On Thursday PM, I left Whistler for Vancouver, I was supposed to drive back via the "back way" through Duffy Lake Road. Instead I had a business meeting the afternoon of the 18th in Vancouver. During my reports I mentioned the constant presence of police and military. The Security Managers who organized the security will now proudly say that there were no incidents or security threats, except for the Bozo who wanted to get close to Joe Biden. My opinion after experiencing a lot of this security is that it was an absolute overkill and we Canadians are now stuck with a $1,000,000,000.00 security bill that is one billion dollars folks. How was it an overkill at least I can speak from what I saw in Whistler and what I heard. At a typical traffic light I counted 8 RCMP officers directing traffic. The traffic was not heavy neither cars nor pedestrians, yet the security folks saw it necessary to have 8 highly paid RCMP officers directing traffic. On my walks to the Whistler Weasel House for my time to relax with a few beers with my friends. I would walk by a special security facility as shown in SDC11819, This was a typical Whistler neighbourhood, yet Security would insist that EVERY vehicle enter the garage and several officers would check underneath the vehicle for bombs. ID`s were checked, etc.. At the Athletes Village the same thing, even though buses would go in and out several times per day, each time the same process, mirror check, ID check, etc... It was a process that all everyone and anyone had to be subjected through, every time no matter how familiar the police officers were with the individual. It is something that had to be done no matter what as this type of security process once started could not be altered for anyone. Even though it appeared that this security was tight, there were all kinds of holes in it, one time a shuttle driver by-passed the security and took us (all good guys) to the dining hall. At the ski areas, despite enduring a daily ``mag and bag`` check if a bad guy wanted to do damage he could easily meet someone who was already cleared in a secure area and do whatever nasty things they wanted to do. Basically security was there to make bad guys think twice. As Canadians we paid a heavy price. The many police officers I spoke to were very nice individuals and were from all over Canada and they were happy to be there and all wanted the Olympics to be safe. They all made lots of money in overtime and extra pay. One fellow made $30,000.00 in overtime and extra pay. I did not see one of these officers donate a day of their time to the effort when thousands of volunteers all with jobs gave up many many days of their personal time so that Canada would have great Olympic Winter Games. It is not that I thought that we did not need security but 8 police officers at every traffic light in Whistler...very questionable. After the Olympics I was told by a bus driver that 19 bus loads of military were taken back to Edmonton. I never saw one soldier while I was around Whistler or the alpine trails, but soldiers were camouflaged around the venues. One long time volunteer who had been around the Olympics and Paralympics forgot his accreditation (a mortal sin in volunteer speak). He had to go explain to security that he left his pass in his room. He received a double RCMP escort, a car in front of him and a car behind as he drove to his townhouse near the athlete village to collect his accreditation, is that not an overkill? So enough grandstanding I just think Security was just too costly and too much in many respects as explained above . As I had an unexpected trip to Vancouver early Friday AM I left for Fernie, there was no traffic and the sun was just rising over the Coastal Mountains and I managed to snap a photo of the flame at Vancouver harbour in SDC11822. Driving back through the Rockies on a bluebird day was spectacular especially as I reached Rogers Pass. I was driving at the speed limit and stopped three times for gas, coffee and lunch and reached Fernie in 12 hours of driving. I hoped you enjoyed my periodic updates, I received a lot of favourable comments and thanks from many on this distribution list. I Believed and it was an experience I will cherish forever. Now maybe Sochi in 2014?? Andre
Archive for the ‘Paralympics’ Category
Final report of the ParaLympics by Andre Labine
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
My PARAlympics experience By Andre Labine 2010′s report
