Men's Halfpipe, Day of Crapper Duty, tanning at Cypress???

Day Five - and I'm almost halfway there.

Woke up to still wet boots from the rain yesterday, and Dana kindly gave me some plastic bags to wear inside them. Still, with the gorgeous weather at Cypress and my wonderful sweaty feet, I ended up changing my socks three times. I think I'm the only person who constantly changes their socks - it's a ski patrol habit I have, I guess.

It was bluebird skies all day today, and one of the nicest days since I arrived in Vancouver. I knew when I arrived at the mountain that it would be a great day. The Men's Halfpipe is one of the marquee events at the Olympics, and to be honest, I had never heard of Shaun White until today. By the end of my shift, I knew the Americans had a very strong team.

Talked to a volunteer on my way to work who works at Whistler as part of the anti-doping unit. Now that is a cool gig. She got involved because her dad did a similar role back at Squaw Valley.

My role today was Support team, which essentially means floater to relieve other positions throughout the day. My first spot was the concession line. For some reason, my 5' 10', 210 lbs frame makes people think that I can play the 'bouncer' role, which I happily oblige, if for nothing than to alleviate stress from the more 'quiet' volunteers and get things moving. The perception of being organized goes a long way to making people happy when they are in a food line up.

From there I was rewarded (or punished) by spending 30 minutes up in the stands to watch the quarterfinals on the Halfpipe. Punished, because to reach the seating area, you have to climb 246 steps which really works the quads. However, I got some good pictures and felt the energy of the crowd.

There are a few dreaded jobs at Cypress. Ticketing or Entry is one of them, because you are so far removed from the action. The other one is the Crapper. Below the stairs sit over 40 port o' johns, and the only thing that separates this area and the ski-out where the athletes come down from is a plastic race fence. It's a popular area for fans to hang out and enjoy some of BC's famous smokeable herb, and with a small hole where people have slipped through, it needs some security. This was where I spent my last 40 minutes of my day. It truly is a shitty job. However, I did meet the ex-coach of Shaun White and Scotty Lagos, and I made it back to town to watch the finals on television. Weather-wise, we couldn't of asked for better.

If you had a chance to watch the women's downhill, you were treated to a bunch of spectacular crashes, and a Gold medal run by the US's Lindsey Vonn. Twice on T.V, I heard the reference by CTV announcers that he/she was "The Gretzkey of their sport". It's just a matter of time before Gretzky becomes a word in Webster's dictionary to mean one who is the best in their given profession.

I now have two well-deserved days off. My feet are sore, my legs hate me, every time I see a family with their children my heart aches. But I know that 10, 20, or 30 years from now, surrounded by my grandkids, Lisa just in earshot, Aiden and Marissa looking nearby, I'll have these wonderful memories to share. Maybe Lisa and I will be watching a future Olympic Games knowing that our children are there in some capacity?? Either way, these 16 days will be a hiccup in the timeline of my life. This online dairy of sorts will hopefully last longer than my memory :)

I can't tell you how happy I am that you are not only reading my daily experiences and enjoying them, but are so supportive with your comments here and on Facebook. It feels that you are all with me in some small way, and I don't feel alone in this! So thank you, thank you, and thank you.

With that, I'm off to Whistler tomorrow to spend a few days with my cuz Geoff and his family, get some skiing in, experience the Games from our other main location, and maybe share a beer or two with a few volunteers that are working up there.

The blog will take a break, but I'll be back on Saturday with more pics and the lowdown from Whistler Creekside. Till then, be cool, stay healthy, hug your loved ones, and don't be a Quatchi!