It's Coming Back: A Memoir

Sometimes we become tethered, voluntarily or otherwise, to a slice in time, a location on a map, an event on a calendar. The land and its structures take up residency in the core of our beings, bittersweet burdens we carry with us long after our footprints are erased from the soil. Human connections jog our memories and dispatch our minds back to those moments, those settings, and those emotions. From the instant I first ducked into the Blackcomb Excalibur gondola, a union was forged between myself and my destination: the Whistler Sliding Center. It was a bond that would be tested, threatened, and strengthened over the next three weeks as my life twisted and curved through thrills and chills in a warped harmony with the turns the sliding track carved down the steep mountainside.

My introduction to the Sliding Center began with a glowing heart. I was standing outside the security checkpoint tent with our crew of workers, the anticipation to make my inaugural entrance threatening to overwhelm me. Charles paused his French conversation with Aurelien to clarify from Jan if “glowing” held the same meaning as “shiny”. My initial reaction was surprise, and I wondered why he would choose to ask a Czech rather than a native English-speaker. “No,” Jan mused, rolling the words around in his head for a breath of a moment before answering in his clean accent, “‘shiny’ is reflected light, but ‘glowing’ is light from within”. Wow. That briefest of exchanges was a powerball of significance for me, and foreshadowed many essential elements of my experience.

I could feel the venue’s glowing heart from the moment I entered the complex, despite my first glimpse being a muddy parking lot dotted with shipping containers for offices and tents for buildings. I have stood inside the Coliseum. I have craned my neck to stare up at both David and the Sistine Chapel. My fingers have traced lines on the columns of ancient Greek temples. I am no mere stranger to architectural feats or works of beauty.  The sliding track, however, touched me like no other. It reached through my flesh, zigged and zagged between my ribs, and delicately wound its glow around my heart. In addition to the awe, appreciation, and respect that I have for those other buildings, there burns within me a love and reverence for the power of the track that cannot be properly qualified in words. I intend no offense to Michelangelo, but I have never been so humbled by a structure or artwork as I am by the Whistler Sliding Center.

It is a masterpiece not only in construction but in operation. Each athlete that flashes by adds a stroke of genius to the canvas. The first time I saw a woman fly around Turn 16 at nearly ninety miles an hour laying flat-backed on a luge sled, I laughed aloud in pure amazement. I heard the low, building roar of her sled for only a few seconds before she zipped past me in a crescendo, then the rumble evaporated into the frosty air. For that frozen moment in time, she was close enough to touch had I reached out my arm. I leaned on a steel support beam just outside the track, marveling at the exhilaration and adrenaline that still hung thick in the air like smoke after a wildfire. I was moved by the power of the track and the dominance each athlete fought to gain. Television does not adequately represent the speed and level of difficulty undertaken by these competitors.

But I know. I saw it. I was there.

My infatuation was only three days old on the morning of the Opening Ceremonies. I had already vowed to seize every opportunity to escape the office and bear witness to the stunning displays of athleticism occurring just up the road. The sun’s rays fell on my face as I stood inside the final turn to watch the men lugers’ last practice runs. I focused my camera on the “Vancouver” lettering in the ice and waited with my shutter finger ready until I heard the foreboding thunder of the sled barreling around the corner. I rejoiced at catching the luger in frame. The second Georgian luger to take his run began as no different than the rest. I commented to myself that I had no idea how to pronounce his last name. Click. I glanced down to see his relatively small body passing over the lower extremities of the “-er” painted blue beneath the clear top layer of ice. I glanced up, then wished my photo had held my attention longer.

 Nodar Kumaritashvili 2.12.10

I do not remember hearing an audible gasp from the few of us inside Turn 16. I wondered who hit the pause button as the whole world slowed down, then the medical team lounging on the Gator beside us sprang into action, racing under the tunnel and out of the track. The screen that had showed the luger fly off his sled and into the post beside the track went blank as my whole body went numb. I had stood in that same spot the day before.