Sunday, March 21st, 2010So OK you have not heard from me in a while, I flew home on February 27th, slept for two days and then flew back here for the Paralympics. This time I was not a coordinator nor a Crew Chief, I was quite happy to be a grunt on course, no radio chatter, no taking or giving orders, just work and more work. I decided to give the IPC Paralympics a shot and it has been an emotional, heart warming, unbelievable experience. It has made me aware of the power of the human spirit, the struggle to achieve goals no matter the obstacle. I was in absolute awe of these athletes and they are athletes. They may have poor or no eyesight, they have been more with missing limbs or have had accidents that have left them disabled, they may be on "sit skis" or ski with one ski, there is no doubt these are World Class athletes with the "fire in the belly" to win and to do their best. Watching these athletes compete made me very much aware that my problems are minute compared to what these folks can achieve. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the same structure as the IOC, you certainly saw the Opening Ceremonies. The athletes race on the same track as the Olympic athletes, they are not given any special athletic advantage, the events are the same Speed (Downhill and Super G) and Technical (Slalom and Giant Slalom). For us course workers the work is the same the hours just as long. I have been here since March 5th and today March 18th I am heading home. Again we constantly struggles the Whistler weather, snow, rain and fog. We did manage to get in a training run for the Downhill but on Sunday we were not able to get the race due to heavy snow and fog. Last Sunday the workers (me) were asked to get up at 2:00 AM, have Breakfast at 2:30 AM and load the lifts at 3:30 AM, my job was simple shovel snow of the A nets. During the night the snow cats removed as much snow as possible of the previous day's 45 centimetre snowfall. They could not get too close to the A nets so our job was to remove the snow; again for safety reasons. So I shovelled snow from 4AM to 7AM, once the race track was ready we were ready. Unfortunately the damn Whistler fog rolled in and the Downhill was postponed. The Race Organizing Committee and the IPC correctly changed the rest of the week's agenda to have the technicals for the rest of the week. The forecast was for sunny and colder weather to arrive by Thursday. It is Thursday AM and I am packing up to head back to my real life as I have a conference on Monday and all of next week in Calgary. It is sunny and cold and it looks like the speed events will go and there will be fantastic racing for the remainder of the Paralympics. I have attached a bunch of photos for you to see what went on in the past 13 days, I will highlight a few: SDC11662: The IPC unlike the IOC allows sponsor logos to be seen in the Finish area. They need the money more than the IOC. IPC events I was told were more relaxed, athletes more appreciative, with less "highbrow" behaviour. Indeed the case is true, many many times athletes came over to thank the volunteers for their hard work especially under these circumstances. SDC11668, 11671, 11672: Powder Day, too much snow to shovel 60 cms in two day...so what to course workers do?....we go out and ski powder, at one time in Harmony Bowl I had powder snow blowing over my shoulders as I was making turns with my fellow ski buddies. SDC11674: What my 4:00 AM shovelling job looked like, after this we take a snow blower and remove the snow from the track and off the A nets. SDC11678: Blind skiers are allowed to have a guide to lead them down the course. Some skiers have very limited ability to see while others are completely blind. So the guide using either headsets or a loudspeaker can tell the blind skier to go left or right or they have their own way of communicating to each other. The totally blind skier is directed by sound, so you have the guide saying RIGHT,RIGHT,RIGHT, then when we wants the racer to turn left simply says: LEFT,LEFT,LEFT....all at the same time going around gates. By the way during the speed events the blind skier will also reach top speeds of up to 130 km per hr!!! SDC11700: You have heard they expression, I complained that I had no shoes, until I saw a man with no legs.....no how about a World Class ski racer with "no legs" from Croatia!!! SDC11734: I met these US ski patrollers who came from North Carolina to work the Paralympics alpine events as medical volunteers on course. SDC11738: This is what volunteers do when you have an overnight snowfall of 35 cms, all hand on deck, shovels, scrapers, snow cats to remove the snow. The race started