing, others are at the ski hill. Friends of SnowSeekers, Howard and Shauna said yesterday at the hill was brilliant and there's a hint of snow in the air today, so SnowSeeker scribe, Will Colford should be laughing down every run.
Hope your weekends are equally fun - and loaded with some outdoor adventure.
Cheers, Barb
PS: If you haven't checked out the Alberta portion of the Olympic Torch relay, do so at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

A bittersweet farewell

2010-01-22T00:19:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

It was a bittersweet afternoon at the Alberta/British Columbia border as the Olympic flame left Alberta for its final push towards Vancouver and next month's Winter Olympics.

Among those on hand was Premier Gordon Campbell of British Columbia, as well as former Alberta premier, Peter Lougheed, who was the last Alberta torchbearer. Lougheed was met at the border by B.C. Lions head coach and general manager, Wally Buono.

After 12 wonderfully hectic days of following the flame through this province, I was sad to see it go. But the team and I have nothing but fond memories of our time with the Relay, and have come away with a renewed respect for not only the province of Alberta as a whole, for hosting such amazing events, but each and every Albertan who came out and supported the Torch along the way.

"The people of Alberta have been very strong supporters and great partners of ours as we work so hard to make these Canada's games," said Campbell. "The border is really a great place to symbolize the unity of not just British Columbia and Alberta, but Canada as well."

Jim Richards, the director of the Torch Relay, has been present at each and every stop throughout Alberta. This native Calgarian is still taken aback at the passion and spirit of his home province and how much they're behind these Olympic games.

"It's been remarkable seeing the enthusiasm, the support, the passion that Albertans have for the Olympic games. it's only been a generation since they hosted the games in Calgary. Albertans understand the importance of that, the legacy and what that means to the communities."

"It inspires everybody," Campbell said of the Torch. "I think it inspires young people particularly, which is what's so great about it."

The young were out in full force throughout this entire Relay, a fact not lost on Richards, who wanted to thank them all from the bottom of his heart.

"I'd like to thank the Albertans for every moment of every day. When they took their kids out of school, when they came to join us at celebrations, they participated fully. It's been remarkable. Hopefully it's been as good for them as it was for us."

It was, Jim. It absolutely was.

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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The Torch hits the slopes

2010-01-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

By Jim Barr, SnowSeekers Inc.

Over the past two days, the Olympic Torch has been carried to some pretty stellar places and now, it’s been carried through the Canadian Rockies and into some pretty spectacular spaces. Twenty-two years ago the Government of Alberta helped to open up Nakiska as part of the 1988 Olympics, an outstanding ski resort tucked away in Kananaskis country – it was the site yesterday of Olympic history, which incorporated a collection of up-an-upcoming athletes. The folks from Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, the owners of Nakiska, put on a great celebration

The return of the Olympic Flame to Nakiska was a triumphant one that included skiers from the Nakiska Ski Team. It was pretty cool to see them rip the slopes as they made their way down towards the Flame. Over at Sunshine, the celebrations continued with the addition of a lasting 2010 legacy here in Banff. Whistler Blackcomb has installed a temporary chair that will take people from the base of Creekside up to the finish line for the downhill events. Afterwards, it will have a permanent home at Sunshine Village.

“Sunshine has played host too many Olympic athletes who have trained here. With the installation of this chair, we help to continue that legacy,” said Sunshine’s president, Ralph Scurfield. “It was a partnership with Whistler Blackcomb that said, ‘OK, we will get the chair if you guys buy it once we are finished with it,’” said Scurfield, in a special celebration that welcomed the Olympic Flame to the slopes of Sunshine this morning.

Sunshine has been known to be an environmentally friendly ski destination, having received multiple awards for its environmental efforts. The resort welcomes the new chair in May where it will replace the Strawberry chair, helping to enhance the visitor’s experience. For more on the new installation and for all the exciting details on Sunshine please click here.

Just up the road, a big party was happening on the slopes Lake Louise Ski Area – owner Charlie Locke dawned his chariot (a snow cat with a pretty impressive set up on the back so he could stand and wave at the crowds) to take the flame up the slopes of Louise. The folks at Louise had constructed a pretty stellar ski jump outfitted with the Olympic rings to welcome the Torch in style. Ski jumpers, a solid ski run with a collection of ski instructors and a crowd of admirers were all a part of the action.

There were more than a few spectacular ice sculptures too, all in celebration for the Ice Magic events that are taking place this weekend at Lake Louise Village.