It was as if I had gone deaf. There were no panicked screams, no intruding sirens indicating grave danger. Then I heard it. The sled that had just bucked off its rider galloped backwards around Turn 16, crazed and confused, afraid of being caught. Rather than reminding me of a building shaking from a low-flying airplane, the sound was more like fingernails on a chalkboard without Nodar Kumaritashvili’s 176 pounds of force weighing it down, controlling it. It was just two steel blades scratching hopelessly on the surface of the ice. “It’s coming back! It’s coming back!”, a VANOC smurf shouted into my brain as he climbed onto the track into the path of the empty sled. His voice echoed around in there, bouncing off the caverns of my mind. It still has not found a pathway out but lives as a boomerang, retreating into my unconscious only to resurface and again bellow its promise: “It’s coming back! It’s coming back!”.

There was nothing to do but sit in the office and stare dejectedly at each other. Clouds soon blanketed the sky and began to shed their tears as we learned from repeated Google web searches the devastating news of Nodar’s passing. There was a sudden void deep within the core of me. I immediately felt an unwarmable cold, and fatigue descended like a tidal wave. I had prepared myself for virtually anything when I came to Whistler. I had not, however, braced myself for death.

Over the next few days an internal contradiction clawed at my soul, huffing and puffing and terrorizing my glowing heart. How could something I loved so immediately and unreservedly inflict such pain? Was the track a masterpiece or a monster? Was I the monster for holding the icy path in such high esteem? Who was at fault? Who had the answers?

To alleviate my torment, I forced myself to recognize the following notions: (1.) I will seek not blame nor restitution. It is impossible to point the finger when there is no one person, nor one decision. It was an accident. (2.) Perfection does not exist. The spirit is never completely free from turmoil, yet conflict leads to learning. Each luger chooses his own course down the ice, making adjustments based on previous runs and the condition of the track, but even this knowledge will not prevent hard rubs around the corners. (3.) I called the Sliding Center my destination, but I could have just as easily used its etymological cousin ‘destiny’. I know that my presence at the track and what I witnessed had a profound impact on me. Nodar changed my life and my Olympic experience.

The other solace I found was from the comrades with whom I shared my days at the Sliding Center. Jono, the hyperactive Aussie supervisor whose frantic hands and babbling lips were difficult to decipher over the radio, entertained me with the practical jokes he interjected around our office. Cedric, with his oversized doe eyes and poor English, kept me in stitches every time he innocently queried “Yum yums?” when he came to retrieve his meal ticket. Jan, who wisely defined “glowing” on my first day, reminded me daily of my brother with his smart yet sarcastic humor and geeky tendencies. Aurelien, the Parisian whose twinkling eyes and mischievous smile hide behind dark-rimmed glasses and a scruffy beard, never ceased to make me laugh by saying things like “My accent is sexy” and “napskin”. These kindred spirits, among others, were integral parts of my happiness ― and my healing.

I am still not certain it is possible to describe the true essence of an intangible feeling so powerful that it stays lodged in your heart despite being separated from its source. It is a glow from within that cannot be extinguished, because it was born in the flame of a wild, untamed spirit older than time. It is both a glow of joy and a glow of sorrow, dancing forever around, between, and through one another. That glow lives inside me now, and I will cherish it because I know that I am its true source.

You Couldn't Pay Me To Do Skeleton

I was lucky enough to have the evening off on Thursday the 18th to take in some of the action at the WSC with the other girls. We caught Heat #2 of Women's Skeleton and Heat #1 of the Men's.

For this event, I decided to check out the vantage point by the finish line. Please note that the finish line and the finish dock are different, and quite a distance from each other. The finish line marks the conclusion of the official timing of the slide, but when going 90mph it takes quite a while to slow down. By the time the athletes reach the finish dock they have slowed down enough to stop and get off their sleds (or in the case of skeleton, they crash head-first into sheets of foam placed in the track).

At the finish line, the athletes were still a blur shooting past me. My first shot would have been awesome...had I stuck my camera out further!

That little blur is a skeleton woman crossing the blue finish line - trust me.

This one is better of the athlete

I'm pretty sure this was up by Turn 15, just up the hill from my normal spot in Turn 16

This is a Vancouver band called Swarm that entertained the crowd during the break in competition. They were awesome!

Prankster Payback

Our crazy Australian supervisor Jono likes to play pranks. I never seem to be there when he attacks his victims, but I am fortunate enough to be there when they retaliate against him.

The other day I was walking through the office and I saw Erin's accreditation, sitting on the table, covered in doodles with a black Sharpie. Lucky for her, it mostly came off with water and now bears only black smudges. Still angry, Erin wanted revenge. "Give me something of Jono's! Anything!" she said. She found his boots.

