Day 3 of the games ......

It is a sunny afternoon in Pemberton after a day with all known weather patterns in the Whistler Olympic Park during the day. My day started at 2:15 am when I got up and started to get ready and transport down to WOP via the bus system. I managed to get there at 5:30 as planned and was on duty at 6:00 am. I met up with my team-du-jour and we figured out what we were assigned to do for the day. Our position for the Nordic Combined was behind the stadium in the Spectator Plaza area. My team of 5 worked through our assignment and were ready for the 7:00 gate opening. Up until that time it was pouring rain and looking pretty grim. Shortly thereafter it warmed up and the rain stopped. About an hour later the sky cleared above us and the sun shone from just above the trees. During the event a fog rolled through and that was followed by a cooling air mass that created another storm of rain for 30 minutes and then it all cleared for the day at about 12:30 pm. The sun was then warm and the spectators had the benefit of a nice afternoon for the second half of the Nordic Combined event. The weather here changes very dramatically and frequently.

The Nordic Combines is a combination of Ski Jump and X-Country skiing and it is a very significant winter sport in Europe. Each jumper gets a trial run and then one and only one run for points. The session for trials started at 9 am and ran to 10 am and then swung into the competition jumps for about 50 minutes. There was great enthusiasm by many of the European country spectators as they brought in their cow bells, flags, costumes, colours and of course their red wine or beer for breakfast. I think they stay on European time so they can drink for breakfast when in NA. They were all very fun and in great moods as they prepared to cheer on their favourites. Once the jumps were completed our task was to clear the venue and get people to the X-Country sub-venue for the second part of the points scoring. My shift ended at the end of the first activity and I did not go to the X-Country sub-venue. After we cleared the Ski Jump area I got on the bus for Whistler with little effort today as the workforce buses were running again today. Once in Whistler I caught up with Freddi who had spent a good part of the day in Whistler. Freddi is on day 3 of a 3 day work break. We took the bus to Pemberton as I was tired of being on my feet standing and walking in the great wet outdoors.
The came my best and favourite activity – couch surfing watching the Olympics....... In actual fact being at the venue (working) one really doesn’t into the events or the standings as we are all focused on our jobs and keeping our guests happy. Some are pleasant and of course some of them should have stayed away as they seemed to be having a horribly wrong day. We relish the first group and spend as little time as possible with the latter group.

Tonight we are having a nice family dinner as it is Sunday. My challenge is to stay awake through the entire meal. Freddi took some photos in Whistler today as it was buzzing with visitors, athletes and people having a good time.