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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A skinny Olympic legacy

2010-01-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

By Jim Barr, SnowSeekers Inc.

The Olympics bring a wealth of benefits to any host country and its communities. We’ve seen this in action as we’ve travelled with the torch; it binds a community, ignites spirit, creates memories and leaves tremendous opportunities.

In Alberta we’ve seen some stellar benefits for our athletes. In addition to some stellar training facilities at places like Canada Olympic Park and Nakiska Ski Resort, the torch made a stop to the Canmore Nordic Centre yesterday – where it was carried in the finest of forms. The Canmore centre, also a legacy of the ’88 Olympics, is a training grounds for many of the 20 athletes where the torch made its way around the centre for a spin on skinny skis.

It was a pretty cool site when the torchbearers made their way around one of Canada’s premier Nordic training facilities ski by ski. It was a train of 20 skiers, including George Martin, who was a course marshal for the ’88 Olympics here in Canmore. I caught up with him just moments before the flame was back in his eyes. “It will be an exciting feeling to have that torch in my hand; I am very thrilled to see it again.”

The group of 20 skiers included Kurtis Wenzel, who is the youth World champion of the sprint biathlon. “The traditional biathlon no longer exists, it’s now broken up in to three or four differing events and Kurtis has mastered one – the sprint,” said his mom, Trish.

Did you know that half of the Olympians who will be representing Canada in these games are based or are from this province? One would think it might have a little to do with the wonderful training facilities

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Canadian heritage on display in Banff

2010-01-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

As the Olympic flame made its way through the last few legs of its tour through Alberta today, it stopped at Banff's Cave and Basin National Historic Site, the birthplace of the National Parks system in Canada. One hundred and twenty-five years ago, in 1885, Banff became this country's first National Park, and it was right here in this spot.

In 1885, the Hot Spring Reserve was created, and since then it has slowly grown into the large park that is located there today. There are now 42 National Parks across the country, and there are well over 900 National Historic Sites.

"For us, this is where it all started, and for that reason it's a really important place for us," said Amar Athwal, interpretation supervisor for the Cave and Basin.

The Parks Canada crew were really excited to have the Torch pass through their beloved site. Their energy was palpable. "It's amazing for us. Just like the Olympics for Vancouver, this event will live in our history as one of our great events. To have it come to the birthplace of the National Parks system, it's unique for us and very important for us as well.

This park is a part of Canadian heritage. It's been with us for 125 years, and let's hope that its going to be with us for the next 125 years. For that flame to come out here, it shows how important this place is, not only to those people who work here, but to all Canadians."

Truly a proud Canadian, Athwal doesn't like to refer to these Olympic Games as taking place in Western Canada; these are Canada's games, meant for all Canadians.

"I think as Canadians we'd be completely behind the Olympics whether they were in Eastern Canada or Western Canada because this is truly an amazing country no matter where you go.

We're hoping a lot of people come out here from Eastern Canada and watch and cheer on the athletes as we, together, try to break our medal record."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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From Hong Kong with love

2010-01-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

Nothing quite compares to a proud mother.

Maria Leung is the mother of Torch bearer Shirley Leung, who ran through Banff, Alberta today. In Maria's case, "proud" might even be an understatement.

"We're so, so excited," Maria said. "We were so very happy to see her (Shirley) run with the Torch today. We truly feel a part of Canada now."

Maria and her husband, Peter, came to this country 20 years ago from Hong Kong in order to provide better opportunities for their children; although they never expected that carrying the Olympic flame would be one of them, this is definitely what they had in mind.

"We feel very lucky to have been a part of this. Something like this didn't feel possible before it happened, and now that it has ... it changes what you believe."

The entire Leung family was on hand in Banff. They even brought a homemade sign that said "Go Shirley!" in Chinese calligraphy. They were living it up at the festivities, as well.

"Oh, gosh, this is so much more than I expected!" Maria said. "This party is so much fun!" Maria was dancing around with her Canadian flags and glowing Coke bottles all evening, and her energy never wavered. All this after flying straight from Hong Kong the night before.

She can always sleep. She can't always see her daughter carry the Olympic Torch.

"We never thought she (Shirley) would have a chance to do this. I won't sleep for days," Maria laughed.

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Banff went Bomba(stic)

2010-01-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

For the Cuban-Canadian Latin-jazz group, Bomba, being a part of the Olympic Torch Relay ceremonies in Banff is a validation of their status as Canadian citizens.