For some reason she had Corn Flakes with her. And yes, she put gloves on before touching his nasty boots.

The cereal started coming out the hole in his toe!

Needless to say, Jono wasn't too pleased to stick his feet into his boots that night. His next victim, however, was not Erin again but rather another SCW employee - Tyler. I wasn't there that day, but Holly said Jono took everything out of Tyler's backpack and duct taped it all individually to the ceiling, along with the backpack itself. Today Holly and I were in our office and could hear duct tape being pulled off the roll and ripped. I went to check it out and found Tyler in the VANOC office duct taping Jono's wallet. He first covered each card in duct tape, then wrapped and wrapped duct tape around the open wallet. He fastened it closed with six zipties, then added more duct tape for good measure. He then duct taped it dangling from the ceiling.

Tyler exacting his revenge

As if that wasn't enough, he coated it with hand sanitizer too

When Jono came into the office looking for his wallet, he searched the shelf and kept asking us if we knew where it was. He even walked by it hanging there a few times without even noticing that anything was there. Finally Scott suggested that maybe Tyler stole it, so Jono gave him a call. Eventually Jono caught on to the game and found it.

It was right in front of his face the whole time.

The whole time he was cutting his way into the wallet, Jono was laughing and admiring the great lengths Tyler went to in his payback. It was all in good fun, and both guys knew that.

Tea, Ghost Busters, and Interesting Items

I had a long conversation with an Aussie girl (I'm telling you, Aussies are all over Whistler!) while my laundry was drying the other day. I learned that Australians call dinner "tea", so when they say that they're going to "take tea" they're not sipping flavored hot water with biscuits, but rather are consuming a substantial meal. When I pressed the girl about it she shrugged and said "If we can shorten something to three letters, we do". Interesting, eh?

Tonight I got a call on the helpdesk from a German man who wanted to borrow a vacuum overnight. I ended up having to turn the call over to Scott (who, fortunately, was sitting right there) because I wasn't sure if we had protocol on something like that. In the end Scott told him to come on down and pick it up. He arrived not long after and Scott handed the vacuum to the German. "This is, very cool one...is like, Ghost Busters?" he marveled, clearly in awe of the vacuum that straps onto one's back. "Ghost Busters!" he exclaimed, picking up the contraption with a big grin. I think we just made his night.

Currently on our wall we have a list of "Most interesting thing found on-site". My personal favorites are:

        Found by                   Item                                          Location
#3. Scott/Culley    Dead, possibly sleeping, raccoon*         OBS Compound
#11 Ina                 1 cent :) very rich now!                          Middle section
#13 Culley             Jono's personality                                Lot 9**

*There is a blue sticky note on the list that reads: "Do you mean to say you may have thrown out a SLEEPING raccoon??!??"
**Scott wrote in today "found in a big pile of bear shit".

It's fair to say that I have fun at work.

You're Such a Luger

While I was waiting for the accredited shuttle to go up the hill this afternoon, I noticed a bunch of Sochi guys standing around by the security tent. I asked the driver if he knew what they were doing here, and he said "they're trying to decide if they want Thai or Indian food". I didn't quite know what to make of his joke, and then he clarified "I don't know". "Do you know if they're coming or going?" I pressed him, just because I was curious and wanted to know whatever information he could tell me. "They're leaving - because Whistler doesn't have any Thai food". Not only was this really not very funny, I had a Thai Chicken Wrap for lunch in the Workforce Break Tent today.

Just before the shuttle pulled away, a VANOC "smurf" (they have all-blue uniforms and there are thousands of them, so they've been nicknamed "smurfs") and two Ukranian athletes climbed aboard. "Athletes?!" the bus driver exclaimed. "I get to drive athletes?!" he carried on, fist pounding the two men as they got on. Not getting much reaction from us, he said "You can tell they're bobsled guys because they sat right behind each other". "No, they're lugers," the smurf said, "they compete tomorrow" (which means they're doubles lugers - a team of two people per sled). "Hey, my sister used to always tell me that I was a luger too!" the bus driver cracked, which is so old and obvious that it just wasn't funny. The Ukranians didn't laugh. I got off at the second stop, and wished them luck before I scooted out of there.

