Sunday morning, and the boys, Rod and Rich are on their way to see Olympic Ski jumping, cross country and finish their day at the men’s luge where I will be. I get up and drive them to the buses where they are to be picked up. I found out another interesting detail today. Whistler has changed their traffic flow so that you cannot drive all the way around the village. There are road closures on main roads, and one way streets on others. This was all very apparent because we were running late, and trying to find the right place to go and couldn‘t get through our normal ways. There are police all over the roads, so we were able to ultimately find our way to parking lot 5, but the police here are from all over the place. So, they don’t necessarily know the answers to questions. I feel a bit of comfort knowing that I’m not the only one to give a blank expression when people ask me specific questions about things. It’s a common theme. However, there are enough of them to know where to go that we were directed appropriately.
I say good bye to the boys, wish them Happy Valentine’s Day, and go back to the trailer to prepare for another day of work.
Walking to work today, was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was out, and I needed sunglasses since the glare from the wet ground and bright sun were nearly blinding. Besides, I haven’t seen sun for awhile. I walk into town see the German Ski team hopping on the “special” the bus I was thinking of bypassing in order to walk the rest of the way. But….I decided to ride the bus. One of the people on the bus was Maria Riesch, the friend and rival of Lindsey Vonn, our best hopeful for a medal. I didn’t know it was her at the time. I looked up her picture afterward, and sure enough, it was her. The athletes get to ride public transportation, too. When I got up to get off of the bus, I was wondering if I should say something…so I did. I said “Good luck”, and she said “thank you”. She seemed quite nice in our short encounter.
I got up to the gondola, and the lines were really long. I got in line, and halfway through, one of the volunteers told me I could cut into the Ski School line. That was awesome since it was close to the time I needed to be to work. I climbed under the railings, and went into the ski school line, got on the gondola and I was off and running.
Tanis, Ed, Kate, Candance and Elianor were all there today. We said our hellos, and I dove right in. I have this down now. Say hello, scan the credentials, sign the shift card, give a meal ticket, and say “have a nice shift”, except that today I can add, “and Happy Valentine’s Day” Cool, huh? (or should I say “eh”?)
It starts to rain….hard. We have ponchos, and so we had many workforce members, paid and volunteer coming to see us to obtain ponchos. How could it do this? It was so nice only moments before? There are about 5700 spectators out there getting completely soaked. But, this is the mountains after all, and weather can’t be well predicted.
And that is what happens, the sun comes out again within an hour. And now it is really warm. On the radio comes a plea for help. The large shades the cover the track need to be pulled up and down as the lugers are going by to shade the ice between rounds. The ice on curve 16 is becoming too thin to run. So, Kate asks me if I would like to work on the track. Without hesitation, I said “absolutely”, and we walked quickly up to the track.
Kate took us to the area where there are blinds or shades that shield the track from sun and rain. There are hundreds of them around the track, and you can see them on TV if you look close enough. They are about 15-18 feet tall and about 8-10 feet wide. My job was to have the shade open as the luger went through, and immediately pull the shade down after they pass. There were about 30-35 of us all doing this simultaneously so it looked pretty cool. This allows the spectators to see the luge go by, and to also immediately shade the track to decrease further track breakdown. There is a 6 foot tall pole with a metal hook on the end that we use to do this. In my case, I am short enough that each time I have to reach the metal handle on the shade with the hook, I have to step up onto the support rail. So, this is a workout….and it is hot outside. This is fun.
This is how it worked: On the big screen we would watch as the next luger got ready to go. When the pushed themselves out of the starting gate, we let the shades up. We would watch as he went through each turn on the big screen, and then we would come ripping around the corner past us we would quickly close the shade. I was so close I could touch him if I reached over far enough. I probably would have gotten in trouble, though. After closing the shade, we would have to hold it down. The shade wants to recoil, and so it takes some strength to keep it down until the next luger starts. This is about a 1-3 minute wait. I look up the curve and see some people almost laying on top of their shade to keep it down. I decided to take the pole that holds it down, and do sort of a wrap around my shoulder and leg to keep it down so my arms don’t start aching. But, we were right in the action, and it was a blast. The biggest caution is that one must not drop the pole into the track while a luger is coming down. It could kill the luger, so great caution was taken to not drop your pole into the track.
Rod and Rich arrived on the scene and were able to watch the luge. They could stand right next to me but outside the spectator railings. They had a GREAT time at the ski jumping. They told me how amazing it was to watch people flying on skis. Rod recommended that I go and watch this special event if given the chance. He was so excited to see the events at the Olympics. It is truly a magnificent event, and I can’t believe, still, that I am in the middle of this place at this time with such excitement.
When the luge is over, it is time for them to go home, and leave me alone with the trailer. Rod is highly organized and has filled the water tanks, gone through all of the systems, and has bought a few more groceries for me. It is Valentine’s Day, but they have to go home, so we will have a Valentine Dinner when he comes back up next week. We say our goodbyes at the point in the Sliding Centre where spectators and crew go their separate ways, and I watched them go. I am sad to see them go, but have much to do, so won’t dwell much on it. I just like their company!!
I walked back through the village when I got off work, and people are all over. There are athletes, spectators, families, women and men dressed very fancy, and snowboarders with clothes hanging off their bodies. The spirit in the air is of joy and excitement. There are TV broadcasts scattered throughout the village with replays of the day’s events, and a band playing in the middle of the village. It is really not my kind of music, it is hard rock with screaming, which I might have enjoyed at some point in my life….but people are still gathered around as laughter fills the air. It is a wonderful night. I stop to listen and watch, and enjoy these moments. When I turn and walk the last of the village, there is the memorial to the luger. It is still near people’s hearts. Except tonight instead of a solemn feeling, there is a man hanging from one of the Olympic rings while a friend snaps his picture. The flowers and picture remain, but the air has changed. I don’t know if I’m quite ready to hang off the rings yet, but glad that the Olympics still go on.
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