UltraJulia

Today we pulled ourselves out of bed before the sun rose in order to catch a bus up to Whistler for the men’s & women’s individual classic sprint. We were excited to head up to see an event in Whistler, in fact this is our only one, so getting up at 5:15am was almost okay. The fact that we had at least 2 hours to sleep on the bus helped, that’s for sure.

Once at Whistler Olympic Park we had to walk 1.2 kms to get to the venue, but it was such a gorgeous walk we didn’t mind. We walked through the forest and the snow to get to the venue which seemed to be stuck on the side of a mountain. There was even a warming tent if you got too cold. We were all bundled up though with boots and scarves and longjohns so we were okay, although it was a tad colder as the sun hadn’t come out over the mountain yet. J’s feet suffered the most as her toes got cold mid-way through the event, but by then the sun had come out, so she was feeling a bit better.

We had a good view of the race as we were in the standing room section on the last bend of the course, as the skiiers would shush right past us on their way to the finish line. The individual classic race is wild because they have to use the classic ski style, which looks a bit odd as they go. But when they’re double-polling, they’re really moving!

The Canadian skiers got a rousing cheer from the crowd, but we were equal-opportunity cheerers, cheering for each skier as they came by. We’re really getting into all the different cheers, so that when a Swiss came by, we yelled out “hoppe Suisse!”, the Swedes got a “Sverige, Sverige!”, the Norwegians a “Norge, Norge!”, the Fins a “Su-o-mi, Su-o-mi!”. Of course we got a little more inventive with Canada and yelled out  “Go Canada!” There was a qualifying race for both men and women which was a little boring as the racers went out in 15 second intervals alone, but from the quarterfinals onward it was AWESOME! The racers went out in fours, and it was a free for all as they went around the course. Very exciting. The venue coupled with the scenery made for a great day, and we did not mind having to get up early. We ended up having to leave the venue before the race ended as we had to get back to Vancouver for the short-track speed skating, but it was nice to have gotten up to Whistler for the cross-country race.

Tonight we had our second event, another women’s hockey game between Sweden and Slovakia. Neither M, J or I had a preference as to who to cheer for, so we cheered for both teams. It became clear that the Slovaks were overmatched, so we started to cheer for the underdogs. There were lots of Slovaks in the crowds, and they had brought their crazy noisemakers which are really, REALLY loud up close. But the crowd was really into it. And the Slovak goalie Zuzana Zomcikova was phenomenal! She was making all sorts of saves that really kept the Slovaks in the game.

At one point in the game we thought there was going to be a rumble in the parking lot after the game because things were getting a little chippy, but then the women settled down and finished off the game. In the end Sweden won the game 6 – 2, but it was a well-fought and fun game to watch.

A good time was had by all, that’s for sure.

The countdown to my Olympic trip is into single digits! Yessssss! And I can even now say that I’m leaving this week. Very exciting. Ever since me, J & M decided to go on this adventure a year and a half ago it’s been so far off, but now it’s –| this |– close. We’re all looking forward to it, and because I have my coolio iPhone, I’ll be able to blog my way through it live, as-it-happens. So stay tuned for updates and silliness from Vancouver! Can’t wait.