In other important news, Jono labled all the nipple grabbers (or "nipple crushers" as he calls them) in Sharpie with nicknames for each worker. Ina's says "The Germinator" because she's German, Steph's is "De Groot The Mad Root" because her last name is De Groot. Culley's says "Ivan Milat", who Jono explained was a crazed serial killer in Australia (Jono and Culley are both Aussies), and Jono's says "Optimus Prime". After lunch, however, Ina's and Steph's were missing and in looking for them I found Libor's which is named "Ice Cold Baby". On another side "Be Aware I Bite" is written, and on yet another side it says "Steal me and I'll crush your nipple". Needless to say, I didn't let either of the girls take that to replace their missing ones.

 

 

While I was writing this, another strange thing happened. Erin, who works for VANOC in SCW (snow, cleaning, waste) came into my office and asked if she could take off her longjohns. "I can't do it in my office or the door would come flying open" she explained. Awkward! Fortunately she did it quickly and I had my blog to distract me!

Fun Facts About the WSC

Sorry folks, no creative title for this one. It's pretty slow in the office today, despite the inch or two of wet snow that fell from early this morning until about 9:45AM. While Scott was using the computer I poked around the office a bit (after my coffee break, during which I watched some curling. The Norwegians have awesome diamond-checkered pants!) and pulled out the binder of the Opertations Manual for the Sliding Center. To go along with my unoriginal title, I will now quote the Overview information about the WSC; I don't have the motivation to paraphrase it, especially since it's mostly quick bullets anyway. Anything I add will be in [brackets].

Introduction:

• The Whistler Sliding Center is one of only 16 international competition sliding tracks in the world
• It has the highest vertical drop from top to low point of any track in the world - 152 meters
• Track G-force is expected to reach 5.02Gs (men's luge) [This will actually be lower since Men's Start was moved down to Women's Start, and the women will start from Novice/Junior Start]
• A thin, two to five centimeter ice surface is produced and maintained by hand
• Construction began in June 2005, with the track being operationally complete in winter 2007-2008. The formal public opening took place in fall 2008

Bobsleigh:

• Part of the official competition program since the first Olympic Winter games in Chamonix in 1924
• Women's bobsleigh was introduced at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olypmic Winter Games
• The five-man bobsleigh was contested for the first and last time at the St. Moritz 1928 Olympic Winter Games
• Following a sprint start, the bobsled travels down the track on four higly polished steel runners. Sleds are equipped with breaks

Luge

• Luge made its Olympic debut in 1964 in Innsbruck
• Luge athletes start in a seated position, gripping start handles to propel themselves down a steep start ramp. They use gloves with small spikes on the fingertips to push themselves along the ice before laying feet first, on their backs
• Luge athletes steer with their legs and shoulders by applying pressure to the sled runners

Skeleton

• Skeleton first appeared at the 1928 Olympic Winter Games and then again in 1948, both times in St. Moritz. The sport returned to the Olympic Winter Game program in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
• Skeleton athletes [lay on their stomaches, going head first, and] steer with their shoulders and knees by applying pressure to the sled.
• There are no brakes on a skeleton sled

Post-Games Use

The Whistler Sliding Center will be operated under the direction of the Whistler Legacies Society, supported by an endowment trust that was established by the federal and provincial governments as part of their 2010 Winter Games venues investment. The Whistler Sliding Center will showcase sliding sports by hosting international competitions and developing sliding sports opportunities in the local communities. Its location, near several of the resort's world-class hotels, will attract many tourists, providing a sustainable revenue stream towards the center's long-term opperations.

VANOC Investment

The Whistler Sliding Center was built at a cost of $104.6 million, funded jointly by the governments of Canada and British Columbia

Sustainable Attributes

• Smart site selection - adjacent to previously developed areas within a major ski area (such as ski trails, parking lots)
• Site designed to minimize required vegetation clearing and to reduce the facility footprint (such as soft edging and tree islands)
• Long-term operations and revenue generation opportunities through athlete training facility and visitor use
• First construction contract (2005) awarded to local Whistler business
• Energy efficiency initiatives to minimize refridgeration plant energy include
• Ammonia refridgeration system. Ammonia is one of the most energy-efficient refridgerants producing no chloroflourocarbons (which contribute to ozone-layer depletion and global climate change)
• Track shading and weather protection system
• Tree retention to cast shade
• Track painted white to minimize heat absorbtion
• Capture and reuse of waste heat from refidgeration plant

Scope of Work for 2010

The venue features a new 1,450-meter competition-length concrete sliding track, refridgeration facilities, support buildings and access road. The Whistler Sliding Center will host Sport Events for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton. Over the 13 days of sliding competition, athletes will compete for a total of 8 Olympic medals [Men's/Women's Single Luge, Men's Double Luge, Men's/Women's Skeleton, Men's 2-Man Bobsleigh, Men's/Women's 4-Person Bobsleigh].


