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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 11, 2010 - 12:14am PT
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You skied at Whistler in 1966?!
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hafilax
Trad climber
East Van
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Feb 11, 2010 - 12:56am PT
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Vancouver's drug problem is so visible because it is concentrated into certain areas that are also within spitting distance of some of the tourist attractions. I often wonder about people straying just 2 blocks from Gastown or Chinatown and winding up finding someone with a needle in their eye. It would be shocking.
To me a lot of those people are lost and the only real hope is to prevent people from ending up there in the first place. That's only going to happen through education and community support. A large part of the safe injections site is just that with the goal of getting people out of the cycle before they are too far gone.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 11, 2010 - 01:02am PT
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Vancouver and Victoria, even more so than cities on the US west coast, is something of a haven for the down and out. For the simple reason that one can usually survive the winter mostly outside. If you looked into the origins of say 100 people living in the Main & Hastings area ("skid road"), you'd find that many came from outside Vancouver, and a good number from outside B.C. It's an unholy nexus of problems, a sink for public resources, and has been with us for a century or more. And is almost an industry in its own right. Many of the people there have physical of mental challenges, addiction problems, family problems, are native, and on and on. Strangely, though, many feel that the area is their home, and despite being entirely reliant on public services, resist the possibility of gentrification of the area, which is creeping in.
There has at least been a half-decent effort over the last few years to provide reasonable housing in the area. The city and provincial governments bought some "welfare hotels" (don't ask), renovated them, and now operate them through various non-profits. It may just be another band-aid, and may just be Olympics whitewash.
Expect to see lots of Vancouver's downtown eastside in the next few weeks. It's an easy and quite dramatic story.
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Todd Eastman
climber
Bellingham, WA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 01:08am PT
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MH, what gives with the rubber duck? Is that what happens when trolls get soaked in warm coastal rains?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 11, 2010 - 01:14am PT
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I have a varied and eclectic collection of trolls, mostly made of stone. The large rubber UCSB duck was found at the FaceLift a year or two ago. The little yellow Tweetie Bird was found on a climbers' path at Innerdalen, in Norway. Some of the stone ones comes from Norway, some are Canadian. Pan-oceanic trollidarity and all.
They were quite happy to see the inukshuk, which is on the front lawn - the people upstairs were given it. Their kind of guy.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 01:19am PT
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You skied at Whistler in 1966?!
I thought it opened in '67? Anyway, the lift lines weren't
too bad, that's for sure. I still have the Head GS Comps I was on!
Vancouver was such a quaint peaceful place then. So was Seattle, lol.
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 01:42am PT
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"Vancouver was such a quaint peaceful place then. So was Seattle, lol."
I used to say the same thing about the S.F. Bay Area.
"No matter where you go, there you are."
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Chief
climber
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Feb 11, 2010 - 02:10pm PT
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Good thread!
I keep wondering why a Canadian city that's renowned for not having a real winter was selected to host the games. The other thing I realize is that beyond Manuel Paradis, I have no idea who the Canadian athletes are I'm supposed to be excited about.
The media seems to be preoccupied with the plight of displaced and addicted aboriginals in the downtown eastside, the lack of snow at Cypress and the delivery of a billion dollar security system to deal with an imagined threat.
I keep forgetting these games are not about celebrating excellence in amateur athletics but rather, the promotion of a shamelessly greenwashed Liberal agenda to sell real estate and promote the private ownership and development of BC's sovereign assets, our wild rivers in particular. (I swear if I see Tzeporah Berman's ugly mug on another greenwash effort like that stunt on the bike, I'm gonna fekkin hurl!)
If there had been a provincial referendum, I'd have voted against the games. The Campbell government has been slashing spending on social infrastructure and has ripped the guts out of rural BC closing hospitals and shools. They've lied about the budget and are inflicting the HST on us to cover the bills for the "OweLympics".
Having said all that, I hope the athletes and visitors have a great time and enjoy the games.
Thanks for letting me rant.
PB
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Hawkeye
climber
State of Mine
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Feb 11, 2010 - 02:39pm PT
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i think the news should focus on you bent out of shape canadians, that would be a really warm welcome for all!