on time and the track was race ready. SDC11740; How about this? A racer with no arms. SDC11769: A good example as to the types of folks that come to work as course volunteers. SDC11770: An inspiration Lauren Woolstencroft, born with one arm missing and two stubs for legs....so far two Gold medals with more expected. Talk about an achiever; a graduate electrical engineer, now working for BC Hydro, has a basket full of medals from her racing career. SDC11772: Two Canadians on the Podium, Woolstencroft-Gold and Karolina Wisniewska- Bronze. Karolina has Cerebral Palsy, she also raced with Melanie and Robie when she was younger. SDC11783: Two very wet course workers. SDC11785: Racer with no arms...he fell shortly after but managed to get himself up and continued. SDC11786: We applied ammonium nitrate (fertilizer)...the chemical reaction freezes the snow and sets the course hard...otherwise the course was like a slurpy. We got the race off safely. SDC11788 Sochi 2014 sent observers, (next Winter Olympics) I trade my Alpine Canada hat for her toque..... She is a manager in the volunteer selection process. We had an agreement I will learn Russian in return I go work at Sochi in 2014... I am becoming an Olympic Groupie. SDC11790: This lady is 73 years old plus she has two artificial hips, still skis like the wind, and has been skiing at Whistler and a Whistler pass holder since 1965!! She is an inspiration all!! She is also a volunteer at the Alpine events SDC11801, 11807, 11814: During the Paralympics volunteers stayed in the Athlete's Village at Whistler. So it was SECURITY CHECKS, followed by more SECURITY CHECKS. SDC11794: Whistler Inuksuk at night. Hope you enjoyed. I am heading home. Andre
Staff Sgt. Heath Calhoun, left, leads the Soldier Ride 2005 group into downtown Baltimore on July 11, 2005. Calhoun was recently selected as flag bearer for the U.S. Paralympic Team at Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games on March 12.
Monday, March 15th, 2010Army veteran named U.S. flag bearer for opening ceremonies of 2010 Paralympic Winter Games
Mar 12, 2010
By Beth Bourgeois, U.S. Paralympics
Photo credit Sgt. Sara Wood
In this file photo, Staff Sgt. Heath Calhoun, left, leads the Soldier Ride 2005 group into downtown Baltimore on July 11, 2005. Calhoun was recently selected as flag bearer for the U.S. Paralympic Team at Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games on March 12.
VANCOUVER, B.C. — The U.S. Olympic Committee announced today that alpine skier Heath Calhoun (Bristol, Tenn.), a veteran of the Iraq war, has been selected as flag bearer for the U.S. Paralympic Team at Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games on March 12.
“I am incredibly honored that my team even nominated me for this,” he said. “Just being part of Team USA is a huge honor so being selected from this talented group of athletes is something that I’m proud of. It’s surprising but I’m very grateful.”
Calhoun lost both his legs above the knees while he was serving as a squad leader for the famed 101st Airborne Division. “I was at the rear corner of the Humvee when the grenade hit the tail light right beside my right leg and exploded,” he said. The attack killed another soldier, who Calhoun honors by wearing a bracelet etched with the soldiers name and date of the attack on his right wrist.
After enduring nine months of rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Calhoun became involved with Paralympic sports, and then in 2008, dedicated himself to competing at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games. He relocated from Virginia to train with Challenge Aspen, one of the nation’s most prominent ski racing programs in Aspen, Colo., and was soon on his way to the top.
“I’m just thrilled to be representing my country in Vancouver,” he said. “It’s a little different than the role I was used to [serving in the military] but I take it just as seriously. I’m so honored to be here.”
At the 2009 U.S. Paralympic Alpine National Championships Calhoun took second place in the men’s sit-ski slalom and won gold in the men’s sit-ski super G. In the same year, he finished in the top 10 in giant slalom at an International Paralympic Committee Alpine Skiing World Cup race in Vancouver.
In 2009, Ski Race Magazine named Calhoun the “Role Model of the Year,” a sentiment that members of the U.S. Paralympic Team agreed with. He is also the Amputee Coalition of America’s “Role Model of the Year” for 2008 and the recipient of the 2007 George C. Lang Courage Award Recipient from the Wounded Warrior Project.