"This really means something to us Cubans," said Aldo Aguirre, one of six Bomba members. "Coming to this country and achieving success is one thing, but to be embraced and accepted like this is a big deal. We're all honoured to be here."

Having toured for over 10 years in places like Korea, Italy, Cuba, the UK, and the United States, Bomba knows what its like to leave Western Canada (they're based in Calgary) and return to find it all the more beautiful.

"Coming back after a long absence allows you to see a lot of things you take for granted," said guitarist, Rubim De Toledo. "The tradition that's rooted in Western Canada, the natural beauty, and of course, all of the fantastic winter sports here. I can tell you from experience that when people from all over the world think of winter and sports together, they think of Canada."

Listening to the guys of Bomba talk about their adopted home is to hear everything that's great about this province.

"When we're gone, we miss the calm, the quiet, the less-than-hectic lifestyle," Aguirre said. "Western Canada is ... just so empty. But in a great way. There is so much room to breath here and enjoy how gorgeous this province is. There's nothing better than the chilled-out mountain lifestyle where time just doesn't seem to go anywhere."

Sounds like a Canadian to me.

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Bow Valley connected to the Olympics through lifestyle

2010-01-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

On every leg of the Olympic Torch Relay through Alberta, a different choir has performed the song, There's a Light, written by the New World Choirs. In Canmore, the chosen choir was the Bow Valley Chorus, led by Music Director John Goulart.

The Bow Valley Chorus has been performing together for over 10 years, singing classical choral music with orchestral accompaniment. They typically sing the likes of Mozart and Beethoven, but Goulart knew that the opportunity to perform There's a Light at a Torch rally was too great to pass up.

"We haven't done something like this before," said Goulart, "but we've certainly performed in some major concerts over the last decade. To perform as part of the Olympic celebration is a privilege and an honour that we're all really proud of."

A native of Canmore, Goulart is certainly in tune with what makes Albertans achieve such great heights athletically.

"Just looking at the Bow Valley, specifically, you can see that there's a very strong connection to the Olympics here. You have the Banff Ski Racers, you have the Banff Ski Academy, there's Thomas Grandi who lives in Banff, and a former neighbour of mine – Jan Hudec – is on the national ski team and has done very well internationally.

"We also have two gold medalists from the last winter olympics who live in Canmore, Chandra Crawford and Sara Renner. These people are prominent in the community, they play an active role, and because of that they get a tremendous amount of support from the community."

There certainly seems to be a connection between the Bow Valley's athletic success and the way in which its residents live their lives.

"Everyone gets out and participates, gets out and runs, gets out and skis. There's a whole bunch of winter activities that basically make this place one of the the nicest places to live in Canada."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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The early birds

2010-01-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

For Ann Drabble and Nancy Fehr, volunteering during the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta wasn't just a full-time job, it was a full-time job on top of a full-time job. Both teachers (now retired), the ladies would teach until 5 p.m. every day before heading to the old airport.

"After the athletes got off their planes at the new airport," said Fehr, "they would get transported to the old airport, where we'd help them get their pictures taken, supply them with their IDs, and everything. Basically, we were in charge of providing the athletes accreditation throughout the games."

"They couldn't go anywhere or do anything without their accreditation," Drabble said. "We had all the power," she laughed.

The pair also volunteered for the 2010 games in Vancouver and were accepted, but due to some unfortunate circumstances they will not be able to attend. They took some solace in the celebration at Canada Olympic Park today, though.

"This is a great experience," Fehr said. "We're reliving the whole (Olympic) experience again. It reminds me of when Calgary had the 20th anniversary here two years ago, and Eddie the Eagle was here, and a lot of the Olympic athletes and family were here. It's so great to catch up with people and experience everything together again."

When asked why they decided, of all the Calgary-area festivities, to come out to the COP Torch relay, they had one unified answer. "This is the one where they were giving out cowbells!"

"We want to ring them when the torch bearers come," Drabble said. "The first 500 people got them, and we got the first two. We started a waiting line, we wanted to get them so badly. We were even the first two to get the pancakes!"

Fehr, feigning annoyance, turned to me with a smirk, "She picked me up at 6:15."

