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December 4, 2009
Whistler Olympic tour
Get your winter fill now, without breaking the bank.
BAILA LAZARUS
With the Olympic Games just around the corner and tickets to some events costing more than $1,000, many people are wondering if they'll ever get within shouting distance of an Olympic athlete in motion.
So imagine the look on someone's face when receiving the gift of a guided tour to Whistler to see Olympic athletes in training; or talk to Olympic bobsledder Jamie Cruickshank as she boards your bus and accompanies you to the Whistler Sliding Centre.
Personally, I'm not interested in paying even $70 to stand in frigid temperatures for hours, just to catch 0.00349 seconds of someone whizzing by in a blur. I much prefer the hot cocoa, great meals and warm-bus scenario. So when I was told about Enjoy Tour and Travel's Whistler Olympic tour, offering the tagline "Fun tours, great food," I was sold!
Troy Opper, founder and owner of Enjoy, has taken all the comfort elements of a day trip – including a three-course meal at Monk's Grill – and combined them with narrated tours of Whistler to give people a complete feel for what the Olympics are all about.
As a tour participant, you're taken to the Alpine skiing area at Whistler Creekside and to Celebration Plaza, where the Olympic medals will be presented (the 2010 Olympic Games are the only ones in history to have two sites for medal presentations, according to Opper). You'll visit the Whistler museum to get an historical perspective through the current exhibit Whistler's Olympic Journey; and then go to the Olympic store, where you'll meet with Cruickshank, who will give a short presentation on her sport prior to joining the group on the bus to the Sliding Centre aka bobsleigh, luge and skeleton run.
At the Sliding Centre, you'll stand just a few yards away and watch athletes swooshing down at up to 150 kilometres per hour. The athletes train after dark because that's when the competition has to take place in order to be seen live on television in Europe during the day, Opper said.
Needless to say, getting to visit just a couple of months prior to the Olympic Games is not that simple. Opper has special permission to visit certain venues, and most venues will start to restrict access completely as the Games approach.
Currently, Opper is one of only three tour companies, and the only one from Vancouver, to have permission to drive into the Sliding Centre and to bring the participants to the top of the ski jump in the Olympic Park.
Because of the restrictions, some tours stop near the end of December, while others start again in January or wait until May.
The tour of Olympic venues, which includes a chairlift trip to the top of the ski jump, will only pick up again in the spring, but it's also one that's well worth a look. Not only will you stand at the top of the hill and see the ridiculous slope the ski jumpers fly down, but you'll be able to test your target practice by shooting a biathlon rifle.
Starting in spring, as well, a tour of the Athlete's Village will be added, and there might be a chance to ride a bobsleigh piloted by an Olympic athlete.
Opper said these tours are not only great for Olympic fans but may hold particular interest for the 55-plus crowd. The ease and variety of the tours he offers means even a slower walker can keep up and enjoy the day.
Besides the Olympic-related tours, Enjoy is offering the Big Vancouver Holiday Light Tour ($34), where participants snack on cookies and cocoa as they see the spectacular creations at Canuck Place Children's Hospice, Stanley Park, Jubilee Fountain in Lost Lagoon, St. Paul Hospital's Lights of Hope and the 10th annual Trinity streetlights competition.
And for non-holiday-themed tours, there are, among others, the Brackendale Eagle Tour, Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Gulf Islands Tour and the Boeing Tour in Everett, Wash.
For more information, visit enjoytourandtravel.com, call 604-719-7161 or e-mail [email protected].
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, painter and photographer. Her work can be seen at orchiddesigns.net.
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