Words and photos by Lee Lau unless otherwise noted.
When I got these tickets I didn’t clue in to the fact that this was the first event of the Olympics! It actually took place before the Opening Ceremonies which I watched later that night.
It was wonderful weather in the Callaghan. The crowd was stoked. I hopped on the bus at Whistler’s Lot 5 at about 8.15 and was at the venue at about 845am. It was a 15 minute walk to the ski jump itself.
The venue itself
The event proper kicked off at 10am. Top
50 qualify. There’s a range of airtime between the bottom guys and the top.
The top skiers go so far they almost go past the HS (Holy shit?) warning line
of 105m.
This guy went pretty far past the HS line and almost drove his knees through his chin
I know nothing about the gear but it looks deadly
The jumpers don’t get as high as the TV blimp
The sun came out – making for a beautiful scenic day.
I managed to bug Phil Liggett (he’s announcing for a UK channel but just there
on a day off) for a photo. His wife had some fancy camera setup!
It took a bit longer to get back. 45 – 55 minute lineups for the bus