Nordic Festival

This weekend the Ski Jumping Wordcup was hosted in Vancouver, well actually Whister and to be very precise at the Whistler Olympic/Paralympic Park, located 16 kilometres southwest of Whistler, 50 kilometres north of Squamish and 115 kilometres north of Vancouver. It takes two hours by car to get there from Vancouver on the Sea to Sky Highway. It is a very scenic drive on a "soon to be finished" road along the Strait of Georgia (not Georgia Straight)!


Ice Scultures at the Whistler Olympic Parc

The Nordic Fest which combined crosscountry ski events biathlon and Ski jumping was a welcome test for the 2010 olympic games. For us the still to be improved traffic situation turned out to be a desaster. We were in the middle of a traffic jam while the ski jumping final started and when we finally arrived, by foot, since we were advised to leave the car 2,5 kilometres down the hill, because of no parking, everything was over and there were lots of parking spots because many people had already left!

We still got to see the winners and the VIP's photoshooting and giving interviews but we did not see a singe jump :-( It was still nice to wander around the olympic park in the sun, have a almost veggie (!) burger and Anja and Rabea met a future workmate from VANOC.


Brandnew skijumping area at the Whistler Olympic Parc


Simon Ammann and Adreas Küttel, Switzerlands Skijumping Superstars, chatting with spectators

more pictures here