Unapologetically, Drabble replied, "When something like the Olympics happens, we're right in there."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Torch still burns bright, even after 22 years

2010-01-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

Twenty-two years ago, Keith Shaw of Calgary, Alberta was one of eight Olympic Torch bearers who rode in the first van as the Torch passed into this province. To this day, the feeling has never left him.

"It was just fantastic," Shaw said. "My Dad was there, which made it really special for me to have been able to share that with him. It's still one of my fondest memories."

Shaw shook his head when asked to think about what the current Torch bearers are thinking and going through at that moment. "You get excited in the van while you're waiting your turn. Then all of a sudden you realize that it's your turn, so you get out, and you're still waiting. Then you see it coming towards you and the momentum is almost unbearable."

As he spoke, Shaw's eyes became increasingly distant, and it was clear that he wasn't in 2010 anymore. He was back in '88.

And then when you run with it ... it's powerful. It's powerful."

Dressed in his original Torch Bearer suit from 22 years ago – which still fits perfectly, I might add, as a result of him still swimming four times a week – Shaw beamed about the power of Western Canada and it's Olympic reputation.

"We put on a pretty good show, I think. We had a fantastic crew of volunteers, there were so many people who were committed and they were trained very well."

Shaw doesn't see things playing out any differently in Vancouver. "The coaching programs, the volunteers, and the facilities are what brought the Olympics back to Western Canada. And now with the 'Own the Podium' program, I think it's really going to pay off. It should be fantastic."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Singing for their country

2010-01-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

Each stage of the Olympic Torch Relay has featured a performance of our national anthem, and tonight's rendition, by a local elementary choir from Airdrie, Alberta, was certainly one of my favourites.

The invitation to sing tonight's anthem was personally extended to L'ecole Francophone D'Airdrie by Mayor Linda Bruce herself, in recognition of the school’s dedication to strengthening the forming pillars of learning: learning to do, learning to know, learning to be, and learning to live together.

I had the chance to chat with two of the performers, Desiree and Aimee Sweetapple, aged seven and five respectively. They were sweet (pardon the pun) enough to give me a private rendition of what they told me is their favourite song.

When asked what her favourite song was, young Aimee immediately cried, "Oh Canada!" and looked at me like I was crazy to think that there could possibly be a better song out there. I asked her why it was her favourite, and she said, "Because ... the flag," then proceeded to giggle and wave her tiny Canadian flag back and forth to hammer home her point.

There's something about the innocence of a child that can take you out of your familiarity with something and reveal just how powerful and precious it is. The Sweetapples' performance of our national anthem – their obvious pride in singing it – was a poignant reminder that this song we all know so well has a power and meaning beyond those simple words.

So many of us mouth the words and sing along to the anthem at sporting events and community gatherings, but rarely do we listen to those words and take in what they mean. Hearing them from the Sweetapple sisters was like listening to an entirely different song, one that beamed of pride.

"We sang on stage tonight," Aimee said, "for our country."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at YouTube/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Olympic Torch connecting athletes and fans

2010-01-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

For Jim Richards, director of torch relays for VANOC, the Torch's trip through Alberta has been something of a homecoming.

"I've been living abroad for many years, and I thought that getting involved (with the relay) would be a great opportunity to come back to Canada. I've worked with the
Olympics since 1988 in Calgary, and ever since then it's been a big part of my life.
The entire torch relay has been magic, but particularly so here in Alberta. "

Tonight's leg of the Torch relay was in Airdrie, just minutes away from Richards' hometown of Calgary. The close proximity allowed him to reconnect with not only his friends and his family, but the province and culture that raised him.

"Half of Canadian Olympic athletes reside in Alberta, so I can't help but believe that there's a huge connection between their success and their families, friends, relatives, and neighborhoods. There's a feeling and a good that's created as a result of the games, and the result of participation in sport. Albertans truly understand this and it's a huge part of our culture. That, to me, says so much about who we are as Albertans."

All bias aside, Richard's favourite moment of the entire Torch relay thus far took place this morning at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.

"For me, the epitome was when we had the chance to take the Olympic Flame down to the ice where Canada started to build out its heritage (in '88). To share that flame with the athletes that will be representing Canada in three short weeks, to watch their eyes connect to the people in the stands, the message, the Olympic flame, to see them recognize that we were all there to support them ... that was just beautiful. That was the best moment of the entire relay."

When asked for a message he'd like to send to all of Canada's Olympic hopefuls, Richards' said, "Do your best. Give it your all. Don't hold back. Do yourself proud and do your country proud."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Chestermere's brightest light

2010-01-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

On a day when the Olympic Torch came through the town, Chestermere, Alberta's brightest light was the Keister Family Fiddlers.

