2010.johnbiehler.com

My view of the win from Robson Square…a perfect close to an amazing Winter Olympic Games for me.

Canada’s favorite Skeleton man, Jon Montgomery discusses how he originally discovered Skeleton and what steps he went through to get involved in the sport:

I never expected to be doing many of the things I’ve had the chance do during these Olympic Games. The pavilions during the Games have been a great way to learn more about my country and a boon to the various tourism organizations in Canada.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Alberta rented out a train to give people an Albertan experience but the Travel Yukon folks took it one step further by offering folks a one day Yukon experience by actually chartering an Air North 737 and flying a bunch of us up to Whitehorse for a day:

Once there, we were met with dancing Klondike girls and an amazing feast of Yukon food (sorry no food pictures – too busy eating before we had to head out):

Since it was a very short trip, we were then whisked off to our chosen tours right away. I picked dog mushing at Muktuk Adventures as I’ve never done it before and it seemed to be the perfect Yukon activity to do.

I took turns with my partner riding in or driving the dog sled.

While I really wanted to just sit in the sled and take photos while someone else drove, it really was amazing to be in the driver’s seat. Not that I had to do much, the dogs know what to do and all I really needed to do was hold on and step on the brake to slow them down occasionally…all they seemed to want to do is run.

I nicknamed her “Crazy Tongue” for obvious reasons (but I found out her real name is ‘Sweetie’):

She also kept looking back at us as if to say “hey, lay off the brakes dude, we just want to run!”. Watch for her in this video:

When the dogs overheat, the stop and roll around in the snow and eat it to cool off

As you can see, we had perfect weather for our adventure

Muktuk Adventures is run by Jack Turner who as run the Yukon Quest many times and raises/trains dogs for the race. He talked to us about how the dogs work as a team and how important trust is in that relationship. It was clear to see he really loves his dogs and treats them as if they were his children.

Once back from dog mushing, we then headed to the McBride Museum for a reception and had the opportunity to sample some great local Yukon beers:

try out panning for gold (it’s harder than it looks):

I even managed to find some (about a dollar’s worth):

and to experience the Sour Toe Cocktail:

That really is an actual human toe that you put into a shot of whiskey…it must touch your lips for you to officially ‘do the sour toe’…but here’s Captain Dick to explain what this is all about:

Yes, I did it…and have a certificate to prove it:

After the Sour Toe, we were once again whisked off to a dinner banquet for the Yukon Quest participants.

This is a gruelling contest where entrants spend over 9 days out on the trail with their dogs covering 1000 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon. I was honored to be in the same room with these folks who truly push the envelope of human (and canine) endurance. I quickly noticed how big of a deal this was as there were many people at the banquet that were collecting autographs of all the mushers…it was just like they were rock stars.

Unfortunately, we had to head out early from the banquet to make our plane back to Vancouver. Before we got onboard though, there was one more surprise for us at the airport:

Something tells me this doesn’t happen for everyone that visits Whitehorse but I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

I don’t think I can express my thanks to Travel Yukon for the once in a lifetime chance to experience a day in the Yukon. It was truly an amazing day that I won’t forget.

Earlier this week I stopped by Canada’s Northern House Pavillion on Hastings & Seymour. It’s a huge two level pavilion that seems to be drawing big lineups but since they let in 40 people at a time, the lines move quickly. Lots of interactive displays and live performances for the whole family.

We also had an impromptu True North Media House meetup there as it seemed fitting.

Dave Olson even recorded a podcast with me and a number of others while there.

During the Olympics, more people will visit the pavilion than actually live in Canada’s North.

Today I paid a visit to the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre to find out more about their current exhibition, “More than Just Games”, which focuses on Canada’s involvement with the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.

It’s a fascinating, yet haunting look at the games that occurred over 74 years ago just before World War II broke out.

I got to meet Joan McLagan, who was just 13 years old when she went to Berlin in 1936 to represent Canada as an Olympic Swimmer.

Here she is with her original team jacket which she wore during the opening ceremonies:

She discussed a number of topics related to her experiences including politics in Nazi-era Germany, how the Olympics have evolved since then and her uniform:

Also on hand today was Karen James, a Canadian Olympic Swimmer who went to Munich for the 1972 Games:

Karen describes her delimma of being a 2010 torch bearer and her close proximity to the hostage taking and subsequent murders that took place in 1972:

Here’s a photoset I took at the exhibition:

If you’re interested in finding out more about Canada’s involvement in previous Olympic games, the exhibition is on now until June 2010. Admission is by donation.

My thanks to Anita Webster and Frieda Miller for inviting me down to the exhibit today.

UPDATE: Looks like VANOC has pulled the torch run origins video that Karen James had mentioned she was concerned about.

Thanks to an invitation from LG Canada back in December, I was able to meet and photograph some of the team members of the then proposed team for Canada’s Snowboard Cross (SBX) Olympians.

From left: Maëlle Ricker, Rob Fagan, and Drew Neilson

They still had a number of qualifying events to compete in before the team could be officially set. The full national team was officially announced yesterday and includes Maëlle, Rob and Drew.

Congratulations everyone…can’t wait to watch the races!

Here’s a few more photos from that December morning: