It had been a busy few days, so let me catch you up on what I have been up to....
On Tuesday, I had a scheduled day off, so I had purchased tickets for men's Aerials at Cypress Mountain. Part of going to aerials or any event at Cypress or Whistler is about getting there. As someone who plans events for a living, I am always looking at events in a different way, looking for the logistic and the behind-the-scenes activities that go into each event.
Vanoc made sure that people knew that if they had tickets to an event at Cypress or Whistler, that they would have to take the bus there. This is organized by the Olympic Bus Network, separate from Vanoc. Once you buy your event ticket, you need to go to the bus network website to buy your transportation tickets (only with visa!). Going to Olympic Events is not for the unorganized person.
They have had to bring in thousands buses and drivers from all over North America not just for the trips to Cypress and Whistler, but to take athletes, media, staff, and sponsors around. The bus that we got on was from California and seemed about 30 years old but drove like it was 60 years old. Considering that we were GOING UP A MOUNTAIN, I was a bit concerned that we were not going to make it, especially since other buses were flying by us. But no worries, we eventually got to the top.
When we arrive at the venue, we had to wait in line for the gates to open and go through security. It was a beautiful day in the mountains so that was okay. Waiting in line, we met the friends and family of 2 of the US Aerialists, Speedy and Ryan. So we had 2 new people to cheer for. We also had standing room seats so we wanted to make sure that we had a good spot to watch.
Once we got in and found a good spot, we could relax and take in the scene. Vanoc has done a great job at entertaining the crowds that arrive early before the event. We had lots to do besides watching the warm-up, they had music, things on the big screen, a host that was interacting with the fans, big huge balloons to bat around, plus the energy of the crowd was great.
It was qualifying so we got to see 25 jumpers compete for 12 spots in the finals which are today. There were 3 Canadians (and Speedy and Ryan) so we had lots to cheer for. I am not an aerials expert, so I found it hard to tell the difference between a full double full full and a double full full full, but watching the replays and listening to the announcer helped. The spot we had picked to watch was right behind the area where the athletes were interviewed. So we managed to get ourselves on camera waving like dorks it the background. You can see us on the CTV videos in Kyle Nissen's and Steve Omischl's post event interviews. I can't find the actual link to share with you though.
The Canadian guys put themselves in a good position for the finals today with 6th, 8th and 9th place results. Speedy and Ryan made the finals as well. We were also able to avoid the same bus on the way home, so it was a great day!
