Day 13 - Last Post

Arrived at the hill today and was informed that if we got the site cleaned up after the men's event we would have Friday off. After 10 shifts at Cypress I was glad to hear the news. We had a huge crew of volunteers today so the chop and step went pretty fast. We did some clean up while the men did their practice jumps and had our final pep talk from the crew leaders prior to the start of the event. The women's gold medal hockey game was playing on the big screen for the spectators so we got to see the game wrap up and hear the roar of the crowd at the mountain as Canada took home another gold medal. We got a acknowledgement from the site announcers for our hard work prior to the event starting and all of us stood on the knoll and did the wave for the 7000+ fans who gave us their support back.

The event started well with Kyle Nissen standing in 1st place after the 1st round of jumps. However it seemed that all the athletes took things up a notch and all of them went bigger and more technical in the 2nd round. Since Kyle had placed 1st in the 1st round he jumped last in the second - a medal was his to lose. His jump wasn't as difficult as the others and his form was off which resulted in his second jump not being worth enough points to make the podium. The athlete from Belarus took the gold and his coaches went mental! They were so happy for him that it was hard to feel too bad for the Canadians. At the flower ceremony the medalists turned and saluted us as we stood above them so that was a nice touch.

Before cleaning up we got a bunch of group photos on the triple jump and volunteers took turns sliding down it like seals. I took a run on skis halfway up the jump for a photo before we all started tearing down the fences and banners and putting away the shovels for the final time.

We got to wrap things up in the athletes lounge and were treated to some free beer and food to celebrate our hard work. The crew leaders said a few words and we toasted each other to finish our time at Cypress. Back on the bus for one more trip back to town where we all met up at a pub close to the shuttle point for a few more beers and some time to celebrate our two weeks as a team at the Olympics. Some more pictures and raised glasses before I said my goodbyes. Lots of hugs and high fives to end my time with the freestyle aerials crew. From what we were told from other volunteers at the other events, the aerials event is one of the toughest to work and the most physically demanding.

In retrospect, my time at the Olympics was worth every chop with the shovel, each painfully slow sidestep down the landing hill and the seemingly endless walk to the buses and back each day. Our crew was made up of an amazing and awesome group of people and I was lucky enough to be a part of it. I saw the Olympics from a perspective that not many people do and it will be something I will remember for the rest of my life. They are already looking for volunteers for the World Cup events in 2010/11 and I am thinking my schedule may be open for when it comes to BC again....

Day 12 - Slow News Day

My last day off before the men's finals so I kept busy doing laundry and doing a little shopping. Oh yeah, there was a small hockey game on TV as well. Good to see the boys getting it together just in time for the big game. Also watched Canada kick butt in Women's bobsled and come up with a gold and silver medal.

Tomorrow's the big day Cypress and Canada will have three men competing in the finals. The crew is pumped for the event and I am looking forward to my last hill chop! Make sure that you cheer on Steve Omischl, Kyle Nissen, and Warren Shouldice from home, I will be quietly doing it from the venue. (Volunteers aren't supposed to be to vocal in their support of the athletes according to the VANOC folks).

One more post after this as Friday is just a tear down day. I will likely have a wrap up once I am home and have thought about my experience after the fact.

Day 11 - Snow Day!

The sun was nowhere to be seen this morning as I picked up my co-volunteer Jay and headed to the shuttle bus. We arrived at the venue early to go and check out the women's ski cross event. We managed to see three runs of the 1/8 finals and saw a few Canadians move through to the next round including Ashley McIvor who eventually went on to win gold for Canada! The second biggest event of the day was the arrival of real snow falling on the mountain. It was wet sticky snow but snow nonetheless and it was awesome. We had forgotten what color real snow was and it stood out as bright white in contrast to the greyish crap we have been trying to work with. Somewhere between 5 - 10 cm fell during our shift of 1:45 - 9:30. The downfall was our 'waterproof' uniforms were not so much and the chop/step plus all the other work we were doing made us pretty sweaty so by the end of the night we were pretty much soaked.

Both the men and women who had qualified earlier in the week practiced so there were half as many skiers on the hill which made our work a bit easier. I spent the most time on my skis so far with repeated side slips to clear snow from the inrun to the jumps. I don't think I have carved a single turn in 2 weeks - just side stepping and slipping.

Wrapped things up a little after 9 and headed back to the lodge to sign out. The bonus for being wet and tired was free hotdogs left over from the event concessions. Headed down and back into the rain of the city and arrived back at New West a little after 11 PM. One more day off tomorrow then back for the men's finals Thursday night. I will be up on the knoll where the jumps are for that event so keep your eyes peeled for me. I guess I kind of blend in with the rest of the 'Shovel Militia' or 'Smurf Crew' as we are called.

Day 10 - Men's Qualifiers

Another nice sunny morning here in the Lower Mainland. Didn't have to be on the hill until 1:15 so I had a good sleep and even had time to wander down to Westminster Quay to have a coffee and shoot some pictures.

Today was the men's qualifiers so that meant big crowds at Cypress and that we had to be on top of our game for the event. The boys had 2 hours of practice before they had two runs to get the highest cumulative score. Only the top 12 advance to the final and there were 25 competitors including 3 Canadians. I got another nice view of the event from the finish area where I was the lead snow removal guy. Basically our job was to take big snow scoops and run across the bottom of the landing area and clean up the large chunks of snow that collect at the bottom of the transition. Easy work but lots of pressure to get in and out fast between the end of practice and between the first and second rounds.

