5 per hour

I thought that I wouldn't do this year Mountain Smoker. I put it on my 2010 list of races only because I felt healthy when I was making the list. I knew that I wouldn't do it 99%.

The race was supposed to be on January 30th, and then, it got cancelled. When that happened, I was sure I wouldn't be doing it. 99% became 100%.

I was healthy, but I was not confident that I could do it.

Then it turned out it was not cancelled - it was actually postponed to March 20th. And then, my 100% of not doing it started becoming smaller.

Right now I am at 50%.

What is the Mountain Smoker?

The Mountain Smoker is an endurance race where competitors ski Norquay’s Lone Pine run as many times as they can in three hours. The actual race will start on Saturday March 20th at 12:00 midday. Competitors will start according to the time that they record in the Preliminary qualifier.

Qualifying runs are the morning of Saturday March 20th, 2010 between 9am and 11:30am. The timing of two qualifying runs will determine what order racers will go in. Racers who are unable to make it for the qualifiers, will start at the back of the group.

The race will be held on Saturday March 20th 2010 from 12pm to 3pm.

I've been thinking what will make me do the Mountain Smoker again. Last time I did it in 2008, and last year I was out of shape for such a race.

One of the reasons to do it this year is money that I will collect from my 'sponsors'. Each one of them will pledge a certain amount for each run I do on Saturday. The money raised will be going to help fund the purchase of new toys for the Banff Child Care Center.

Another reason is Eddie Hunter. He is 84, and he still does the Mountain Smoker. Eddie was one of the first people to ride the lift 1948 when it officially opened as a single chair. "The lift" is North American char lift that takes you to the top of Mt.Norquay.

The biggest reason is the simplest - the race is there. It is there to be done, to be raced. Many people ask me "why are you doing it?". And I say, "Why not?".

I will do my qualifying races, and then I will decide if I will compete. I still have to feel it, that I want to go. I know my legs will be burning and crying during each 1,300 vertical feet run. The record was set in 1981 when Bob Rankin did 22 runs in 3 hrs. Elevation he conquered that day was equal to Mt.Everest.

I did 17 runs two years ago. I will be happy to do 15 this year. It means I have to do 5 per hour.

Bizzare, bloody and painful

It is the second week of Vancouver Olympics. Many things are known, many Olympic champions have been crowned. As always, and as on any other Olympics there have been stories that will be remembered by sport fans.

However, it is hard to remember any Olympic games, either winter or summer, with so many controversies.

It all started with a death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, even before the Olympics were officially opened. It continued with problems during opening ceremony when a malfunctioning hydraulic left Catriona Le May Doan holding a torch with nothing to light, looking very unimpressed. O Canada.

Vancouver rain, falling heavily, was threatening to washout that little snow that was left on Cypress.

Technical difficulties continued at speed skating oval. After two consecutive days of problems with the Richmond Oval 2010 Olympia re-surfacing machines, including an embarrassing hour-and-a-half interruption of Tuesday’s men’s 500-metre final, a Zamboni was transported from the Calgary Olympic Oval to ensure that no further glitches occur.

The protesters were fighting with the police, encircling seat organizers. At the concert, twenty people were injured after security fence relented, and on the opening ceremony, one mentally ill man made his way all to the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden with a pass that he made at home :)

Scotty Lago, winner of the bronze medal in the men's halfpipe snowboarding event, "voluntarily" left the Winter Olympics Friday after risqué photos of a woman kissing and biting the medal surfaced in the media.

There have been numerous crashes on "track of death" at Whistler's sliding centre.

There have been spectacular crashes on Whistler's downhill course, in particular Anja Paerson and Patrik Jaerbyn.

There was a sad story about Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette whose mom died 2 days before her short program (she actually just placed 3rd in her short program, and that is incredible....).

There have been all 4th and 5th places by Canadian athletes, and 3 skiing medals for Bode Miller and Aksel Lund Svindal.

There was a lynx on downhill course.

Julia Mancuso had a wild party while celebrating her silver medals.

Two TV commentators crossed the line during men's figure skating, while commenting on "gay" look of Johnny Weir.

