Del Bosco crashes
Bob Mackin, QMI Agency
WEST VANCOUVER: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Another Canadian crashed on the way to the podium at the 2010 Winter Olympics. This time it was Chris Del Bosco, the Sudbury, Ont., resident who is ranked third on the skicross world cup tour.
Del Bosco was racing fourth in the final of the first skicross event in Olympic history Sunday at Cypress Mountain.
He improved to third and then tumbled before the climactic jump to the finish. Del Bosco landed on his side and hit his head and shoulder. He received medical attention before leaving the course. Del Bosco finally spoke to the media more than two hours after the race, sporting a blackened right eye from the crash.
“It just didn't work out for me,” Del Bosco said, pausing to wipe tears from his eyes. “Third, I guess it's all right for some people, but I wanted to give 100% for my sport, my country.”
Del Bosco, 27, was the 2010 Winter X-Games gold medallist in January. The Vail, Colo., native with dual citizenship previously competed as a national-level alpine skier and mountain biker for the United States until drug and alcohol violations derailed his career.
“I left it all out there, that’s what I came to do,” Del Bosco said. “It could’ve happened in any round. I made it to the final.”
World cup leader Michael Schmid of Frutigen, Switzerland became the sport’s first gold medallist. He edged silver medallist Andreas Matt of Flirsch, Austria and bronze medallist Audun Groenvold of Oslo, Norway.
"I was in fourth behind Chris and I was thinking, 'It isn't over until you cross the finish line',” said Groenvold. “I hung on his tail. When you see someone crash like that, it's a mixed feeling."
Davey Barr, a 32-year-old from Brackendale, B.C., finished second in the consolation final and sixth overall. He was called upon as an 11th hour replacement for teammates David Duncan and Brady Leman, who were both injured training at Cypress.
“Everybody else had the two days of training before today,” Barr said. “I managed to get three runs in this morning before the race.”
Skicross was the only sport added to the Olympics for Vancouver 2010.
“We showed the world today what a cool sport this is,” Barr said.
Reigning world champion Ashleigh McIvor of Pemberton, B.C., leads Canada’s women into their first Olympic skicross race on Tuesday at Cypress.
Showing posts with label Cypress Mountain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cypress Mountain. Show all posts
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Flashback: Feb. 17, 2010
White’s golden night
Bob Mackin, QMI Agency
WEST VANCOUVER: Red skies at night, Shaun White's delight.
As the clear Wednesday afternoon sky above Cypress Mountain gave way to the most brilliant sunset since the 2010 Winter Olympics Games opened, the Turin 2006 halfpipe snowboarding champion known as “The Flying Tomato” continued to reinforce his reputation as the best in the sport with each run on the icy slope.
San Diego’s White satisfied his rock star-like following when he became the first in halfpipe to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals. White scored a 48.4 in the final run on which he executed his signature Double McTwist 1260 move to the delight of the full grandstand, which included his parents.
“I can’t even tell you or begin to describe how many times I’ve gone over this run in my mind, gone over this competition in my head, imagined what it would be like. I can finally go to sleep now,” said 23-year-old White, who won a world cup test event on the same course last year.
“On this world stage why not deliver something spectacular? I felt like I came all the way to Canada, talked about this trick so much, blood sweat and tears, to land it and there it was.”
The win was even sweeter because White described this as the most challenging season of his career. He said he has crashed more than ever and felt more frustrated than before and “pushed myself as far as I can go.”
Despite being the superior entrant, White said he had to battle the course in soggy and foggy conditions at Cypress earlier in the week.
“It’s not easy to make a halfpipe with no snow in a tough season, and they delivered,” White said.” The halfpipe the first day was one of the worst halfpipes I’ve ridden in my life and it went from there to one of the best.”
Peetu Piiroinen of Finland won silver and American Scott Lago claimed bronze. Justin Lamoureux of Squamish, B.C., was the lone Canadian among the 12 finalists. He finished seventh.
(Postscript: This was perhaps the most memorable outdoor sporting event I covered during the Games. White did numerous broadcast interviews, including one with NBC's Jenna "Daughter of Dubya" Bush, before finally reaching us print reporters. His handler warned us he'd have time for only four questions because White needed to get to doping control for the post-competition urine sampling. White stayed more than 10 minutes and answered every question. Rarely have I seen an athlete speak so passionately about his sport. Hockey players should learn from White. Sad to report that the halfpipe on which White thrilled the world was demolished.)
