2010 Paralympic Winter Games: Alpine Downhill

Getting your media accreditation a bit later into an event seems to have a downside or two.One downside to me anyway is that I don’t get to experience all that is to be offered during the course of the event, but I sure tried my best to get out to as many as I possibly could. After the Ice Sledge Hockey event at Thunderbird Arena on the UBC Campus it was time to head over to Whistler and check out some of the Alpine action that was scheduled.

The logistics of the Paralympics (I’m sure there were similar for the Olympics too) in regards to getting between the various venues is/was relatively easy. On the day I picked up my accreditation, I stopped off in front of the IBC (International Broadcast Centre aka Vancouver Convention Centre) and talked to the various volunteers who were stationed near the various bus stops outside. They said I could catch the media bus from there to Whistler starting at 7:45am at every odd hour. The same for the trip home too.

I decided to head up to Creekside (home of the Alpine events and the original Whistler village) early in the morning and check out the Men’s and Women’s Downhill. I boarded the bus at 7:30am and was shuttled up to Whistler shortly after. The trip took roughly 2 hours though we did have to make a stop off near the WOP (Whistler Olympic Park) for media people who were covering the Cross Country events happening that day.

Once we arrived at Creekside you have to go through a couple media checkpoints and then over to the chairlift. Just briefly talking with Robyn, we don’t remember there being a chairlift next to the Creekside Gondola, but perhaps they just put it in for the Olympics and Paralympics. If you were not accredited, you had to walk up the path they had created alongside the lower section of the Dave Murray Downhill run. Glad I didn’t have to walk up that!

One at the top of the lift, I could access the media building. I signed in, traded my green arm band in for a blue one. The blue ones were FOP or Field of Play. Come to think of it, you couldn’t actually get on the Field of Play but near it. I scouted around the bottom of the course for where I wanted to shoot and decided to hike up part of the course and station myself just above the finish line at the last gate. Remember, Dave Murray Downhill is a Black run on Whistler, so it can get decently steep. While I walked only a part-way up, I did wish I had a pair of crampons!

The women went first; Visual Impaired, Sitting and then Standing.

Next up were the Men; Visual Impaired, Sitting and Standing.

The above photo is of Brett Bunting of Australia. Notice anything different about his goggles? He did an awesome job down the course, and I didnt notice his goggles until after I looked at the photo on the computer.

Unfortunately Chris Williamson for Canada did not fair as well. He took a spill at the gate (shown above his head in the photo), lost control and slide down the course just above the finish line. The good thing is, he got up without issues and him and his guide continued down to the finish line.

A few of the course maintenance guys cheering on the Canadian in the photo one above. At times the maintenance guys just barely got off the course as an athlete speed down past their section.

During the Men’s Standing I headed down and around the other side of the Finish line to take some additional photos.

It’s just amazing to see what these athletes can do with their disabilities. No Fear! It was truly a great experience to see this for the first time. I’ve seen a few visually impaired skiers on Whistler/Blackcomb, but I have never experienced watching disabled athletes compete like this. Another great first of mine, and I will definitely love to watch them again year after year. Who knows, perhaps I can travel the world and photograph these athletes more!

After the event was done I headed back to the media building, got back my green arm band and headed down to catch the bus. Yes I got to take the chairlift down as the various spectators walked down the steep hill. I boarded the bus and headed back down to Vancouver. Next day I would be going back up to check out the Super-G event.

Don’t forget to head over to my Flickr Photoset for the Paralympic Alpine Skiing – Downhill for more photos from that day.