Whistler Wonderland

How did I miss out on this assignment?!

Ok, I’m not really in a position to belly-ache, but after a whirlwind tour of Whistler, I was wondering how the USOC staff in the mountains secured their sweet little stations!

Whistler is magnificent – both as a ski town as an Olympic village. The vistas are beautiful. The town is quaint and friendly. The destinations are within walking distance. The people are happy. The beer is cold. The sun is shining (most of the time). And… everything is so manageable! Less athletes, smaller crowds, fewer media. It’s all just easier and more relaxed.

We toured Whistler Village on Monday afternoon, which is the base area of the ski resort with shops, restaurants, bars, outdoor fire pits, patios, etc. They’ve also set up quite a few "live sites" – stages with live music and entertainment playing throughout the day.

We also visited the USA House in Whistler, which is a beautiful mansion the USOC has turned into a hospitality lounge. This place was amazing – with no expense spared. In fact, the floors are so nice the owner wouldn't permit people to wear their shoes in the house, so the USOC purchased stacks of flip-flop slippers, and the coat check also serves as a shoes check. You turn in your boots, you get a pair of slippers in return!

My favorite was the back patio, complete with a fire pit surrounded by beach chairs and down blankets, a hot tub, and a sauna built into the side of the hill!

Our athletes have loved it too of course, and we’ve utilized it for a lot of press needs. Lindsey Vonn’s Skype with Oprah was from an upstairs bedroom.

We made it to a Medal Ceremony that night too. The stage is set up right in Whistler Village in a beautiful setting with traditional drummers, tons of cheering fans and free hot cocoa. The outdoor setting feels much more spirited and cozy and festive than the huge indoor stadium they’re using for the medal ceremonies in Vancouver. I’d much prefer to experience it outside – as the Winter Games is meant to be.

There weren’t any U.S. medalists this night, but we cheered for all of the competitors and reveled in the atmosphere. After each ceremony there’s a concert, and this evening was the ‘80s band DEVO, known for their one hit wonder “Whip it Real Good.” They are WEIRD! They wore these odd masks for most of the concert and walked around in robot poses. They have quite a cult following though!

On Day 2 we made it to the first alpine run in the men’s Super G. To get to the base of the course we rode a chairlift up – again, so quaint! Our guys didn’t do too well – Ted Ligety ended up eighth after both runs, and Bode skied off course during his first run.

We were chatting with a seasoned reporter from the Associated Press as we waited for the U.S. guys’ runs. The reporter told us that if Bode were to ski out, there was a chance he would try to bypass the required media interviews in the mixed zone by finding another way down the mountain. So if Bode skied out, the journalist and his colleagues had already studied a ski resort map and charted out all of the possible points of exit, based on gondolas, lifts and ski runs.

So when Bode skied out, the reporter took off to his appointed exit route before we could even say goodbye. Low-and-behold, Bode did try to escape the media interviews by sneaking down another route, and AP caught him! They had a reporter waiting and got the only quote from him that day. Pretty resourceful!

Although Bode didn't finish, Ted did, and this was his first run of the day...

Next we were on our way to Nordic Combined – which is ski jumping followed by cross country skiing. The U.S. had never medaled in this sport in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, and they’ve already won four here! We saw the second medal, which was won by Team USA in the relay. These four guys are a like a family, and they have made a tremendous commitment to a sport with no glamour, no fame, no endorsement deals, but with a fair amount of long training hours and grueling races.

To watch them medal as a team was incredibly moving. They made history at these Games, putting the U.S. on the map in Nordic sports where we’ve never been before. When you look at the medal count from previous Games and factor in four additional, you see what an impact they’ve made.

The race itself was really exciting, and people lined the snowy course waving flags and ringing cowbells. We were on the edges of our seats, and felt such pride in what we watched the guys accomplish. It was fantastic!

To me, these are the unsung heroes of Team USA. They embody what the Olympics are all about – dedication to their sport, passion for what they do, breaking down barriers, competing simply to be their best. We have them interviewing with Costas tomorrow for the Friday primetime coverage. Keep your eye out!