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Canada Games Update #1 - Traveling
By:  Gavin Hamilton   (2007/03/04)

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First Update from Canada Games:

The original plan was for myself and Alysia (a Carleton Skier who also
qualified for the Ontario Team) to fly out of Ottawa Thursday evening
to Toronto. We were then planning on staying in Toronto on Thursday
evening with an aunt of mine and then meeting the rest of the Ontario
Team at the airport at 4 o'clock the next day. This would give us
plenty of time for our 7:45PM chartered Westfet flight out of Toronto
with the rest of the Ontario althlete contingent.

Understandably, the snowstorm that hit southern ontario and the Ottawa area really
put a wrench into our plans. Our flight was cancelled on Thursday evening
and reschedualled to the morning of the 2nd. Then that was cancelled
as well, so Alysia and I ended up relying on the trusty Greyhoud that
runs through rain, snow, sleet or hail... This brought back some fond
memories of the 11 hour bus ride from Vancouver to Rossland that Ed,
John and I had to do earlier this season. We made it to the airport by
4:30, and met up with the others only to find out our chartered
Ontario flight was delayed until 10. From this point on, I decided
that there was no point in trying to figure out how I can get more
than 5 hours of sleep and be prepared for an all nighter. The 3 skiers
from Thunder Bay couldn't fly out eithher and there is still no sign
of Jesse, Mallory or Linnea. There is rumors that they will be
arriving tonight but that still isn't for sure.

To make a long story short, we arrived in Whitehorse at 4:30 AM their
time, 7:30 Ottawa time, and didn't get to bed for another hour after
that. Not ideal preparation for a long week of racing but at least we
made it here. My checked baggage also hasn't come in yet with all my
clothes and ski boots but luckily most of my ski clothes were in my
ski bag (and Jon Rennie has the same size boots as me!). Mark, James
and Alysia are also missing luggage so we're keeping our fingers
crossed for it to come in this evening.

We woke up this morning around 10 to a beautiful day, clear skies and
~-25 degree weather. Everything so far in Whitehorse is pretty
amazing, the cafeteria is great, the landscape is ever better and it
is pretty cool to see all these athletes from all over the country in
the same place. We are rooming with the fencing team and the alpine
ski team in the residences here. This afternoon we checked out the ski
trails and they were in great shape. There is quite a bit of climbing
with very little recovery which should bode for an interesting race.
Monday is the 10km classic race so and I'm not too worried about grip
as today my skating skis were gripping in the cold tracks! More to
follow about the races in a few days...
 
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