Fairmont, Olympic Family, and Cupcakes

On Wednesday morning I arranged for myself a tour of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. I was taken around the property by a young woman from the Sales Office named Andrea. She apologized that she could not show me any guest rooms because they were at full occupancy, but that's great news from a hotel standpoint. I was able to see one function space, the dining and retail facilities, and the health club/spa. Fairmont even has a Mountain Adventure Club where lift tickets and ski rentals can be purchased. There's a chairlift out the back door, making the hotel an ideal accommodation for skiers. The Fairmont even has their own bobsled in the lobby!

On the bus back to Athlete's Village last night I rode with the mother and sister of American bobsleigh bronze medalist Elana Meyers. Her mom was telling us that Elana used to be a softball player but softball is no longer an Olympic sport, so Elana turned to bobsled. "I personally think she picked the craziest sport she could think of" her mother joked. The sad part of the story is that Elana's family never received any accreditation, nor did the families of any other American bobsled athletes. This has created a lot of hassle and frustration for the families, who have had difficulty gaining access to the Athlete's Village, the Sliding Center, and the special Olympic Families areas. Mrs. Meyers didn't seem to be putting the blame on VANOC, but rather on the U.S. Bobsleigh Team for not arranging the necessary credentials.


The other night when Holly and I got off work, we had a clear mission in mind: cupcakes. Holly said she knew of a place that sold really good cupcakes that she wanted to try. Scott dropped us off a the Gondola Transit Exchange and we walked along the road on the outside of the village until we got down to the Bus Loop by Blenz. Holly could have sworn the cupcake place was in that area, but all we could find was the creperia that she also wanted to try. Not sure we had enough time for crepes, we asked some VANOC volunteers if they knew where the cupcake place was. One guy did, and directed us up to the Visitor's Center. We hurried up there, but it was a longer walk than we had anticipated. When we finally got there, we were dismayed to find that is was closed for the evening (it was, after all, 9:30PM). Pressed for time, we hurried back to the bus stop. The number 10 bus had passed us on our way up, and it was imperative that we didn't miss the next one if we were to make the 10:15 Cleanevent shuttle. When we returned to the bus stop we were the only ones waiting for the 10. Knowing that we had a few minutes before the next one arrived - and that when it did it always sat for a few more minutes - Holly took off jogging to the Starbucks, which she suddenly remembered sold red velvet cupcakes. She returned triumphantly just a moment before the 10 rounded the bend. We decided that it was actually the ideal situation because if we had gone to Starbucks in the first place we would not have gotten the exercise that we did on our fail first attempt. Since Holly purchased both cupcakes, we agreed that we'd have to go again on my treat...