As hundreds of dogs barked and thousands of fans lined up for the ceremonial start of the Iditarod XXXVIII, mushers and their teams of dogs left  for an eleven mile run to Anchorage.  Seventy one mushers entered the race this year each with twelve to  sixteen dogs on their team.

The race consists of over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain from Anchorage to Nome. It has been called the “Last Great Race on Earth” and it is said to be a “race extraordinaire” which can only be possible in Alaska.  The race covers jagged mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coasts.  Temperatures reach far below zero and winds can cause complete loss of visibility as does long periods of darkness. These treacherous conditions will be covered by the musher and his/her dogs within ten to seventeen days.

In the early 1920′s, settlers had come to Alaska following a gold strike. The  Iditarod Trail, which is now a National Historic Trail was used as a mail and supply route from the coastal towns of Seward and Knick to the mining camps at Flat, Ophir, Ruby and beyond to the west coast communities.  Mail and supplies went in and gold came out.

In 1925, Nome was threatened by Diphtheria and was in need of serum.  Part of the Iditarod Trail was used as a highway by the mushers and their dogs to deliver this life saving serum.

Today, Alaska is the world Mecca for sled dog racing. Mushers from more than a dozen foreign countries have run the Iditarod.  It has become Alaska’s best known sporting event and some Alaskan mushers have run races in the Russian Far East.  The Winter Olympics are even considering adding sled dog racing as an event.

The Iditarod is a commemoration of those early days of the trail, a past that the Alaskans honor and are very proud of.

I have watched many winter Olympics, and I have to admit that I have never watched Curling. I know nothing about it. So, this post is dedicated to those of you, who like me, are behind the Curling times. I will give you a little history, catch you up on the correct terms to use and tell you how the sport is played. So, next time the topic of Curling comes up, you might have a little something to add to the conversation!

It all began around the 16th century in Scotland. Odd-shaped rocks called “loafies” were slid across frozen marshes and lochs by brawny Scots. The oldest known curling stone was found in Scotland and bears the date 1511. Scottish immigrants organized the Royal Montreal Curling Club in 1807 and when Scottish Soldiers and settlers brought the sport to Michigan, the Orchard Lake, Michigan Club was formed in 1832. Soon, the Scottish city of Perth became home to the World Curling Federation. The first Canadian national championship was held in 1927.

After World War II, the sport grew and the U.S. Women’s Curling Association was founded in 1947, and the first world championship tournament was held in 1958. Canadian teams have dominated the event, which is now conducted by the International Curling Federation (ICF), founded in 1966 and based in Edinburgh. There are more than 30 nations in the ICF, which estimates that about 2 million people worldwide regularly participate in curling. It became a full-fledged Olympic sport at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

There are specific terms that must be used when talking about Curling in order to show your comprehension of the sport. Here are just a few:

• Bonspiel – A curling tournament.

• Button -The one-foot diameter circular area at the centre of the house.

• Curl – The curve the rock makes as it travels down the ice.

• Hack – The footholds mounted onto the ice at each end of the sheet. Used to push off from when the stone is delivered.

• House – The rings or bull’s-eye toward which play is directed and points are scored. The outside ring is 3.66 metres in diameter, the next ring is 8 feet in diameter, the next ring is 4 feet in diameter, and the inside ring (button) is 1 foot in diameter.

• Lead – The player on a curling team who throws the first two stones of an end.

• Port – An opening between two stones in play

• Skip – The player who determines the strategy, reads the ice, and plays and directs play for the team. Generally the skip delivers the last pair of stones for his team in each end

• Splitting the House – A play where two stones belonging to the same team are placed at opposite sides of the house.

• Third – Also known as the vice, vice skip or mate, this is the player who delivers the fifth and sixth stones in each end. When the skip delivers, the third holds the broom as the target.

• Whoa – The command given to the sweepers to stop sweeping.

How is the Game Played?

At the Olympic Winter Games, curling consists of two events: a women’s tournament and a men’s tournament. Each tournament starts with 10 curling teams. Two teams play against each other at a time. The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing 42 pound stones towards a series of concentric rings or circles. The object is to get the stones as close to thecenter of the rings as possible.

One game consists of 10 “ends” (similar to innings in baseball). During each end, each four-person team “throws” (in fact, slides along the ice) eight stones — two stones per person and 16 altogether. Team members sweep the ice clean in front of each stone to control the stone’s direction, known as its “curl,” and the stone’s speed. The team with the most points — more stones closer to the center of the rings — at the conclusion of 10 ends, is the winner.

Now that you know a little more about the sport of Curling, I hope you will enjoy it more often and take part in cheering on your favorite team during this 2010 Olympics!