"Words cannot describe how excited and proud we are to be involved with the Olympic Torch Relay here in our home of Chestermere!" said Sherry Keister, guitarist and mother of the Keister Family Fiddlers.

The Keisters got Chestermere's Torch celebration started with a bang today, as they took to the stage and electrified the home crowd. Consisting of mother Sherry, and daughters Quinn, 14, Claire, 13, and twins Faith and Paige, 10, the Keister Family Fiddlers have been wowing audiences all over Alberta for the last four years.

"We all started playing the fiddle when we each turned six, but we started playing together as a group four years ago," Quinn said. In addition to their fiddling, the girls also step dance and sing – all at the same time.

While today's Olympic rally was undoubtedly one of the group's career highlights, these young girls are no strangers to the spotlight. Just last year they managed to perform a whopping 150 times.

"The girls have already gone through a lot," Sherry said. "They've played in minus 30 weather at the the Airdrie Festival of Lights, and performed to almost 25,000 at the BMO Kids Day Breakfast at last year's Calgary Stampede."

While Chestermere's crowd wasn't quite 25,000, the ovation they received would have fooled anyone. The town is clearly proud of their hometown girls. "Playing at home, at the Torch rally, it makes things more exciting, but it also makes you more nervous," Quinn said. "I had an idea what it would be like, from seeing it on television, but it completely exceeded my expectations."

"It was a lot of fun," said the twins, Faith and Paige.

Because of the group's busy schedule, the girls have actually been going to school online this year. This "virtual schooling" seems to be working out quite well for them all. "We love it," Claire said. "It makes things a lot easier. And because of the CD, we don't really have a lot of time."

The CD in question is a planned Keister disc that should be hitting shelves this spring. The girls have been working diligently on it for months, and based on today's performance, it can't come too soon.

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Torch Relay, a first class experience

2010-01-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

For teacher Judy Sliwinski's grade 6 class at Chestermere Middle School, the Olympic Torch couldn't have come through Chestermere, Alberta at a better time.

"My grade 6 kids are learning all about ancient Greece in class right now, so I think that makes them feel really tied to an event like this," Sliwinski said.

Sliwinski's class was one of dozens of classes that attended Tuesday's Torch relay in Chestermere. In all, five local elementary schools sent their kids to watch and take part in the festivities.

"This is a once in a lifetime event that they (the kids) are able to witness here today. Who knows when the flame with pass through Alberta again, so for some of them this might be the last chance they ever have to see it."

For Sliwinski, she's relishing the opportunity to see the Torch this time around. "As far as I recall, the Torch didn't pass through Chestermere on its way to Calgary in 1988. So just like the kids, this is a once lifetime opportunity for people like me as well."

The Torch's presence in Chestermere today was a symbol of the town's rapid evolution over the past number of years. Sliwinski feels a sense of validation, that her town is finally on the map.

"This is a huge deal for Chestermere, and we want the kids to see that. This town has grown so much in just the last few years, so I think that today is, in part, a celebration of that. Chestermere is a significant place now. We now have the facilities to accommodate an event like this."

As important as this moment is the for town as a whole, Sliwinski knows that the real winners on this day are the children. "Today will show the kids how important these games are to people, and how they aren't just games. It's great for them to see how the whole community comes together to celebrate."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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Saddeling up with the Flame

2010-01-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

By Jim Barr, SnowSeekers

Albertan Mac MaKenny, owner of the HomePlace Ranch in southern Alberta, rode his way into the history books tonight, by becoming the first and only torch bearer to have ever taken the Olympic Torch by horseback. He was on the back of his trusted steed, Rollin' Thunder on the corner of the famous "Red Mile" or 17th Ave and 4th St getting ready to saddle up with the Olympic flame. For him it was certainly not just another day out on the ranch. "It was a magnificent experience and great to do it on horseback. This horse was pretty comfortable with it, he's been in a few movies and has even had Jack Hanna on his back when he was up here shooting his TV show this past summer."

For MaKenny, the Olympics are a time to reflect, to think about all the good things that have come our way."You think back to how quickly time has gone by and how many things have happened since 1988. It makes you appreciate all the things that have made you happy and all the people along the way that have helped to create those memories."

