Februray 8, 2010 (Whistler, BC) – There is decided buzz at the Whistler Olympic Park (WOP), with cables being run, rail cams being put together, and the general load-in the accompanies an event of this magnitude. The snow is more than ample and the sky is a bright blue. Volunteers are enormously friendly and everything is looking great. I look forward to these Games with great anticipation.

With the Canmore World Cup now over, I expect the wax cabins will be buzzing with activity. Today there were but a few squads around the wax cabins here – the Russians, the Norwegians, Swiss, Czech Republic, Finns and Brazil. I expect things will ramp up considerably very, very soon as all of the teams begin to arrive.

The media centers are open but not many journos here yet either. The media staff up at WOP are already hard and work, and I received a warm welcome when I arrived. As the final touches are completed, they’re starting to put out, what’s known in our business as “Flash Quotes”. These are designed Games-time to give reporters a quick couple of sentences from athletes or coaches, from which to work with.

Here’s one from Czech skier Eva Nyvltova, which read in partŠ.”the tracks are very nice and the nature is beautiful, I think this is better than Torino. The Olympic village is better and the tracks are nicer.” Another athlete said, “Šthe course is not easy. The hills aren’t hard but there are many.”

As of today there’s not much to report on from the Whistler village which is not crowded yet! Just saw the CTV crews checking in. I’ll check in again with more news when the Nordic skiers arrive.

Cheers from Whistler village !