Bob Mackin, QMI Agency
WEST VANCOUVER: Red skies at night, Shaun White's delight.
As the clear Wednesday afternoon sky above Cypress Mountain gave way to the most brilliant sunset since the 2010 Winter Olympics Games opened, the Turin 2006 halfpipe snowboarding champion known as “The Flying Tomato” continued to reinforce his reputation as the best in the sport with each run on the icy slope.
San Diego’s White satisfied his rock star-like following when he became the first in halfpipe to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals. White scored a 48.4 in the final run on which he executed his signature Double McTwist 1260 move to the delight of the full grandstand, which included his parents.
“I can’t even tell you or begin to describe how many times I’ve gone over this run in my mind, gone over this competition in my head, imagined what it would be like. I can finally go to sleep now,” said 23-year-old White, who won a world cup test event on the same course last year.
“On this world stage why not deliver something spectacular? I felt like I came all the way to Canada, talked about this trick so much, blood sweat and tears, to land it and there it was.”
The win was even sweeter because White described this as the most challenging season of his career. He said he has crashed more than ever and felt more frustrated than before and “pushed myself as far as I can go.”
Despite being the superior entrant, White said he had to battle the course in soggy and foggy conditions at Cypress earlier in the week.
“It’s not easy to make a halfpipe with no snow in a tough season, and they delivered,” White said.” The halfpipe the first day was one of the worst halfpipes I’ve ridden in my life and it went from there to one of the best.”
Peetu Piiroinen of Finland won silver and American Scott Lago claimed bronze. Justin Lamoureux of Squamish, B.C., was the lone Canadian among the 12 finalists. He finished seventh.
(Postscript: This was perhaps the most memorable outdoor sporting event I covered during the Games. White did numerous broadcast interviews, including one with NBC's Jenna "Daughter of Dubya" Bush, before finally reaching us print reporters. His handler warned us he'd have time for only four questions because White needed to get to doping control for the post-competition urine sampling. White stayed more than 10 minutes and answered every question. Rarely have I seen an athlete speak so passionately about his sport. Hockey players should learn from White. Sad to report that the halfpipe on which White thrilled the world was demolished.)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Flashback: Feb. 16, 2010
Ricker rides to historic gold
Bob Mackin, QMI Agency
WEST VANCOUVER: The fog lifted at Cypress Mountain Tuesday and Maelle Ricker became the first Canadian woman and first British Columbian to win Olympic gold at home.
Ricker, a 31-year-old from Squamish, B.C., beat Deborah Anthonioz of France and Olivia Nobs of Switzerland in the women’s snowboardcross final. World champion Helen Olafsen of Norway crashed midway.
"I tried to explode out of the gate, I really wanted to get out of that gate as fast as I can,” said Ricker. "It was really, really hard today to get a clean run all the way down the course, but I just held on and did my best."
The North Vancouver native who grew up near Cypress was the undisputed favourite after winning three of five world cup races this season and placing third in another.
Ricker’s win was the biggest snowboarding victory for Canada since Ross Rebagliati took the Olympic gold medal in giant slalom at Nagano 1998. Ricker also made her Olympic debut at Nagano, finishing fifth in halfpipe. Tuesday’s win was redemption for Turin 2006 where Ricker finished fourth in snowboardcross despite crashing before the finish line.
“Turin was such a motivator for me, it just made me work that much harder and just go for it for today,” Ricker said.
Ricker’s American rival Lindsey Jacobellis, the Turin silver medallist, was eliminated from contention in the semifinal. The two appeared to make contact early in the race. Jacobellis was the consolation final winner.
“I don’t think we clipped, we were definitely really close right out of the start, and I don’t know what happened to her,” Ricker said. “I don’t know where she went down, I just tried to stay on my line and focus on what I was doing.”
Turin bronze medallist Dominique Maltais of Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., was eliminated after she crashed in both qualifying runs.
Cypress is Canada’s most lucrative venue of the 2010 Games. Montreal moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau captured Canada’s historic first home-won gold medal on Sunday at Cypress. On Monday, Mike Robertson of Edmonton got silver in the men’s snowboardcross.
The West Vancouver resort has also provided the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, with its biggest weather challenges. Warm and wet El Nino-influenced weather wiped snow off the slopes in January. More than 350 truckloads of snow were brought 160 kilometres from Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park to salvage competitions.
Allison Pass, coincidentally, is named for John Fall Allison, a B.C. gold rush pioneer in the 19th century.
