OLYMPICS JOURNAL/Whistler all the Way

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners Alexandria's own Jill, Ad and Alec Eichner on top of Whistler Mountain

By Jill and Ad Eichner

VANCOUVER, B.C. - As they doused the Olympic flame Sunday and ended what has been one of the most successfully executed and most watched Winter Olympics ever, what better opportunity to hit the slopes minus the crowds.

Here at Whistler it’s beautiful, with great snow and some gorgeous sunny days.

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners We have no idea what these people have to do with the Olympics.

It has snowed each of the past three nights, leaving fresh soft snow for us skiers to enjoy in the morning.

Skiing here during the Olympics has been great; the slopes aren’t crowded and there are often no lift lines at all.  We’ve found this to be the case at the other Winter Games that we’ve attended as well (including Salt Lake/Park City in 2002, and Calgary/Lake Louise in 1988) because many people fear crowds (that never materialize on the slopes) and because roads are closed to cars.

We were skiing on the day of the men’s downhill and were making our way over to a slope where we’d heard you could view the event (there’s nothing like a free viewing spot to make your day.)  

We pulled over when we came upon a bunch of skiers watching along a huge downhill course, cheering as the racers flew by.  It was quite exciting because this particular spot had a very tricky corner and the racers had trouble holding their line – when one missed the gate entirely, the crowd moaned in sympathy because that means he was disqualified.  

Our son happened to overhear someone say, “It’s lucky these women are only practicing.”  

We laughed at realizing that we couldn’t tell the women from the men, flying by us at 90 miles per hour.  

We then found the other downhill course – with the men in the actual downhill race – and joined a much louder and larger crowd there cheering on the athletes.  

Whistler Mountain had graciously installed a loudspeaker up there on high on the course for us skiers to hear the results as each racer crossed the finish line.

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners A view out of the Peak-to-Peak Gondola

A daytime temperature in the 30s at the base of the mountain means that strolling Whistler village – a great people-watching experience during the Olympics – is comfortable and fun.  

Athletes are strolling in their matching team outfits, shopping for souvenirs by day and partying hard at night when their events have finished.  

Many of the matching-outfit folks we see aren’t athletes but the support team for their country – we’ve seen Czechs everywhere, in their loud crazy outfits, and when we’ve asked them, none have been athletes.  

On the other hand, Jill ran into two US women bobsledders in a clothing shop who were happy to chat – they were the brakeman and driver (or, shouldn’t that be brakewoman?)

On a cloudy day we decided to take a day off from skiing and see if we could get tickets to an event here at Whistler.
 
We did: the men’s biathlon, tickets for $25 each.  It was not only a bargain, it was an incredibly fun event to watch.
 

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners An Olympic skier takes a practice run.

Jill and Ad Eichner live in Alexandria. This is their fifth Winter Olympics.
 
OLYMPICS SCORECOUNT

On the last day of the Olympics the United States had clinched the overall medal crown.  Canada, on the other hand, will finish in 3rd place overall, but are guaranteed of having the most Olympic gold medals.  Including the three golds Canada won Saturday (speed skating-team pursuit, men‘s snowboarding-PGS and men‘s curling). They now have 13 total.

The United States picked up two more medals Saturday.  The first was a silver in the speed skating team pursuit.  And the last was a gold in the four-man bobsled.

The climax of the games for the country will take place when the United States faces off against Canada in the gold medal hockey game.

The United States has the most medals with 36, Germany is second with 29.  Canada had another big day to give them an unbeatable total of 13 gold medals.

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners The view out the bottom of the Peak-to-Peak Gondola linking Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains

The United States men have far and away the most medals with 23 and they have clinched the medal title.  The gold title for the men is still up for grabs though.  Canada and the United States are tied with 7 each, and the winner will most likely be decided during the gold medal hockey game tomorrow.  

As for the women, the Germans will end with the most medals by the time closing ceremonies roll around.  They currently have 18 medals and 8 of those are gold.  Canada is still in second with 14 and the United States is third with 12, only 2 of which are gold.

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners Jill Eichner strikes an Olympic pose.

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners In the Whistler village, strange and hilarious mimes.

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners Stylish Russians in the Olympic Village.

Photo Courtesy of the Eichners A Vancouver building, dressed up for the Olympic games.