Winter Olympics are over. Risk and drama galore!

A recap of the 21st Winter Olympic Games would be one of risk and drama. Let's face it, all events at the games have risk factors. Skiing, Speed skating, Luging, etc. Those athletes are going fast. Are they going too fast? I read an interesting article in February 26 edition of THE WEEK asking this very question.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, photo by Elise Amendola/AP

The games started on a sad note with the death of the 21 year old Georgian lunger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was thrown from the track during a training run before the Opening Ceremonies. Unfortunately, I saw the footage. So you do not have to see it (if you haven't already), he caught a wicked curve and flew off the track and slammed into an unprotected metal pole. A side note: the track in Vancouver is the fiercest and fastest in the world. It wasn't the best way to start off these Winter Olympics and the Canadians did a good job dealing with it. Hey, they're Canadians!

Alexandre Bilodeau, Getty Images

It was great watching Canadian freestyle mogul skier Alexandre Bilodeau be the first Canadian to gold medal on Canadian soil early in the first 10 events. Though, not so much fun watching the mens Canadian hockey team beat the US hockey team in overtime. Grrr. But seriously, the US Ski Team and all US athletes did our country proud and brought home a leading total of 37 medals! 9 GOLD, 15 SILVER, 13 BRONZE. U-S-A! U-S-A!

And there was drama you say? Well, it was extenuated by the media of course. Especially since it was between the US Ski Team's leading ladies Lindsey Vonn and Julie Mancuso. Julia, who won GOLD 4 years ago, won 2 SILVER this year. Lindsey got a GOLD and a BRONZE. So in a nutshell,  Julia was flagged on her first defending GOLD Giant Slalom run after Lindsey crashed right before her on the course. By the time Julia got back up the mountain to redo her first run, the course was trashed (I guess she knows how the girls lower on the ladder feel) and left her in 18th place. Julia got emotional and the media brought out Lindsey and Julia's "we're friendly, but not friends" competitive relationship. Julia was defending her GOLD, and got emotional when she didn't perform how she wanted. After Julia's killer 2nd run, she didn't medal and finished in the top 10. I can understand, even though others have pegged her as a drama queen.

Left to Right: Julia Mancuso, Lindsey Vonn (Andrew Mills)

They say Lindsey is the Golden Girl but didn't Julia win GOLD first in 2006? I like both of these fierce ladies, but it seems the media wants to hop into bed with Lindsey. She gets an interview on The Tonight Show, Julia gets the George Lopez Show. I understand Lindsey's the one who got the GOLD this year (and the World Cup), but I hope Julia got the acclaim Lindsey is getting for her GOLD 4 years ago. I don't remember since I wasn't "back on the mountain" yet.

The next Winter Olympic Games are in Sochi, Russia. Getting excited?

Mountain Life: At Sunset

A picture is worth a thousands words. That is such a worthy statement. Thanks Chinese for your proverb!

This is what I think about when I think about mountain life -- BEAUTIFUL. Even better, this is European mountain life in the 1970's. Just another snap shot from the collection of my parent's ski adventures. This is probably in Austria or Switzerland at sunset. Or could this be sunrise right before hitting the slopes? Enjoy!

Another skier lost. No guts, no glory?

Since I'm recently "back on the mountain" this ski season, I've been learning more about the ski world and it's players. Especially the ones who have been lost and severely injured. As I entered the mountain world again, the first was Shane McConkey from Squaw Valley USA who died last year in March when his ski base jump went wrong in the Italian Dolomites (He couldn't release one of his skis, went into a uncontrollable bad spin, and then crashed). Shane was 39 years old. Nothing but goodness has been uttered from anyone who's wrote or spoke of Shane. One word that comes to mind is Bodhisattva. Perhaps more enlightened than "Bodhi" in Point Break. And Swayze's character didn't ski THEN jump and sore like a bird.

Shane McConkey, RIP

Just a few days ago another from Squaw Valley was lost, and this time at Squaw. Only 26 years old, Winter X Games freestyler CR Johnson was skiing off a cliff and fell face first into rocks off of Squaw's famous Headwall. The ski community refers to CR as legendary. Like Shane, CR had a hugh heart and good soul which makes the loss even greater. Unbelievable that in 2005, CR almost died after a head injury that left him in a coma and hospitalized for 34 days.