Bob Mackin, QMI Agency
WEST VANCOUVER: The fog lifted at Cypress Mountain Tuesday and Maelle Ricker became the first Canadian woman and first British Columbian to win Olympic gold at home.
Ricker, a 31-year-old from Squamish, B.C., beat Deborah Anthonioz of France and Olivia Nobs of Switzerland in the women’s snowboardcross final. World champion Helen Olafsen of Norway crashed midway.
"I tried to explode out of the gate, I really wanted to get out of that gate as fast as I can,” said Ricker. "It was really, really hard today to get a clean run all the way down the course, but I just held on and did my best."
The North Vancouver native who grew up near Cypress was the undisputed favourite after winning three of five world cup races this season and placing third in another.
Ricker’s win was the biggest snowboarding victory for Canada since Ross Rebagliati took the Olympic gold medal in giant slalom at Nagano 1998. Ricker also made her Olympic debut at Nagano, finishing fifth in halfpipe. Tuesday’s win was redemption for Turin 2006 where Ricker finished fourth in snowboardcross despite crashing before the finish line.
“Turin was such a motivator for me, it just made me work that much harder and just go for it for today,” Ricker said.
Ricker’s American rival Lindsey Jacobellis, the Turin silver medallist, was eliminated from contention in the semifinal. The two appeared to make contact early in the race. Jacobellis was the consolation final winner.
“I don’t think we clipped, we were definitely really close right out of the start, and I don’t know what happened to her,” Ricker said. “I don’t know where she went down, I just tried to stay on my line and focus on what I was doing.”
Turin bronze medallist Dominique Maltais of Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., was eliminated after she crashed in both qualifying runs.
Cypress is Canada’s most lucrative venue of the 2010 Games. Montreal moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau captured Canada’s historic first home-won gold medal on Sunday at Cypress. On Monday, Mike Robertson of Edmonton got silver in the men’s snowboardcross.
The West Vancouver resort has also provided the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, with its biggest weather challenges. Warm and wet El Nino-influenced weather wiped snow off the slopes in January. More than 350 truckloads of snow were brought 160 kilometres from Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park to salvage competitions.
Allison Pass, coincidentally, is named for John Fall Allison, a B.C. gold rush pioneer in the 19th century.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Flashback: Feb. 14, 2010
Problems plague Cypress, transportation systems
Bob Mackin, QMI Agency
VANCOUVER: Millions of dollars were spent to truck and airlift snow to cover the rainsoaked slopes of Cypress Mountain, but that’s not VANOC’s only problem at the snowboarding and freestyle skiing venue.
Food service was disrupted by a power outage during Saturday night women’s moguls competition. Lineups were long and crowd control described as chaotic by fans trying to get out of the wind and rain and onto buses. At least one bus load of spectators from Burnaby Mountain missed the start of competition because they were picked-up almost 90 minutes late.
“Cypress is like your special child, your special child that’s bright and talented and good-looking and causes you all kinds of worries, but they’re still your special child,” said VANOC communications vice-president Renee Smith-Valade.
Smith-Valade downplayed troubles with the Olympic bus network. Media, spectators and athletes have reported a variety of problems, mainly with 300 public transit buses imported from California by subcontractor Edison Transportation. Buses have broken down or gotten lost because of drivers unfamiliar with the region. She said another 100 buses are being added to the fleet of 1,100 vehicles.
“We’ve spent years planning the transportation system and the geographic nature of our Games region presents some unique challenges with all of the transportation up to the mountain venues being by bus,” Smith-Valade said.
“Mechanical failures happen and sometimes it’s human failure, you can have people that don’t show up for a shift -- and that happens in any organization -- bus drivers who get sick and the odd bus driver who gets lost.”
Four Host First Nations members missed the start of the Friday opening ceremony, but Smith-Valade said they were in vehicles rerouted because of an anti-Olympic protest.
VANOC budgeted $52.3 million for bus systems in its May 2007 operations budget and hired Orlando, Fla.-based Gameday Management Group, which was involved in the much-criticized 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The Vancouver 2010 transportation plan was originally supposed to be completed by the end of 2007.
“There’s thousands of buses, there are hundreds of drivers, there are nine transportation hubs, so it’s a big beast to manage,” Smith-Valade said. “We want to get it right, we’re having some teething issues, no question.”
