Early Game Plan
The proactive Seattleite’s guide to enjoying a super-sliding, high-flying, great-dining time at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
By Kathryn Robinson and James Ross Gardner
Cypress Mountain
Freeze Radicals
Thirty minutes from downtown Vancouver, across the Burrard Inlet and in the dramatic, pine-crested mountains of West Vancouver, Cypress Mountain will be the white-hot center of adrenaline for nearly all 17 days of the Games. If you score coveted snowboard tickets, expect to share the stands with boisterous, high-fiving crowds jonesing for, let’s be honest, avalanche-grade crashes in the high-speed alpine downhill. True shredders will vie for a peek at the acrobatic half-pipe events and four-person, collision-prone boardercross races. Tickets will go even faster for the freestyle skiing events, which include aerials (ski-jump powered gymnastics), moguls (stylish negotiation of giant speed bumps), and the brand new Olympic event, skicross (like boardercross but on two planks instead of one).
Washingtonians to cheer
Moguls skier Patrick Deneen (Cle Elum), alpine snowboarder Vic Wild (White Salmon), snowboardcross racer Marni Yamada (Seattle)
Where you’ll eat
Destination food will be scarce on the hill but plentiful en route, in the quiet retail warrens of West Vancouver. The finest is La Régalade (2232 Marine Dr, Ste 103, West Vancouver, 604-921-2228; www.laregalade.com), the city’s archetypical Little French Bistro, which whispers its civilized charms in the form of bubbling casseroles of coq au vin breathing wine and herbs, and pear-blue cheese tarts oozing butter. Boarding fans craving more action can drive a little farther on to the Ocean Club (100 Park Royal South, Ste 105, West Vancouver, 604-926-2326; www.theoceanclub.ca), where white plush sofas, big video screens, and a backlit bar set a clubby, contemporary pulse. Seafood is good, but the OC Burger is the deserved headliner.
Published: September 2008
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