Canada was strong in the first round with Steve Omischl, Warren Shouldice, and Kyle Nissen all sitting in the top 10 after their first jumps. The crowd was crazy each time the Canadian boys were up! The American fans were a very close second with lots of noise as well. The second round started and all the skiers put down some amazing runs with very few mistakes. In the end though Canada prevailed with all three guys placing in the top 12 and making it through for the finals on Thursday. At the end of the event there was some live entertainment from the Sardis High School Drum Line. The kids came out and put on a great drum show with a bagpiper to boot. Too bad the crowd mostly missed it as they were making a break for the exit and buses home. The remaining fans and volunteers enjoyed it though.

A little more work to do before we wrapped things up; put the skis on and worked on sliding out the big pile of snow that had slid out into the bottom of the landing transition. The snow is still not sticking together well and each time the skiers landed a river of sugar snow would flow like water down the hill. Tommorrow is forecast for rain/snow at the hill which may be a blessing in disguise for us as any extra moisture and fresh snow could help the conditions and quality of the snow. Only three more shifts!

Day 9 - Bigger Crowds Downtown

Managed to get a good nights sleep but the body seems a lot slower to recover after the 5 shifts at the mountain. Another beautiful sunny day so I took a chance and wore shorts to go downtown to meet Emily and Kiranna and their moms. Met the girls right on schedule on Burrard and was their unofficial tour guide for some of the Olympic spots. Checked out the cauldron by Canada Place and was happy to see way better sight lines for pictures. Walked up Granville and watched a busker show of a juggler which was pretty impressive. Emily and Kiranna enjoyed the show as well. Continued up Granville to Robson Square and sat on the steps of the Art Gallery and soaked up the sun while resting our feet. The crowds were even more intense than my first trip downtown, mostly due to 'Super Sunday' with three high profile men's hockey games going on. Watched another street performer fit himself into a gigantic ballon by the skating rink that runs under Robson, another good free show.

After a look at the huge line at the HBC Olympic Superstore at Pacific Centre we decided against waiting and checked out the selection of clothing available on the fifth floor and the girls all found some official 2010 clothing to take home to Kamloops with them. Overall the kids liked what they saw but the crowds and walking made it tough on them. Said goodbye to them around 4:00 and they headed back to Kamloops and I grabbed the Skytrain back to New West. Back at the mountain tomorrow for Men's Aerials qualifications which will be televised in the afternoon/evening. Only one more practice day left for both the men and women then the finals go Wednesday and Thursday. The back and shoulders should be somewhat recovered for tomorrow afternoon, time will tell.

Day 8 - How early is too early?

Waking up at 2:30AM is not a fun thing. However I dragged myself out of bed and was on the road a little after 3:00. Met up with my co-volunteer Jay in Coquitlam and was handed a hot Tim Horton`s coffee which made things bearable. Everyone was a little tired when we arrived on the hill and were on the course at 5:30. The chop was okay and we were ready to go well in advance of the women jumpers arriving on the hill at 9:00 for some practice runs. Got a quick briefing on the requirements for being involved in the live broadcast. The main message was stay out of the shot - they want to see the athletes, not a bunch of volunteers standing on the sidelines with shovels.

That said, I got assigned to be at the top of the course where the athletes would enter. This area is a few hundred feet above where the jumps are and was a great vantage point to see the jumpers and the thousands of spectators at the venue. Today was the first day that I got a real feeling of being at the Olympics with the broadcast crews everywhere and hearing the roar of the crowd from the top of the course. I also got to see the women, some of them are still teenagers, getting themselves psyched up for their runs. Each women had two runs to qualify and only the top 12 would advance to the finals. The Canadian skier, Veronika Bauer had a strong first jump and stood in third place after the first round but unfortunately had a rough landing on her second jump and ended up outside the top 12. The crowd was behind her 100% and you knew when she was on the hill by the huge ovation she got. The weather was perfect and the course held up well and all in all it was a great day. Tomorrow is a day off and I got a surprise message that Emily is coming down for the day with her mom Sunday which is a day off for me. I`ll meet them downtown and will get the chance to share the Olympic experience with my daughter which is awesome. Sounds like a lot of photo ops will be in store!

Day 7 - Repeat, repeat

It is getting tougher to get out of bed as the week goes on but we are getting closer to the real action so that gets me motivated. Same routine today as yesterday and the day before. Show up early, check in, pick up my lunch, and head over to the course for the chop. The snow was icy again for the top 6 inches but it seemed better than the previous days. Mens practice was cancelled today for some reason so only the women were scheduled to hit the jumps at 2:00.

More broadcast people on the site as well and today they did a dress rehearsal prior to practice. two of the Canadian women showed up to get some jumps in with the cameras rolling. They did the whole thing - announcer, replays on the big screen, and even did a run through of the flower presentation ceremony to get the timing down in advance of the big day.

Women's qualifiers are tomorrow morning so we got the news that we need to be on the course at 5:30 AM instead of the 6:00 AM we were scheduled for. This translates into a pre 3:00 AM wake up to be on the 4:00 AM shuttle bus. Thankfully I get Sunday off so I will get some well needed rest. Since today was my sixth shift I got a Miga mascot as my reward - more loot for Emily's 2010 collection. Off to bed before 9 tonite and hopefully I can find a Tim Hortons on the way to pick up another volunteer over at Coquitlam Center Skytrain.