Day 5, Men's Downhill

Up at 4:30am in my place in Squamish. Actually made it there the night before by a decent time. My host Eric heated up some pasta dish with some hot tea and I was sawing logs the minute I hit the futon. His dog, forget his name, started barking at 5am at something outside. Eric came in and said it was only a bear trying to get into the trash. Nice! That will make those late night walks up to his house after the bus stop lots of fun!

Got to Whistler Creekside at 7am and realized that I had forgotten one important thing, my 500mm lens! Doug Mills to the rescue again. He lent me his. Great friends up here!!! Exchanged green armband for on course blue armband and took gondola up the mountain.

Skied into position to our "secret" spot, that was no longer a secret, but not too many of us there at least. The "dream team" guys offered us a platter of brandy-soaked fruit, bread, cheese and awesome spicy sausage. They have a whole stash of schnapps and wine for after the race!

Bode came down with his coach during inspection. Made for a nice pre-race photo.

Then we shot the first 30 racers. Defago, gold, Svindal, silver, Bode, bronze.

Day 4, 1500m short track

Decided that Apollo Ohno would be better to shoot rather than more men's luge. Boy was I right! Got to the Pacific Coliseum in downtown Vancouver just in time for Ohno's semifinal. The pictures tell the story of the final. Pushing and pulling and a dramatic ending complete with a spectacular crash on the last turn!

Day 4, men's luge training

Spent the night again at Doug Mills' condo. So much easier to wake up and go right there where you need to be. We were out the door at 7am as morning broke on the mountain.

The lights of the men's and women's downhill start houses visible through the clouds enveloping Whistler Mountain.

A quick ride up the gondola, slog through the snow and finally a shuttle bus to the sliding centre.

A wooden safety wall was built early this morning at turn #16, the site of yesterday's deadly crash.

Safety personnel also placed padding on all the steel posts along that stretch.

Doug and I posed for a goofy trackside photo while we shot wide angles of the competitors zooming by.

Day 3. Opening and memorial

Was going to the luge track to try and shoot my luge cam picture when I heard of the crash and death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvi. Needless to say, it put a dark cloud on the day for everyone.

Ladies downhill training was cancelled for the second day in a row due to the wet snow. Going to get wetter and warmer next few days. Doubt they will hold men's downhill, but still have to show up early in case.



On a lighter note, Opening Ceremonies was broadcast in the village square on big screens. Folks were pumped and made good pics when the Canadian team came out.

A lot of sitting and waiting today. Have a feeling will be more of the same next few days.

Day 2. Women's Downhill training

Got Day 1 finished late. My good friend Doug Mills of the NYT offered to put me up at his condo instead of trying to make it back to my place in Squamish. Good thing I did. Was in bed by 1030pm on his sleeper sofa in the living room with a fire going in the fireplace. Got up at 6am and at Whistler Creekside at 6:30am to pick up my on-course armband. On the lift before the sun came up!

Got on course as the skiers were inspecting the run. Followed Lindsey Vonn down as she checked her line. No one else following her shooting. Can't believe it!



The fog rolled in as the third forerunner came through forcing postponement, then eventually cancelling Thursday's run. Came down past the cool James Bond helicopter.

The sole of one of my hiking boots blew out. Had to talk to Canon in town and meet with Sports Illustrated, so I took the bus into Vancouver. Did some shopping and got new boots then hit the Canon/Nikon party at the Vancouver Aquarium. Highlight was the jellyfish tank. We were all shooting the beautiful creatures moving through the water.


The Canon boys offered to take me back to Whistler. They jammed me in the back of their SUV with all the giveaway packs they could cram. I'll post that when I get their pics back. I was so jammed in that falling asleep was pretty easy since I couldn't move anything during the 2 hour ride up. They offered the sofa in their humble mansion pictured here. Awesome!

Thanks boys!

Day 1. Men's Downhill training, Whistler

Got up at 4:30am. Took longer than I wanted to get all my equipment together for the day. Eric offered to take me to the main bus stop and arrived just in time for the 6am to Whistler. Skis, boots, camera gear. Bus driver was kind enough to drop me at Whistler Creekside, site of the alpine events. Met Alpine Photo Chief Rick Wilkings for distribution of on-course armbands and lift tickets. My good friend Doug Mills of NYT and I were one of the first in line and got what we needed including an on-site locker for skis and boots. Will save us the hassle of lugging that junk around all day!

Doug and I took the gondola up and skied down to the halfway point, got on course and scouted out the possible shooting positions. I don't know, but I didn't see any that jumped out at me as anything great. Several other photographers had skied down from the start house and didn't like it up higher either. We settled on a spot that my host Eric had recommended. It worked out fine.


Met jury member Peter Obernauer who lives in Kitzbuhel, Austria and runs the Hahnenkamm, the bad ass of the world cup circuit. Nice guy to know! Here he is pictured at left with course worker Richard Prokopanko who was handing out food from this tray of goodies. The course workers also had a large stash of wine and schnapps they were hitting later!





Training got off on time, but the fog came in about half way through. Course was on hold for several hours. Doug and I got out of there through a back trail and saved some time. Spent the afternoon editing and sending to Corbis.

Arrived at the Olympics!

Spent the entire flights from Austin to DFW to Vancouver sound asleep to make up for my lack of it Monday night. Wish I had my camera out as we touched down. Vancouver was beautifully bathed in sunshine. Mountains rising up from the sea. Thousands of freshly cut logs packed in rows floating all along the waterfront. By the looks of it, logging is huge here.

Arrival went as smooth as any other Olympics. Wisked through immigration in special Olympic lines. Caught a glimpse of the two Lindsey's, skier Lindsey Vonn and snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis at luggage claim. Also at arrivals was my good friend Nuccio DeNuzzio, photograper for the Chicago Tribune and another Olympic veteran. We all call each other "Mo", as in "Hey Mo!"

Decided to head up to Whistler sooner than later and glad I did. Took the entire afternoon and evening to get my credential validated, find the Whistler Media Center, find how to get a lift pass, find out where to go Wed morning, talk to the USA luge folks, and finally, find the place where I was dropped off to begin with. Not easy lugging around a heavy backpack, one roller duffel, one rolling case, and one heavy ass ski bag full of all my clothes and skis.

Caught the #78 BCT bus to Squamish where I am staying. Easy enough. My host, Eric Frappier picked me up, took me to McDonalds for some not so fast food. Found Eric's home advertised on Craigslist. $600 for the entire Olympics! Sweet! Nice room, access to the entire house (kitchen, laundry, internet and his truck if I need it) No one locks their homes here. Keeps the keys in his ignition. The only thing he worries about are bears! Bear-proof garbage cans here! Be a drag if they figured out how to open a door and get in the house.