I think really think the Sliding Center is pretty cool, and I when I visit other venues I'll look for their manual and try to pull out some fun facts for those venues too!

1st Canadian Gold!

I know people think of Canadians are quiet and laid-back, and they're right. But let me tell you, when one of their countrymen is competing, especially on home soil, they exhibit as much passion and pride as New Orleans fans at the Super Bowl.

Tonight at Cypress Mountain Alexandre Bilodeau took the gold in Men's Mogul Freestyle Skiing. Holly and I were eating dinner in the Workforce Break Tent at the Sliding Center during the final dozen runs, and I couldn't help but grin as the entire tent erupted into cheers as each Canadian took his run. I cheered quietly for Bryon Wilson, the American who won the bronze, and received a few glances from those around me. When the Canadians landed impressive jumps and flew across the finish line, however, it was as if there were no other competitors in the running. I know I've said this before, but I can't stress enough that there's some unwritten rule that at the Olympics everyone is free to express their joy, share their excitement, and relish in the glorious moments that they are a part of simply by being present. It truly is a beautiful and inspiring thing.

Also today were the final two runs of the Men's Luge. In between runs 3 and 4, I gave a tour of the lower portions of the track to Maxim, a Russian representative of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics who is staying with Cleanevent to learn more about snow, cleaning, and waste at an event of these proportions. As we trekked around through the pouring rain, I explained everything I knew about the Sliding Center and Cleanevent's role in keeping it clean and clear for both the athletes and spectators. One of the things I asked him about was if he had connections with other parts of the Games, besides Cleanevent, and he made a good point that if he talked to VANOC they would only tell him the positive things, whereas we are much more likely to tell the truth as we see it.

One of the other things I was interested to learn from Maxim is that Russia doesn't have the luge specialists that VANOC currently has to successfully maintain the ice of the track. The track staff  work hard to make sure the conditions are just right, whether it be scraping off ice or watering the track down. It looks like finding that kind of experts may be a challenge for Sochi, but their track isn't even built yet and they have four years to find a solution.

Our period of miserable rain soon ended, and the sun shone for the final runs of the luge. I was able to head up the hill a bit to watch the final five runs on the big screen from behind the track. I stood on the access road by the Track Lodge surrounded by five men, four of whom had countries names displayed proudly on their jackets - the Swiss and Norwegian chatted amicably, the Latvian stood quietly to my left, and the Kiwi showed up just in time to see the final run. While no one cheered during the runs of the final athletes - the world's best lugers (the final five runs each placed in the top five) - I knew that each one of us appreciated the feat we had just witnessed.

During the course of writing this blog post, I chatted extensively with the kid next to me at the Blenz Cafe window counter, overlooking the Whistler Medals Plaza. I saw some flags raised and some athletes receive their medals on the big screen, culminating in a fireworks display. There really is never a dull moment here, as long as I keep my eyes and ears open.

Let The Games Begin

Competition began at the Sliding Center today!

I got to watch some of the practice session this morning, during which I took these photos from inside Turn 16.

 

This last one I did crop in close. It is currently my desktop background

I was also able to watch some of the actual competition after I got off work. I saw some of the men's second run of the night. They will have two more runs tomorrow.

The excitement within Turn 16 was almost tangible tonight every time a Canadian luger got set to make his run. Cowbells clanged constantly, the cheering grew deafening, and red mittens warmed most hands. It was an exciting atmosphere to be engulfed in, and I was right in the action at the bend of Turn 16.

 

 

Bars of Soap

Today Holly and I were in charge of the Helpdesk at the Sliding Center since Nikki was in class. Thankfully, our team does their jobs exceptionally well so our phone hardly rings. A few things of note did happen today though, and some were quite humorous (at least to us).

