Trip Blog & Members Section

March 2010

Canada Strikes Gold!

Monday, March 8th - 2010

Sadly the 2010 Winter Olympics have come and gone and life for us is back to normal. Although the games are over, they did not conclude without leaving behind a lasting legacy in Vancouver and Whistler for generations of Canadians and future visitors to enjoy. The greatest spectacle this city has ever witnessed was capped off by a record setting run of gold medals over the closing days of the games and RMMH was there to capture some of the action!

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The Olympic torch was carried through our neighborhood 2 days prior to opening ceremony. It’s 45,000-kilometer, 106-day trek across Canada began back on October 30th and wrapped up in Vancouver on February 12th for the opening ceremony and traditional lighting of the torch.

The views from our side of the water were spectacular. The night’s sky was lit up for 17 days with an art piece commissioned by the cultural Olympiad called Vectorial Elevation. Robotic searchlights created a quiet canopy of light in the night sky above and on the surface of English Bay with designs created by people around the world and delivered over the Internet.

Hockey is the number one sport for most red-blooded, beer guzzling Canadians. And the games certainly didn’t disappoint by bringing together the finest hockey talent in the world to play in a tournament for the ages! Brandon and I went to the opening men’s hockey game U.S.A. vs. Switzerland thanks to some tickets that our sister gave us from Christmas. Thanks sis!

A few days after that I took in a Slovakia vs. Latvia men’s hockey game with some of the boys. Then later that night we went out partying downtown to celebrate another Team Canada victory.

Brandon and Katharine scored tickets from their neighbors to go see Canada play against Switzerland in the preliminary round. After the game they went to check out the German House in Vancouver’s Gastown. Apparently the German’s ran out of beer after day 10 of the Olympics. They obviously underestimated how much us Canadians like our beer. Later there was an article published in Time Magazine that gave us a gold medal for drinking. We apparently drank more than Turin and Salt Lake City combined!

Most of the countries that are considered winter sports powers we’re well represented by their respective “houses”. Designed by each country as a place for supporters and athletes alike to gather and soak up one another’s unique culture, the Olympic houses quickly became notorious for huge line-ups, raucous crowds, and what else but drinking. The most notable houses were Russia or “Sochi” house where they refused to serve any kind of mix with your vodka, Holland house a.k.a. Heineken house which featured everything from world class house DJ’s to clog dancing, Irish house which set an Olympic record for noise complaints from its neighbors, and finally our very own Molson Canadian Hockey house which was the hub for all things related to partying and the maple leaf.

The Swiss and the Austrians decided to build their “houses” up in Whistler which added to the Olympic flavour of the town. On most evenings Whistler was going off just as hard as Vancouver was. Especially any night where a Canadian athlete won a medal in an event hosted in Whistler (bobsled, luge, downhill skiing etc.) the Village would just go crazy! All the major networks were broadcasting from the bottom of the hill and spontaneous parties were known to break-out at a moments notice. Many of our guests will recognize the Whistler Brewhouse in behind the Summit Lodge as you begin the village stroll. The rings were a popular spot for a photo-op even on a day where the weather wasn’t so nice.

It’s almost as if the hockey gods were shinning on us one more time as they saved the very best for last. Both our men’s and women’s Ice Hockey teams claimed gold on the final weekend of competition against our latest and most feared rival, the U.S. Of course this set off the craziest party Vancouver has ever seen! On a day that most Canadians won’t soon forget, 80% of our country tuned in to watch us beat the Americans on home soil. The Olympic rings on Vancouver’s waterfront burned gold for 3 straight days as Canadian athletes continued to wrack up 1st prize medals en route to a record setting 14 before it was all said and done.

For a nation that is often accused of being too polite and modest to be fiercly patriotic, these Olympic Games gave us that rare excuse to gloat about being Canadian, even if it was just for one day. A truly proud moment in our nation’s history and I’m so grateful my city of Vancouver was chosen to host it all.