Feb 1 - a day in town

The fog and the warm weather persist! That is the weather story here in the Whistler area these days. Some sun is forecast for Wed and Friday but the warming trend continues right through the week. That is the biggest concern to the Olympic organizers and they are working hard to counter a warming spell that continues into the start date of the events.

On Feb 1 a bunch of things happened to prepare for the Olympics. The bus schedules changed to start the beefing up of service over the next few days, the parking lots in Whistler were closed to the public in preparation for something (many wonder what that might be), roads were closed and traffic patterns changed and some facilities were taken over by different organizations to prepare for the their participation in the Olympic event. The sum total of these actions has left some of the locals unhappy as they are now forced to change their way of life and this event has suddenly become real. The biggest concern I have heard is the lack of parking available in Whistler. We drove by huge empty parking lots yesterday as they have been closed but are not in the use that the organizations have intended. The fact that there are no other places to park irks some but to see empty lots really inflames one who must do some quick shopping.

There were some signs of transition as we watched a bunch of busses trail an active bus. The ones behind were “out of service” or marked as “training” buses as new drivers become familiar with the buses and the routes. The bus service will be amazing once it all kicks in and people get their heads around the routes and bus locations. We took the bus from Pemberton to Whistler on a regularly scheduled route. We paid $6 each and discovered that our Accreditation passes would have allowed us free access starting Feb 1. In the documentation, somewhere, I read that the Accreditation passes free access started on Feb 4th but that is not the case. Feb 4th is the real commencement date and that is when athletes are supposed to arrive and get set up as an example. What that means is that the village and the surrounding area will get progressively busier over this week.

Freddi, Bree and I spent some time in Whistler wandering around and listening to the buzz of merchants, waiters, bartenders and owners as they expressed various opinions about how businesses will be affected by the onslaught. Some are very optimistic while others are worried about their individual businesses. Some restaurants will be closed during the Olympics as organizations or businesses have reserved the spot for the duration of the event. That means that locals will be unable to go to that restaurant until after the Olympics. Other restaurants have chosen not to be available for “buy-out” and will go day-to-day as they do the rest of the time. Bree was telling me that some shops have changed hands for the duration of the event. An example of that is the disappearance of the nicest jewellery store only to have a large well known branded company set up shop in their space for the Olympics. I walked past the empty store three days ago and yesterday it almost completely set up with merchandise and sales staff in place. The whole store has been re-branded as a Swiss Army store with watches, clothes, luggage and luxury items.

Also on our walk down “The Village Stroll” we watched the action as they built stages for bands in the main square, the CTV outdoor facility at the other end of the stroll and of course they are working furiously on the Ceremonial Plaza outside of Bree’s store (Le Chateau). There are teams of workers all throughout the village doing set-up and upgrade with solid deadlines looming quickly. I have included some photos to give you an idea of both the weather and the action on the main streets.
We settled in a quiet bar to enjoy some nice cool wine. We waited to hear from Gray and Tara-Lee as they were finishing their work day and joining us for a family tradition. Each time we visit Whistler area we try to have one dinner at the Rimrock. It is a special place for us as we did that our first visit and have used that restaurant as a special night out ever since. It was a special dinner as our children took us out for dinner to celebrate our 35th anniversary. It was a very special evening and we were rewarded with fine food and drink as usual. They are good kids.....