Friday, October 29, 2010
Five-ring disappearing act continues
There are even more signs of Vancouver's fading Olympic glow after the mid-October removal of the Omega Countdown Clock from the Vancouver Art Gallery's north plaza.
VANOC, or what's left of it, is packing up and moving out of Campus 2010 (above). Graham Construction is already on-site to convert the two civic-owned office buildings into the new home of the Vancouver Police Department. The city paid $24 million in 2005 to buy the complex after VANOC begged city hall for help.
VANOC, I was surprised to learn, got a five-month rent holiday. It secretly sold the City of Vancouver its head office furniture and various pieces of IT equipment for $2.3 million in a Jan. 31, 2010 contract that came after a Jan. 8, 2010 in-camera report to city council.
The whole package, VANOC claimed, was originally worth $9 million. Not a bad deal to get such a discount, but what about announcing the transaction to the taxpayers? I scoured council agendas and minutes and saw no reference to what's essentially another bailout for cash-strapped VANOC. City manager Penny Ballem (who doubles as a VANOC director) didn't respond with any comment.
The future consideration in this trade was a five-month lease extension for free. VANOC was originally supposed to hit the road May 31, but instead doesn't have to disappear until Hallow'een.
Abracadabra, VANOC will magically reappear somewhere in downtown Vancouver on Nov. 1. The notoriously secretive organization won't tell me where it's going.
"In fact, there are very few people now communicating with VANOC as almost all of the accounts have been closed," said vice-president of communications Renee Smith-Valade. "John (McLaughlin, chief financial officer) and his team are ensuring that those who need to know how to reach VANOC are aware."
My guess? Somewhere paid for with your tax dollars. I'll report it when I know it because you have a right to know.
Meanwhile on Cypress Mountain. Yes, the troublesome snowboarding and freestyle skiing venue thanks to El Nino.
The snow cannons are poised for freezing temperatures to make snow and get the 2010-2011 season underway. But it'll be without a snowboarding halfpipe. The site of American Shaun White's gold medal performance for the ages is gone. So is the daredevil jump at the climax of the snowboardcross and skicross course. That's where North Shore boarder Maelle Ricker was the first Canadian woman to win gold on home snow. She did so in the shadow of a set of green Olympic rings perched on Black Mountain.
Guess what? They're not there anymore. But you won't have to look far. They're now across from the Cypress lodge's front door, closer to Mount Strachan where no Olympic events took place (below). Sure, it'll be more accessible for tourists with cameras, but the rings would have been better left on the former field of play.
In case you're wondering, the piles of straw are not left over from the Olympics. They are part of a Hollywood North film shoot called Final Destination 5. There are, however, small quantities of straw still visible around Cypress that are remnants of the 1,000 bales imported from Oregon and Washington before the Games. Before the Games, VANOC staff at Cypress witnessed mice scurry out of the delivery trucks!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Allison Pass: is VANOC's aim true?
The snow situation is more dire than VANOC told the media at a Jan. 28 news conference. Why be surprised? This is a group so adept at the art of the snow job.
A convoy of dump trucks is traveling 160 kilometres with loads of snow from Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park. The snow is being placed on the snowboarding and freestyle skiing courses for the Games at Cypress Mountain. El Nino brought heavy rains and high temperatures to the southwest coast in January. Snow disappeared from the slopes and Cypress closed Jan. 13.
Allison Pass apparently has pristine powder.
It also may appeal to superstition among the VANOC sport department. It's named for pioneer John Fall Allison (1825-1897), who was born in Leeds, England, joined the 1849 California gold rush and came north to British Columbia hoping to find more gold. In his later years, he owned 5,000 acres but was heavily in-debt.
Gold and debt. Two things you'll be hearing about constantly when the Bailout Games open Feb. 12 in Vancouver.
A convoy of dump trucks is traveling 160 kilometres with loads of snow from Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park. The snow is being placed on the snowboarding and freestyle skiing courses for the Games at Cypress Mountain. El Nino brought heavy rains and high temperatures to the southwest coast in January. Snow disappeared from the slopes and Cypress closed Jan. 13.
Allison Pass apparently has pristine powder.
It also may appeal to superstition among the VANOC sport department. It's named for pioneer John Fall Allison (1825-1897), who was born in Leeds, England, joined the 1849 California gold rush and came north to British Columbia hoping to find more gold. In his later years, he owned 5,000 acres but was heavily in-debt.
Gold and debt. Two things you'll be hearing about constantly when the Bailout Games open Feb. 12 in Vancouver.
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