This morning as we waited to get our 2nd Part Passes to enter the venue two of our guys were speaking in French, then Charles turned to Jan, a Czech, and asked if "glowing" was the same thing as "shiny" (the motto of the 2010 Vancouver Games is "with glowing hearts"). After thinking for just a moment, Jan explained that "glowing" was like light coming from within, whereas "shiny" was reflected light. I turned to Jan and told him that I was impressed with his explanation, and that I didn't think I could have put it that well. Language has always fascinated me, so it was interesting to see how a non-native English speaker conceptualized vocabulary that is second-nature to me.

Later that day a woman from VANOC Transportation came by the office to explain some ice concerns she was having and wanted us to take care of. She was quite chatty, and started talking about the raccoons and coyotes. Then she launched into a thing about bears coming out of hibernating. My favorite line was when she said "If I can smell the earth, the bears have been out for 2-3 weeks". Oh, how I love Canada!

Holly and I got to see a couple of women practicing on the luge track today! Before our lunch break we went up to the track lodge to use the "flushies" (flush toilets) and we heard announcements about the practice beginning. Unfortunately, both of us had neglected to bring our cameras, and my phone was not quick enough to catch the athletes. We went up after our shift, but when we got there a Romanian woman had been knocked out. She was going around Turn 16, the "Dog Bone", and went up over the lip. They had to take her out in a stretcher - I'm going to be checking the news to see if she's okay.

Medical personnel assisting the injured athlete

Our main entertainment for the day was a call I took that I didn't even think was that funny until everyone started freaking out about it. A woman called to tell me "there's an apple core in the waterfall". She said she tried to get it out but didn't want to fall in, and asked that we get the 'nipple grabbers' to get it out. I wrote down all the info, and as per protocol I repeated the information to ensure accuracy. When I got off the call a guy who works in the other half of our trailer poked his head in and said "Did that really just happen?!"

Holly 10-4'ed (radioed) Whitney, who is up at Men's Start where the waterfall is, and asked her to take care of it as our venue manager Scott came in and everyone cracked up laughing. Whitney 10-4'ed back a few minutes later and in a mock-serious voice informed us that the apple core had successfully been removed from the waterfall. As a joke, we logged the issue as high priority, and made wise-cracks about it the rest of the day.

 This is the waterfall up behind Men's Start

Nipple-grabbers, in case you were wondering, are mechanical claws on sticks used to pick up trash. I model them, as well as some other gear we had laying around, here below:

Cleanevent ran out of anything smaller than an X-Large in all parts of our uniform, so my coat swallows me.

Wondering about the title? That one is courtesy of Jono, the hyper Australian supervisor. At the end of the day he and Scott were looking over the roster for tomorrow and they were noting the new additions to our team. They try to strategically assign people to the different areas, and Jono made a comment that "these new people could be bars of soap for all we know!". I found it hilarious, but I guess it's no different than our expression "dumb as rocks".

Tukes, Snipers, and Waste

In addition to providing some daily updates and extended stories, I'd also like to share some miscellaneous tidbits that I pick up from keeping my ears open around the Games.

It was estimated that about 80% of the employees at the camp are Australian, due in large part to the fact that Cleanevent began in Australia. A couple of our roomies are Australian, and we were chatting with Jacinta the other day about assorted things, like conversions between American measurements and metric. Fun fact: while Aussies use the metric system for almost everything, they still refer to their own height in feet and inches, and when babies are born their weight is given in pounds and ounces. Every other distance and weight measurement is given in metric. We're also learning dialectic lingo. For instance "tukes" are what we'd call beanies or skull caps (in both Canada and Australia). Jacinta also calls flashlights "torches".

Paul Lovett, the brother of Cleanevent founder Craig Lovett, mentioned in our meeting last night about the five levels of security at the venues. The front lines are volunteers, who direct us to venues and scope out our accreditation. Next are the local police, followed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and then the Canadian military. Apparently there are also many Secret Service snipers hiding in the hills, and helicopters circling constantly. While the idea of snipers is a bit unsettling, at least I know that VANOC is taking every safety precaution!