In the Olympic village, the story that has been circulating was that bob sleigh racers did not eat breakfast because they knew they would soon have to race. Two Swiss teams announced withdrawal from the competition, and actually all athletes on the track of death are nervous.

Today, there was another big story, from skating oval in Richmond.

Lee Seung-Hoon of South Korea claimed gold in the men's 10,000m speed skating after heartbreak for Dutchman Sven Kramer who was disqualified for a lane violation.

Kramer, the 5,000m gold medallist, and one of my "stars" of these games, appeared well on course for his second gold of the Games but was wrongly directed by his coach to make a crossover from the outer to the inner lane eight laps from the end of a powerful run.

Kramer continued racing and raised his arms in the air in celebration as he crossed the line more than four seconds up on the South Korean who had set an Olympic record.

Kramer continued racing and raised his arms in the air in celebration as he crossed the line more than four seconds up on the South Korean who had set an Olympic record.

But the Dutch coaches - and Lee himself - knew that disqualification was to follow. An angry Kramer threw his glasses into the infield when told of the blunder.

I don't know how Kramer felt except that he said that he "was furious". I also don't know how his coach Gerard Kemkers felt except that he said that "it was the worst moment of his career".

Good thing is that this was sport, and that nobody died. Certainly this was expensive mistake, but Kramer will recover and I am sure win another medal in team pursuit this week. He will also be ready for Sochi 2014. He is only 23.

All of this makes these Olympics irresistible and exciting.

At least we will not compete on the track of death.

Frederick and Alexandre

It is possible to learn every day, from each situation - certainly only if you want it. People say that we usually learn from our mistakes, or our shortcomings, and that is generally true. However, we can learn from the best situations, from sweet events, when everything is great for us.

I witnessed today, on Valentine's day, the first Canadian gold medal on winter Olympics, won on home soil. The best Canadians did, was silver (5) in Montreal 1976, and silver (2) again in Calgary 1988. In Vancouver, everybody has been waiting for the first gold.

I expected Manny Osborne - Paradise or Robby Dixon to win men's downhill, but mother nature didn't allow ski daredevils to do their race. I expected Alberta's Jenn Heil to win last night, and she won the silver. Couldn't expect gold medals from biathlon or luge racers, nobody really did.

I knew there was another chance on Cypress today. Super strong free style Canadian team was a great contender, but it is not a team that would win the gold - it had to be one person to win it. That person had to survive all the pressure and even more, to beat the best of the best, defending Olympic champion, who is from Canada, but chose to compete for Australia.

I must say I was skeptical.

When Alexandre Bilodeau finished his 24 seconds of his final run, there was this feeling that something big could happen. And when judges decided that he was in front of defending Olympic champion, it was so hard to wait for the last racer, who was leading after qualifying race. Guilbaut Colas failed in his attempt to dethrone Alexandre, and that meant that Canada won its first gold!!!!

Audience and all fans went nuts - there was so much energy and instant celebration. I can only imagine how was on Robson square.

There was this warm feeling, and happiness - as K2 was conquered. All dreams and wishes became true. I am not a stranger to similar events, but this was super special. When you throw yourself down, on this super steep slope full of moguls, and you have to keep your rhythm, and control your speed, and when you have to execute two demanding and technical jumps, and all of this in less than 24 seconds - you have to be very special person.

I remember how in preparation for this Olympics, and even before, Alexandre would always talk about his family and his older brother, Frederick. He said how his brother has always inspired him, every day, and how he has learned so much from his brother. This wouldn't be unusual or strange, as we get inspired by our family, but in this case, this fantastic bond between brothers, inspires even more, and should teach us so much.

Frederick has cerebral palsy, and has been living with this disease for many years. People who suffer from it eventually lose their motor abilities. Alexandre would say how his brother "still walks", even though he was not supposed to. He also said how his "brother inspired him when he didn't feel that he wanted to go training. How could you quit and not to do it when you are given so much, when you can walk?"

It is true that people take so much for granted. They are lazy and spoiled. They even fail to get up from their couches. So many of them are useless, as they haven't used any muscles...People complain every day, they are never tired of complaining. They don't understand how many chances they have every day.

Hopefully they will learn something from Frederick and Alexandre.

This was another special, emotional day in Vancouver. Gold finally came home.