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 11, 2010 - 02:44pm PT
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Sounds to me like us Yanks aren't the only ones with a less than desirable political situation. What a fekking quagmire. Who is calling the shots anyway?
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Chief
climber
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Feb 11, 2010 - 03:43pm PT
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Wayno,
Check out David Korton's book, "When Corporations Rule The World".
Eisenhower and Kennedy warned us about these guys along time ago.
Who's calling the shots?
How about, GE, General Dynamics, KRB, Boeing, Coke/Pepsi, Dow Chemicals, Monsanto, the pharmaceutical giants, big banks and the Chinese for starters?
PB
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hooblie
climber
from where the anecdotes roam
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Feb 13, 2010 - 02:28am PT
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opening extravaganza wrapping up. you canadians should be very proud. it's our good fortune to rub up against your country
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 13, 2010 - 02:39am PT
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I was being facetious. I am fully aware of the situation. It's not pretty. Somehow, a sense of personal balance is all that keeps things from imploding.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 13, 2010 - 02:43am PT
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I just hope that the mechanical problem with the flame apparatus doesn't overshadow the death of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili. The news media is all too quick to lose perspective.
A rainy warm afternoon and evening in Vancouver, likely to continue for a few days, which does not bode well for events at Cypress Provincial Park (there is literally no such place as "Cypress Mountain", despite what you'll hear on TV), or Whistler. I went to the Scandinavian Centre with some friends to see the opening ceremony, and of course to speak some Norwegian. (Norway has more winter Olympic medals than any other country - and if that 'competition' was weighted for each country's population and economic size, it would be an even more lopsided result.) The centre has feeds from Scandinavian television, which provide some nice perspective, and also more coverage of the traditional nordic events.
There is a significant police and military presence in the city,especially downtown. The demonstration outside B.C. Place, the site of the opening ceremony, had about 2,000 people, but didn't quite get violent.
The Norwegian cross-country skier to watch is Petter Northug, who may win three events. Known for extremely strong finishes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petter_Northug
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Feb 13, 2010 - 02:56am PT
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I know things are just getting started but it seems this Olympic games has a kind of weird funk hanging over it. Maybe it's just the current economic/political situation or maybe it's just my paranoid underpinnings rearing their ugly head once again. Do you Vancouverites "feel" it? I surely hope I'm wrong. The weather?
Edit- I just got off work so I didn't read the "death" thread and just barely heard a blurb about the Luge accident. Bummer.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Feb 13, 2010 - 03:07am PT
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The Norwegian cross-country skier to watch is Petter Northug, who may win three events. Known for extremely strong finishes.
Like we're gonna be shown more than 20 seconds of XC down here? Fat bloody
chance! We'll be lucky to see a couple of minutes of Nordie Combined in spite of
having some boys in that race. The only way they would show XC is
if they started using live targets in the biathlon.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Feb 13, 2010 - 03:14am PT
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Yes, coverage of international sports events by US television isn't always fair and balanced. Canadian television isn't always much better, but I've know Americans living in border states who prefer to watch CBC or CTV coverage.
You can always try the Norwegian state television network for Olympic coverage - http://www.nrkol.no/video/index.html If I catch anything good, I'll let you know.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Feb 13, 2010 - 03:21am PT
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Thanks for that link!!!! SWEET!
Now I can see Hopp normal bakke!
Ops, I guess I got too excited:
"Sendingene er kun tilgjengelig for brukere i Norge".
Oh well....
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bmacd
Trad climber
Beautiful BC
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 13, 2010 - 03:37am PT
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The weather seems to be cooperating, its gotten a fair bit cooler in Cypress Bowl for the mogul skiers and snowboarders.
I am not liking the show of force by 1500 anti Olympics protesters today downtown, that could get ugly in the days ahead.
I predict the Sliding events will continue, without another fatality but I am sure there will be more spectacular crashes.
It's a bad start for sure but I am positive. I think Chief was right on the mark about what a crass move it was keeping other teams off the sliding track till the last minute, that was poor form.
There seems to be a fair number of ski athletes that call Whistler home turf and not just Canadians so I am sure there is going to be some great head to head competition on the ski slopes in Whistler.
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