At work today a woman from VANOC's Snow Cleaning and Waste department explained to us about the Games' sustainability goal in terms of recycling. The Games are aiming to divert 85% of the waste generated at the venues from the landfills. All the paper plates, utensils, and coffee cups are made out of compostable material (corn) and can therefore be thrown into the same receptacles as banana peels and muffin crumbs. Someone keeps track of the percentages, and the venues are ranked in how well they are meeting the standard. Currently WSC is only diverting 58% of the waste, and are ranked 9th out of the 17 overall, but 5th out of the 7 mountain venues. One of the Cleanevent girls today was working on making fool-proof signs to show crew and spectators alike what trash goes where.

I snapped this photo before Jessie could tape the Coke and Dasani bottles to the left of the red recycling symbol. Coke one of the three major sponsors (along with Visa and McDonalds) so only Coke products are sold.

Sitting in a cafe with free WiFi tonight, I chatted with a guy named Ryan from Saskatchewan who is volunteering with VANOC. We've all been pretty jealous of VANOC's awesome uniforms, so I was curious as to what other cool things volunteers got out of the deal. Apparently they don't even get housing or any real access to events, so I am no longer as envious of their materialistic superiority and I am more grateful for all that Cleanevent has given me. 

I Take A Gondola To Work

Today was FINALLY my first day of work, at the Whistler Sliding Center (WSC). I took the 7:00AM Cleanevent shuttle to Function Junction, then hopped the #2 bus up to the top of Whistler Village. From there we had two options to get to the WSC, but bus #77 was certainly not as appealing as taking the gondola (glass-enclosed ski lift) up the mountain. Already, I loved my venue.

From inside my gondola, looking at another

Interns from University of South Carolina have already been here for a month, stationed at each venue, and are responsible for training us. Nikki is the intern at the WSC, and she is basically the assistant to the Cleanevent venue manager, an awesome laid-back American named Scott.

Our main responsibility is manning the Helpdesk at our assigned venue. This is where calls relating to our cleaning / snow removal services are directed; we answer the phones, gather information about the cleaning need, and then radio the employees assigned to that part of our venue and instruct them to take care of the situation. At the WSC, there are five "areas", but our team is generally broken down into three groups. Area 1 is the top of the venue, where the Mens' and Womens' Start are. Areas 2, 3, and 4 are the mid-track, including where the Finish Dock and Olympic Family Viewing Tent are. At the bottom are Lots 7 and 8 - Lot 7 includes our office and the Worker Break Tent (where we eat), and Lot 8 is home to the Media Center and storage shed for the athletes' equipment.  

After dispatching our employees to take out the trash, vacuum the rug, shovel a walkway, or whatever else the caller might need, we enter the details of the "issue" into the Cleanevent database, so much of my training today was how to use the CMS system (I believe it stands for Cleanevent Management System). I was also able to walk around with Nikki to the Finish Dock, and later in the afternoon we took the shuttle up to the top starting area, which is about 1.5 miles up an extremely steep mountain (hence the need for the shuttle).

There will be two other interns working at the WSC besides myself and Nikki, including Holly from JWU Providence. Since that's more staff than is really necessary, on Friday we're going to work out our schedules around what competition events and concerts we'd like to go to. Each site is issued a certain number of 2nd Part Passes to the venue, and when there are extras other CE employees/interns have the opportunity to get into the venues for the events. Also since we will have extra interns on our venue, we'll be able to each take about 30-45 minutes to walk up and check out the action while on shift.

One other thing I enjoyed about the WSC today was the international diversity of the staff. At lunch today there was an Australian guy, a German girl, a Swiss girl, and a couple of French guys. There are a few more Australians, another Frenchman, and a Czech that I know of who are assigned to our venue as well, and I think the employees will be shifting around during the Games a bit according to the need of a particular venue on any given day.

Tomorrow I have a venue tour of WOP - the Whistler Olympic Park (cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, and nordic combined), followed by class. Thursday I'm back at WSC, but Nikki has class so Holly and I will be "in charge", after one day of training each! Should be an adventure...

Here are a few shots of the venue that I got today. I saw a few athletes around, including some Italians, a German, and a bunch of Czechs, but not in great picture range.

The official emblem in the ice at Mens' Start

One of the turns

Looking down the track

This is down by the finish. The athletes get going so fast that in order to slow down, they have to loop around and go back uphill quite a ways before they lose enough momentum to stop, so they actually come up from the bottom of this picture.