Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Our Guests from Ontario hit Vancouver with a bang!



Ya Hoo! Our next lucky winners and guests of the Ryders and Suntech Olympic Contest arrived to more sunny weather and a city buzzing with an Olympic fever!



Brett Lavier landed first from Tillsonburg, Ontario where he owns and operates a successful Canadian Tire store and right behind him from Brantford was Tara Detheridge , where her and her family own and run The Bicycle Shop.




Our First stop was the Can Fund Suite again , for the stunning view before hitting the road to Whistler.

Brett and Tara, where super keen to hit the village and get into the Olympic Experience right away....and we were not disappointed.









Walking distance from the Maxem Cabin is where the action happens, passing the Austria House, Fire and Ice exhibition, International Flags from around the world and CTV's broadcast studio.... the list goes on..

John Montgomery, Canadian Gold Medalist in the Skeleton and all round funny guy, came out to greet the crowd and have a short interview with CTV's hottie broadcaster. Push Play button



Just down Village Lane was Simon Armann and thousands of his Swiss countrymen and women celebrating his 2nd Gold Medal in the Big Ski Jump. This guy is a hoot, and his Swiss possee know how to have a great time! Everyone is loving it!




Day 2 took a gang to the Sprint Team Relay Cross Country out at Callaghan Valley. Canada came 4th narrowly missing the podium, and tons of fun by all.


Thanks Brett and Tara for being awesome guests! Your enthusism and energy was so great to be around!





With Canada missing expectations on the Ski Team, I thought I'd make a couple runs down the hill and start trying out for the team.




The Olympic Adventure Continues

The highly anticipated Maxem Olympic Fieldtrip happened on Friday the 19th, and it started with a bang.
Adorned in their finest Canadian garb, the crews first stop after the a short Seabus trip was the Can Fund Hospitality suite in the Shaw building.
Conrad Leiderman is an Olympic Volleyball Athelete who started the Can Fund several years ago with his waife to raise money for all Canadian atheletes going for gold. Shaw a major sponsor provided this high end floor to raise awareness and provide a comfortable space for atheltes and their families to relax and mingle with people like us. Ryders is a longtime supporter and sponsor of Conrad and his endevours at Can Fund.
The view was spectacular and allowed us to sit high above , the crowds and the chainlink fence to get a steller view of the Olympic Flame , the Rings and a crazy panoramic view towards the North Shore Mountains....and our office.
After swilling their beer, and filling our travelers, the crew was off to the streets of Vancouver!!




A A good time had by all....even in crampt elevators!!







Sunday, February 21, 2010

Our Special Guests and Olympic Gold


We were so happy to have Daniel and Lise Murray, who own and operate a Canadian Tire store in Montreal , Quebec to be our first winners of the Suntech Olympic "Go for Gold"
promotion.

As soon as the Murrays, Vancouver started to get blessed with the majical sunshine thats been warming our hearts ever since.
We were lucky to be attending the 1000 meters Long Track Speed Skating finals at the new Olympic Oval in Richmond, just south of the city center.
Christine Nesbitt came through in the last pair to win Canada a its 4th Gold Medal.
Winning Gold has not been as plentiful for Canada yet in this Olympics, so this experience was truely a special one.
Thanks-you Danile and Lise for the great time!

You've probably heard about the amazing crowds hitting the streets of Vancouver. This clip will give you a small taste of that at midnight last night. Like I mentioned , this city will never be the same after this event.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Great Canadian Olympic Vibe

OK, This town is insane. No really I have never seen so many happy people celebrating intense competition with such passion and enthusiasm as whats going on in Vancouver. Walking the streets of Vancouver, even if you dont go to a competition is full entertainment.
Id update you on all the competition but there is so much great information out there like this link to get daily short videos: Check it out and sign up at www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-videos/daily-host-video--vancouver-2010-day-7_283428g110288-ft.html




This is a Medal Ceremony in Whistler that takes place every night in the new Olympic Plaza. The energy and vibe they have created keeps the crowd hopping from the time you enter with "go go girls" and dj's right through to the featured entertainer of the night like Feist, Bare Naked Ladies to name just a couple.



Have to make mention of Canada's first Gold Medal on Canadian soil , Alexandre Bilodeau, who took it in the Mens Moguls. His medal has now lead the way to a couple more ....and more to come Im sure.
Even though there is not much new snow on the local mountains, Grouse brought "The Beast" in. This snow machine is something out of Starwars and Mad Max.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

4 DAYS IN AND ITS A BLAST!

A few pics to kick todays post off.....


RB is back , rippin up Lonsdale leading the Torch Relay














These Euopeans know how to do it right!

The Norway Father/Daughter Team...its a family affair.

This am the boyz starting the day off up Grouse Mountain on this spring day here in Vancouver. Suppose to get to 15 degrees











A tame furry friends came out to say hi....good eatin for February!












RB alias Captain Canada having fun with the locals






























Vancouver and Whistler are putting on quite a show after only 4 days of competition. The media loves to play up how Canada "Can't get it up" during the opening ceremonies mechanical malfunction, its all party on the streets. Todays post is a big share of some of the sights that are happening across the nation.







Kelly Ford Dulson, the better half of our Ontario Ryders Crew (Just kiddin Martin) sent in these photos of the Flame passin through her hometown Stratford, Ontario during the Torch Relay.







More recently her brother Chris at the Luge track in Whistler having a good time cheering on these speed freaks.







Yummy mommies hanging out with Michael Buble during the NBC Today Show thats been filming up Grouse Mountain, our local hill.











The Medals weight over 1.5 lbs, and look awesome. Medal count as of today is :
Germany 9
USA 8
France 7
Canada 5
Korea 4

Go Canada Go!!




























































Sunday, February 14, 2010

The First Medal, Ski Jumpin and Partying

Day 1 took James, Melanie and I to the first event of the Olympics...the Normal Ski Jumping at the Whistler Olympic Park. Until you've seen these guys huck themselves off of these massive jumps its hard to believe it.




They even let me try the jump out....scary!



































Almost as much fun as the event is the people that come out from all over the world. Some of the hardcores even had the barley breakfast.
Melanie got a chance to meet and talk to Bonnie, the CEO from Hudsons Bay...good smoozin, while James was broing down with USA VP Joe Diden , but the Secret Service were a bit grumpy.















The first Gold was handed out with the Swiss Harry Potter look alike Simon Arrmann winning with a decisive 108 M jump...blowing the field away!


Mel and James won tickets to the Victory Ceremonies and instantly hit the mosh pit and danced to The All American Rejects...ending day 1 in style.



































Sooo many places to go, events to report on.....here is a good recap video.