For MaKenny and his horse, Mr. Thunder, I wanted to know what they thought about this great province, "Alberta has so much here, its western spirit, its Canadian Badlands, the beautiful Canadian Rockies and than to be in the City of Calgary tonight with all this excitment, this province really has everything." But with all of this is there anything that surprises him about Alberta? "Everything surprises me about this province, we have so much going on here."

Finally I asked MaKenny if there were any specific messages he'd like to send out to the atheletes that will be in these games in only 25 days. "This is our opportunity to shine, leave it all on the ice, the slopes or the in the sleds, do you'r best and bring us back gold!" For more on MaKenny's hometown hospitality, take a trip out to his dude ranch sometime, consult www.homeplaceranch.com For all the latest on our Olympic coverage, consult Travel Alberta's YouTube channel

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

The fever's on fire

2010-01-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

By Jim Barr, SnowSeekers

These last few days have really taught me a lot about the human spirit. Travelling on the road with Olympic flame has educated me on the fact that so many of us really do care about each other, we really do want to help each other out and make a positive difference in the lives of others. It's the 12,000 torch bearers who emulate this to a tee and after continued discussions with them these past few days, it's easy to see just why they were chosen for their historic roles.

There was a lot of history in the crowd last night in Calgary as this city welcomed back the Olympic torch for the first time since 1988. Many were sporting the vintage '88 Sun Ice Olympic jackets - many very proud Albertan's. Folks like Don Goodrow, who remembers his time as an Olympic torch escort runner like it was yesterday. "My responsibilities were to travel along side the torch as it made its way across the country. I helped if anyone wanted pictures with the torch and or allow people to run along side of it. Those were still the most emotional days of my life."

When I asked him about what it was like seeing that torch again tonight some 22 years later, just what that meant for him, and with tears in his eyes, Goodrow said, "When the torch bearer spoke of emotion it was such a true statement, it brought it all back. Those incredible moments that we shared with the entire world."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube.

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A return of the Buffalo Runners

2010-01-19T09:15:00.000-07:00

For a deeper history see:

By Will Colford, SnowSeekers Inc.

“We didn’t know until four o’clock last night, and then we got the call from the Olympic committee. We are very proud of our grandson,” said Liander Strikes With A Gun, grandfather of today’s torchbearer, Mike. In addition to being selected for the torch relay, Mike was selected or “captured” for another prestigious and historical society: the Buffalo Runners.

Ken Williams, who reinstituted the society, told me that before the introduction of the horse and rifle, Native bands would use sites like Head Smashed In to great affect. The Society of Buffalo Runners was a separate group within each tribe. It was their mandate to identify runners at a young age and “capture” them into the society. A very spiritual affair, these elite runners would be trained and instituted to herd the buffalo to these site. The Runners were prided for their speed, legendary endurance, and skill.

The real work of the Runners began after locating the herd. “There would be a few runners in the front and a few behind the herd. It was the rear runners’ job to haze the buffalo. They’d wear coyote skins and act as predators pushing the herd forward. The runners in the front would dress as buffalo calves and goad the matriarchal sows ahead by calling out to them,” explained Williams. This way the runners in the front would pull the herd along.

The runners would move the herd in this manner all the way to a large gathering basin just behind the cliff. Once there, an appropriate time would be selected based on many factors. “Sunrise is always a good time for both spiritual and practical reasons.” After inciting a stampede, the rear runners would haze the buffalo ever forward. The community would be on hand to haze any splintering buffalo back on course. The forward runners, however, were in danger of being trampled. Through their training, however, they would have previously scouted spots – such as boulders or crevasses – in which to quickly duck into. The noise of a herd of stampeding buffalo, thundering overhead and all around must have been terrifying.

This is the society that Mike Strikes With A Gun, today’s torchbearer, is apart of. The society is very prominent today thanks to the efforts of people like Williams. A runners’ rally is held every few years that carries the community’s own ‘torch’ across hundreds of kilometers of prairie. Like the Olympic torch relay, “It’s not competitive. It’s not for points or high scores. It’s to unite the community, by bringing people together within one of our oldest traditions.”

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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So you think you can dance a man's fancy?

2010-01-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

So much of the Olympics rests in people's freedom to create and spirit to achieve. For Luke Whiteman of Calgary, Alberta, that freedom and spirit take shape in the form of Men's Fancy Dancing, an Aboriginal style of dance native to Montana, where he was born. He has lived in Calgary for the last 11 years.

