Some of you might have noticed a lack in the blogging department here during the Winter Olympics and I would have to agree. I’ve been fairly busy being outside with my camera and capturing what I can of the Winter Olympics. As with most people, it is a once in a life time experience, especially when it is happening in your home town. I’ve uploaded a few photos over on Flickr but for the most part, I’m fairly behind in the uploading aspect too.

With the last day of the Winter Olympics being today, I should I have some time to upload and write more about my experience during the games. With the Paralympics starting soon in March, I’ll be back outside with camera in hand to experience that too. Hopefully Robyn and I can get up to see some of the Paralympic events too, especially the Alpine!

Recently (yesterday), I was invited along with a buddy of mine, to be guests on the Travel Alberta train up to Whistler and what a great way to get up to Whistler too. I have not been on a train since I was little and living on Vancouver Island.

We embarked on our little adventure very early in the morning;4:50AM. In the rain, we booked it up Georgia Street to catch the appropriate bus at the Shangra-La Hotel, which then took us over to North Vancouver to where we would me up with the Rocky Mountaineer and the very friendly Travel Alberta people.

We boarded and found seats next to a couple from Australia who were freelance accredited photographers for the Olympics (Jeff and Courtney Crow). They turned out to be awesome people and company for this trip and shared many stories of their combined 35 years in sports photography.

The train pulled away and we were given the safety speech not long before the first drinks where handed out. It was a bit too early for alcohol (according to some government law) but we did cheers to our departure and the experiences we would have through out the day.

It was raining and quite dark so there were not many photo ops along the way until we reach the Squamish area. Keith and I had a great time explaining the various areas the train traveled through to our new Aussie friends who were amazed at how beautiful it was along the coastline even in the early hours of the morning. Before we knew it, they started serving breakfast and it was a treat. For those food-crazed people, I did not get any photos of the food as there wasn’t much room to bring out the camera with the four of us at our table, but it was good and I was looking forward to the dinner on the way back.

After breakfast we headed back upstairs to where Jon (VP of Marketing) had a special gift for us. In a really cool way of presenting the people with media information, Travel Alberta loaded up their contacts, photos, videos, notes and more into Apple iPod Touch 8GB units and handed them out.

This went over extremely well and what a really cool way to give people all the information they might need (and more) at their finger tips? With all the information they put onto the iPod Touch, there is still about 7GB of room left! They even had laser etched their logo and URL on the back of the iPods. Makes me wonder how much money they spend on all these iPods as they have been operating the train each and every day of the Olympics.

The sun started to rise and give light to the dreary morning we were experiencing. Though the weather was not dampening anyone spirits. The views from the rails along the Sea to Sky are breath-taking. I am envious of John and Rebecca’s trip with Travel Alberta as they had a blue bird day.

We talked to numerous people from Travel Alberta including Maureen, Noelle and Susan. They were all great in providing any answers we had questions for and talking about things we did not know.

On a cool note we also had a great talk with the CEO of the Calgary Stampede about the role of photographers covering the Stampede. We also talked to him a bit about social media including twitter and applications for the iPhone (which is turning out to be a great side project for me). If you have never been to a Calgary Stampede I would highly recommend you adding it to your Bucket List. Even though I only spend 1 day, many moons ago, it was enjoyable (sans the company I was with). I would love to go back and photography the 10 day long event! The rodeo, chuck-wagons, festivals, the people, all of it! And to think, it is only a 60 minute flight away from Vancouver!

Along the route up the Checkamus River we were given two options if we did not have plans once we reached Whistler; to see the Alpine events in Creekside or to check out the 4-man Bobsled event at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Keith and I opted for the Bobsled, or is it Bobsleigh? Anyway, there were reports that the rain was to let up and the clouds were to break.

After walking around Whistler Village for a little bit we headed up to the Sliding Centre to check out the 4-man Bobsled event. I’m not going to bore you with countless photos of the sleds themselves, as I will be writing a post for that at a later time. At this time though, I will have to mention there were some pretty interesting characters as Keith and I watched as the first run of the event unfolded.

We headed back down to the Village after the first run as we didn’t want to face the crowds that would be created with having over 12,000 people at this particular event. We were told the event was sold out  and I was told at an earlier time, that the capacity of the Whistler Sliding Centre is around 12,000. With a crowd like that we did not want to miss the bus back to Creekside to get back on our train home.

When we got back down to the village we rounded the corner of the Longhorn, CTV has a little building setup for when they do news casts and interviews with various people. There was a big crowd that had gathered there and in the chair being interviewed was Usher. He was slotted to perform at the LiveCity Whistler venue that evening. He definitely got the crowd all riled up too.

We continued onward towards the Whistler Golf Course (this was the home of the Alberta Hospitality area). Along the way another show was entertaining the crowds at the plaza near the Amsterdam Pub and Araxi. They got also go the crowd to participate by dancing, which a lot of people part-took in. The vibe at Whistler is (to me anyway) bigger than that in Vancouver.

We arrived back at the Alberta Hospitality centre were Keith and I enjoyed some complimentary snacks and beverages. We watched the second run of the 4-man Bobsled event where Canada won Bronze. We then watched the Men’s Curling and Canada won a Gold for that. As of right now we have 13 Gold medals! Everyone is hoping the hockey game today gives us our 14th Gold medal!

4:30PM rolled around and we boarded the buses back to Creekside and hopped on to the same train which would take us back down to Vancouver. We were scheduled to leave at 6PM but it seems the last bus was late on departing so we were a bit late in pulling out. We enjoyed the free drinks and awesome conversation nonetheless.

We met back up with Courtney and Jeff who had a great relaxing time. They both have said this has been the most relaxing Olympics they have attended and that the trip up to Whistler was much needed and enjoyable. Courtney also mentioned a website she runs called ExplorerGirls.com. A website in which girls and woman who are into travel and an active sporting lifestyle can connect and share experiences.

As the train pulled out from the Creekside station, we headed down to the bar area to catch the Bronze medal hockey game. Being on a train the live feed was delayed for web but also the signal would cut out here and there but it was great to watch it.

We were served various appetizer type food but it was most excellent, I really enjoyed the Braised Elk. The AAA grade Alberta beef is never a bad thing either.

Eventually further along out route back to Vancouver we were in for some great entertainment by Brett Kissel. Everyone was singing and really enjoying his performance. What a great way to end a fun day. Let’s hope he gets a gig during the upcoming Calgary Stampede!

Many thanks to the people at Travel Alberta for the experience and your hospitality! How I have a craving to head up to Lake Louise and the Calgary Stampede and the many other events and beautiful areas you offer!

You can check out the other photos I am sharing online during my Olympic experience over on Flickr too!