The best way to describe the organizing committee (VANOC) folks that I have met so far...REALLY NICE!

The big news up here is the Cypress Mountain meltdown. Cypress is the site of the Snowbvoard and Frestyle Skiing venues and is very close to Vancouver. The unseasonably warm weather (mid 40's most days and rain) has created a real problem. Overnite the temps are not going below freezing so they can't make snow. End result is that snow is being trucked in (about 150 truckloads so far) and flow in by a Sikorsky Sky Crane helicopter.

The Podiums are the most beautiful I have ever seen at an Olympics. They are all constructed from local wood. Logging is a huge industry up here which they are showcasing with the podium construction.

As the host country Canada has poured a huge amount of money into their winter olympic sports where they are traditionally strong anyway. The program is called "Own the Podiun" and many predict that they may win the most medals. The US and Germany are also predicted to do well but it will be a very close race to see who wins the most!