"Opportunities like the these (Torch) relays are wonderful because they're all about being recognized," Whiteman said. "People from other countries, maybe they don't hear about Native culture; so getting to dance in so big a place, and for it to be seen worldwide, it gives us that chance to show our culture."

Whiteman wowed the crowd at Olympic Plaza with his vivacious performance, one simultaneously breathtaking for both the performers and onlookers alike. If you take most forms of dance and consider them walking, then Men's Fancy Dancing is sprinting. It's fast, energetic, exciting, and powerful.

"I always tell children that in order to be healthy, you have to eat right. To be physically fit, you have to exercise. And that's what I tell them when I dance. Get motivated."

Although it's also about health, it's even more so about pride. "We dance because we love it and because it's our culture. Most importantly, though, we do it to show our children that it's important to (preserve) our culture through dance. To have that opportunity, it allows us to be role models. We want to show the kids, 'Don't be ashamed of your culture.' Don't be shy. It's who we are.'"

Whiteman's opportunity to educate and strengthen his people isn't over in Calgary, however. Just six days ago he was informed that he has been chosen to participate in the Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver.

"(Tonight's dance) was just a teaser," Whiteman laughed. "Just wait until Vancouver. I can do a lot more."

Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

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A community in need

2010-01-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

By Rick MacDonnell, SnowSeekers Inc.

Synonymous with community and cross-cultural togetherness, the Olympics have rarely, if ever, been a platform for such an important relief effort as the one that is taking place right now in Haiti.

Tonight, at the Torch's stop in Calgary, Alberta, Merv Chia, volunteer regional president for the Red Cross's Southern Alberta chapter, came out to speak to the gathered crowd of nearly 20,000 about the work being done in Haiti, and all the work that yet needs to be done.

"Here in Canada, (the Olympics) really pull Canadians together," Chia said. "It's so gratifying for us to be a part of this and to band with the Olympics to spread this very important message."
That message: keep up the hard work.

"On the regional level, we're fundraising all across the country. So far, across Canada, we've received approximately $26 million in funds already. The support and generosity is really incredible. And the funds are matched by the government, so you can really double that number."

Despite the massive relief efforts that are taking place, not just here, but all over the world, Haiti is still in a state of utter and total disrepair.

"As soon as the earthquake hit, the Red Cross organized what's called 'Disaster Response Teams.' The Canadian Red Cross has sent staff there. We've sent volunteers there providing emergency disaster response, which at this stage is emergency shelter, food, and water.

"But the need is huge, and it's going to continue because the devastation to the country is enormous. The last statistic that I read was that 70% of all their buildings have been destroyed. So there's really no basic infrastructure left, it's been crushed. So what we're focused on is just trying to help rebuild communities."

In addition to disaster response teams and medical personnel, the Red Cross has organized psychosocial programs to help people cope with the trauma that they've received.

"The shock itself is just so inhibiting."

If there was ever a time to embrace your worldwide community, this is it. For not only does the Olympic Torch connect communities, it most certainly connects the world. Please donate.

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

The three pillars

2010-01-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

By Will Colford, SnowSeekers Inc.

Growing up in a small town, I know first-hand the importance of staying busy. Idle hands are, after all, the Devil’s playthings. I know it now and my parents knew it then. As a result they kept me busy and involved with as many sports and recreational programs as possible. The community of High River, however, has a significant advantage over my hometown: a recreation centre.

Above the entrance are three signs designating the three activities contained within the rec centre, or as I call them, the three recreational pillars of any small town, swimming, curling, and ice rinks. “Without the rec programs the kids are out on the street, maybe getting up to stuff they shouldn’t be,” said Darryn Gold Thorpe, director of the centre.

Cynthia Phaero, the center’s program administrator tries, “to implement a wide variety of sports programs to see which ones the kids like best, then promote those.” The local care foundation donates money, enabling a free swim twice a week.

The centre isn’t just for the youth either. “During the day the seniors use all the facilities through a wide variety of programs like aquatic aerobics, a curling league, and even a senior men’s hockey league called the Old Timers. But more than just a sporting facility, the rec centre is a social hub where people of all ages within the community go to be social and enjoy sport.

It was a fitting site for the Olympic Torch Relay ceremonies in High River. Make sure to catch the Travel Alberta Olympic Torch Relay videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/TravelAlbertaCanada

For full stories on Western Canada's winter destinations, visit snowseekers.ca and friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.