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
Whistler Olympic Park
Frequent Flyers
This venue in the Callaghan Valley (an area so remote, black bears have been known to amble close enough to your car that you half expect them to ask for a lift into town) will host an eclectic mix of events—events that are themselves the most eclectic of the Winter Games. Cross-country ski racers are trail neighbors with racers in the biathlon, which combines Nordic skiing with rifle shooting. Hillside, the astronauts of ski jumping, who rocket to skyscraper heights, take on one of two jumps, normal and large (normal is the “small” jump, but the normal jumpers get mad if you call it that). And in the Nordic combined event, some of those same jumpers scoot over a few yards after their flight for a timed cross-country ski run. The remoteness of the venue, 10 miles from Whistler Village—and the no-car, mandatory-bus-in-bus-out factor—will likely mean plenty of available tickets.
Washingtonians to watch
Cross-country skiers Torin Koos (Leavenworth), Laura Valaas (Wenatchee)
Where you’ll eat
To get to the Nordic/jumping venue you speed past a place they call Function Junction—the blue-collar “suburb” of glossy Whistler—which consists of about three dead-end commercial streets. But boy can it do up some breakfast. Wild Wood Café (1085 Millar Creek Rd, Ste 4, Function Junction, 604-905-5066; www.wildwoodrestaurants.ca) is known for its staggering largesse with the morning meal, served here till early afternoon: groaning plates of banana-bread French toast lavished with fresh strawberries; omelet plates whose eggs can barely contain all the sausages and good cheddar, alongside a mini mountain of fine roasted red potatoes and thick wedges of grainy buttered toast. It’s the laid-back, menu-on-the-blackboard, hangover-slayer of a joint found in every ski village the world over, and its locals-only flavor will provide a shot of sanity when the tourists stream in.
Published: September 2008
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