CR Johnson, RIP

As seen in many ski racing and snowboarding crashes (Kevin Pearce of "Frends"), the reminder of skiing/boarding as a dangerous sport echoes very loud. I have a vintage ski Colorado t-shirt (courtesy of my older brother) that reads the famous line: "No Guts, No Glory." Is it all worth the risk? Must you truly be gutsy to obtain all the glory?

Quirky helmet luck for the ladies?

Excitement is still thriving at the 21st Winter Olympic Games. Some of the recent interest is with the media's coverage of Lindsey Vonn vs. Julia Mancuso (which I will cover soon). In the meantime, fashion on the slopes is looking fierce and fun! I would like to be a winter Olympian just for all the styling free team USA clothes! However while on the slopes, two olympic ski racing ladies maintain forward fashion even on their helmets.

USA's Julia Mancuso has been known for wearing a tiara on the podium, but she also sports one on her racing helmet. For luck? According to Mancuso the tiara "represents believing in yourself and everyone's a princess..." and that "everyone should rock a tiara." Mancuso rocked her tiara on the podium twice for her SILVER medals for Downhill and Combined in Vancouver.

(February 23, 2010 - Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America)

The Slovenian racer, Tina Maze, has also won two SILVER medals in Vancouver but for Super-G and Giant Slalom. Maze's helmet design? And extra set of eyes! Creepy? I'll let you be the judge.

(Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

So is it lucky to have a creative and quirky helmet? Well, these ladies both won double SILVER medals. Perhaps it helped a little of their mental game. At least for silver.

Who's this sexy Norwegian alpine skier?

AKSEL LUND SVINDAL. That is his name and I plan on wearing it out (sorry Pee Wee).

So far in the 21st Winter Olympic Games, he's won a GOLD (Super-G) and SILVER (Downhill). How many more medals will he win this Winter Olympic Games? He is a beast on skis. Correction -- He is a sexy beast on skis.

Born December 26, 1982 in Norway, he's a two-time winner of the Men's Overall Alpine Skiing World Championship (2007, 2009). In November of 2007, he had a horrific crash in Beaver Creek, CO during a training run for the Birds of Prey Downhill race. In true Viking style, he returned in 2008 and won Downhill and Super-G races at the very place he was injured.

He was raised by his father and number 1 fan, Bjoern, after his mother Ina died when he was eight years old. She was a skier on the European Cup B-Team. His younger brother Simen also skied competitively until 2007. So Aksel, we are both from skiing families, huh?

The next hurdle for this American Ski Bunny is deciding who to cheer for: Aksel or the men's American skiers? Okay, I'll cheer for them all!

Bode, Lindsey, Julia, oh MY!

In the midst of the second week of the 21st Winter Olympic Games, things are really exciting for Team USA. Especially the USA Ski Team! A quick look at some events and medals delivered so far:

Alpine Skiing:
Bode Miller: GOLD (Combined), SILVER (Super-G), BRONZE (Downhill)
Lindsey Vonn: GOLD (Downhill), BRONZE (Super-G)
Julia Mancuso: SILVER (Downhill), SILVER (Combined)
The young Andrew Weibrecht won his first Olympic medal, BRONZE (Super-G)

Snowboarding:
Shaun White: GOLD (Halfpipe)
Scotty Lago: BRONZE (Halfpipe) -- Left the Games due to "racy" photos with his medal.
Hannah Teter: SILVER (Halfpipe)
Kelly Clark: BRONZE (Halfpipe)

Freestyle Ski:
Hannah Kearney: GOLD (Moguls)
Shannon Bahrke: BRONZE (Moguls)
Byron Wilson: BRONZE (Moguls)

If Bode Miller wins 1 more medal in these here Winter Olympic Games, he will break the record for the most medals won by a male skier in a single Games!

Ted Ligety, who sports pink goggles, has not yet won a medal. He won a GOLD (Combined) in 2006 at Turin. For the sake of his skills and amazing pink goggles, I really hope he gets a medal in Vancouver!

Left to Right: Andrew Weibrecht, Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller, Julia Mancuso

Copper Mountain, you're silly

Copper Mountain's RIDE SOMETHING NEW deal tells us to "End Mountain Monogamy and Come Get Some!" Aka, the Swinger's Pass, allows people with other season ski resort passes the ability to ski for the day at Copper Mountain (Colorado) for only $39! That's a good deal for a non-college student, thank you! Their commercial is quite funny (I laughed out loud) but it made me sad for the regular girlfriend mountain. Every time I watch it, I try to tell her to stop being so annoying, but she never listens to me. 


Good work, Copper! Make me laugh some more please...