Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics were in Utah and we were on it. My boss had a place in Park City and invited us to come on out. This was to be a fun trip and there wasn't really any work associated with it, so we could just relax and have a good time. In spite of this, I still had to bring my camera. I invited my brother Robert and we flew out to join the group. Flying to Park City is easy, you can jump on a plane and within an hour and a half you're in Salt Lake City, and within another hour you're in the sleepy town of Park City.

One of the highlights of the Games was the halfpipe competition. The atmosphere was amazing and the crowds were huge. If you ever get a chance to check out a world class snowboard halfpipe, you need to. The walls are very steep and deep, and although it may look like snow, it's mostly ice. In fact, the more ice, the faster and smoother the walls are. That may be scary to the inexperienced, but to these guys, it needs to be that way. As the riders fly down the pipe, it is surprisingly loud and puts a chill up your back, similar to running your nails on a chalkboard. Those razor sharp edges on the snowboard cut and claw at the ice as the go up and down.

When the riders started dropping in for the runs, each would have their own song that reflected their own personalities. The great thing about snowboarding, is that it has evolved to a very technically high level, and the athletes are professional, but what sets it apart from the other sports is that it maintains a lot of it's rebellious attitude and individualism still comes through. Many of the snowboarders are stubbornly proud of what they like and won't sell out at the drop of a dime.

This translated well to the crowd as each rider was introduced and prepared for their chance at the medals. They would choose a song, and often it could be a heavy hip hop song, heavy metal or even punk rock. It wasn't too long before the crowd started to latch on to their favorite rider and this just added to the event. Unfortunately, this doesn't come through to people viewing it on tv, and in order to keep politically correct, NBC would often substitute their own music and commentary hoping to make middle America happy. I guess they just don't get it, and that's fine by me.

After the event, it was time to enjoy the town. Park City is amazing. There are a ton of great restaurants and main street lights up. You can bar hop and just take in the sites. I love it there.