Wednesday, February 17, 2010

More pics from the last few days.





































Feb 17th











Another day in paradise! Yesterday our racing and training on the men's and women's alpine courses was cancelled again, not because of warm temperatures, but because of the amount of snow we received.


So after a short break, several of the medical team members and I went powder skiing on Blackcomb. Let's just say this Ontario boy needs more practice skiing powder. Later in the day I went to watch "Fiest" in concert at the medals plaza, and on my way out I was invited to the Austria house by the medical team from the sliding centre. Many of the larger countries have gathering places or houses for their followers. The Austria house is an eco-friendly house built for the event, and after the Olympics will be donated to the town of Whistler. Last night the house was packed with Austrians celebrating there gold medal in men's biathlon.
All the staff where dressed in traditional clothing, with an Austrian band playing in the background and great food for all.
Today is another day off for the men's course, as the women's downhill is being run. Thursday will be training runs for the super combined race, which combines a downhill race and a slalom run.
I will try to post more pics of training on Thursday if I get a chance.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Feb 14th, Sorry for not posting more!

Everything here in Whistler has ground to a halt for the last few days for alpine skiing. Due to the warm weather we have been having, the snow has become really soft. In an effort to prevent the course from being beat up, they have postponed everything. The men's downhill will be held early Monday morning then women's combined training run held after that.

The last few days have been a huge blur. Due to course maintenance going on, we have to provide around the clock medical coverage for the course workers. I have had to start at 4am, on the hill, I've never been up so crazy early! Then we sit in a heated hut at the top of the mountain waiting for the sun to rise over the mountains. We then need to work 'till around 3pm as we stand by on the hill for the training runs to finish. These training runs have been fairly lengthy, with several delays due to the cloud and fog rolling over the course. The cloud and fog has been so bad at times that we can't see the next gate down the hill.

Yesterday we had hoped for the women's training runs to happen, but they were called off early. However, we still has our regular training session, but this time it was my turn to be first in on a pracice session (I will try to post more pics tomorrow). It is really amazing to be working with such a great team of providers, and working with all the best equipment including the helicopter/hets crews. It's an experience that I will never forget.

The village has had a noticeable change over the past few days, the crowds have grown, and the excitement is at a new high. With the races being delayed everyone is gathering in the village. I'm surrounded by so many nations, in line I have coaches and racers in front of me and behind. The national pride of those watching is great! Today I had a chance to watch the men's luge, at the sliding centre. There were flags everywhere and for at least a dozen countries, including India!

The internet here is really expensive, over $15 a day, so I have been searching for free coverage. Today I was able to get into the media centre for Whistler/Blackcomb, but could not use my own computer, so no photos today. I have been able to uplaod photos directly to my facebook page, so if you get a chance, look me up.

I hope to get on again tomorrow.

Monday, February 8, 2010













Well I have arrived in Whistler! I have been working on the hill for two days now. These first few days are spent getting to know the course really well, placing toboggans in locations that will allow us easy access to the course and injured athletes, practicing scenarios, and learning the key procedures to be used throughout the Olympics.
I will also be providing medical coverage for the medal ceremonies that are held here in Whistler. There will be 4 ski patrollers and 1 medical doctor at the ceremony where they will start with presenting medals (Gold for Canada!!!) then a concert. They are going to have a number of great bands like Blue Rodeo. This venue is expected to have over 5500 people each night (I have included a couple pictures of this venue).
It really is quite surreal to be walking through the village, or standing in the lift line and see athletes and coaches from 5 to 10 different countries at a time. Today as we were placing the last of our toboggans on the course, meanwhile coaches of several teams were out taking video of the course, and using gauges to measure to snow temperature, to assist with picking the perfect wax for race day.
Tomorrow we will be spending a lot of time standing on the side of the hill behind 3 rows of safety fencing and watching racers scream past us at up to 100km per hour! Oh, did I mention the air they will be getting?! In the afternoon we will continuing with more training scenarios, but this time we will be including the helicopter.
In the event of an injury, a ski patroller will go to the scene and let our chief of patrol (c.o.p.)know what's happening, the c.o.p. sends a doctor and extra patrollers to the scene to assist as well as the helicopter. A helicopter is set up for a HETS rescue. HETS stands for helicopter external transport system, the helicopter has a 100ft + rope hanging from the bottom with a rescuer attached, the helicopter lowers the technician to the ground, them moves away. What a rush, to hang 100ft below a helicopter on a rope. The hets rescuer assist in the packaging of the patient, then calls the chopper back in, he hooks on to the rope hanging from above, then has the chopper leave the scene and take the patient to the medical trailer in the finish area, or directly to the medical clinic. The only time the chopper is not used, is if the accident is near the bottom of the course, or if the weather is so bad and the chopper can't be used safely. I hope to have several pic of this tomorrow.

Go Team Canada Go!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Less than 2 days till I leave for the Olympics!














Well the packing has now started, I leave on Saturday for Vancouver. I hope to update this blog for all our patients, that way you can share in my excitment, and the experiences that will last a life time.



A bit of background, I applied to volunteer at the Olympics 2 1/2 years ago through the Canadian Ski Patrol System, and VANOC. I found out at the last minute that elegibility for Olymic selection required World Cup experience, preferably at the World Cup in Whistler as it was the testing event for the Whistler Olympic venue. Applying late for the position was not easy as all the spots had been filled. I was put on a waiting list, and a friend of my wife's (thanks Alex ) was able to pass on her recommendation for me to be part of the team. Two weeks before the event started, I got the call asking if I was still interested, and could I be there in two weeks.



The World Cup race was a great experience, we had great team leads, the training was second to none, and I had a few opportunities to ride in a helicopter. I was even the victim for a practice scenario where I was attached to a backboard and flown from the bottom of a long rope below a helicopter to the medical clinic :) make sure you check out these photos.