Tonight, Friday, Feb. 12, with seven years of planning in the rear view mirror, the lights will dim inside Vancouver’s BC Place. Nearly 55,000 people in attendance, and hundreds of millions more watching on televisions around the world, will wait eagerly in anticipation. What can we expect from the first Opening Ceremony to be held indoors? That is any one’s guess! Despite 4,000 volunteers, the Ceremony is still a secret.

“Officials promise that the performance will unite passionate Canadians, thrill the world’s best winter athletes and bring hope to the world over,” said John Furlong, the head of Vancouver’s organizing committee in an NBC interview.  “The Opening Ceremony is our biggest chance to speak to a global audience and tell the story of a contemporary Canada that will inspire the world.”

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will join the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, and Furlong. Each will have an opportunity to speak, thus beginning the Opening Ceremony.

Traditionally, the world’s best winter athletes will then enter to greet a roaring crowd during the parade of nations. Many veteran Olympians say that nothing replaces this feeling. Then,one athlete from each country will be honored as the flag bearer. Each delegation will  enter in alphabetical order, with two exceptions. Greece, by tradition, always enters first and the host country, Canada, will enter last.

Each contingent will be dressed in its official uniform. Only those athletes participating in the Games, and no more than six officials, are permitted to march.

Another important aspect of the Opening Ceremony is the Olympic Oath, which will be taken by one athlete and one official.

To the strains of the Olympic hymn, the Olympic flag will be brought into the stadium and raised. Anticipation will be building once again for a tradition that first started in 1936 during the Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany – the lighting of the Olympic flame.

2010 Olympic Torch

Who will light the flame? After more than 100 days of criss-crossing Canada, the Olympic torch will arrive inside the stadium. Typically the torch will then pass to several people in a relay before it’s taken to the cauldron. Only three people are thought to know who will perform the honorable task of lighting the flame.

As you see, we are in for an amazing night of entertainment and awe. Tune in tonight as the world comes together in the 2010 Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn holds the record — among both men and women — for the longest jump off of Whistler, B.C.’s normal ski jump, built for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. She is the first American woman to win back-to-back overall World Cup championships, doing so in 2008 and 2009. She has also won World Cup discipline championships in downhill (also back-to-back) and Super G (the first American woman to do so). With 31 World Cup wins in four disciplines (downhill, Super G, slalom and super combined) and two World Championship gold medals, along with two World Championship silver medals, she has become the most successful American woman skier in World Cup history.

Regrettably, the  women’s ski jumping world champion will be nowhere in sight when the competition begins in the 2010 winter Olympics.  Lindsey trains six days a week, 11 months a year and has been jumping for the past 19 years, but she won’t be competing. What a travesty!

Why you ask? Because Olympic ski jumping has no place for women – they aren’t allowed to compete. But, it’s not for lack of trying. Women ski jumpers have petitioned to join every Winter Olympics since Nagano in 1998, and each time they have been denied by the International Olympics Committee (IOC). In fact, ski jumping is the only Olympic discipline to remain men-only. (Technically, Nordic combined is also limited to males, but that’s because it includes ski jumping.)  Women are now recognized and included in the summer Olympic’s boxing. Why boxing, but not ski jumping?

According to NPR, Lindsey is quoted as saying, “[It's] just pretty painful to watch [men] I grew up training with be able to have that opportunity and me sit there knowing that I don’t even have that opportunity because I’m not a male,” says Vonn, of Park City, Utah, who has been ski jumping since she was 7. “It’s depressing to tell young girls that you don’t have the same opportunities just because they’re girls.”

The great news is that we get to watch Lindsey compete in other sports this Olympics, such as women’s downhill, slalom, giant slalom, super-G and women’s super-combined. One day I hope to see Lindsey flying off the mountain in the women’s ski jump competition!

Olaf Rye, a Norwegian lieutenant was the first known ski jumper. According to Wikipedia, he launched himself 9.5 metres in the air in front of an audience of other soldiers in 1809. Ski jumpers began tackling larger jumps in1862,  and were traveling longer distances. Norway’s Sorndre Norheim jumped 30 meters over a rock without the benefit of poles. His record stood for thirty years..

Olaf Haugann of Norway set the first world record for the longest ski jump of 20 meters in Oslo in 1879. The first widely known ski jumping competition was the Husebyrennene, held in Oslo during 1879, with Olaf Haugann of Norway setting the first world record for the longest ski jump at 20 meters. The annual event was moved to Holmenkollen in1892, and Holmenkollen has remained the top of ski jumping venues.

Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down an “inrun” with a take-off ramp, attempting to fly as far as possible. They reach speeds up to 95 kilometers per hour. In addition to the length that skiers jump, judges give points for style.

The skis used for ski jumping are wide and up to 8 feet long. Competitors are evaluated on distance and style and while there is a very close relationship between the two, the skier with the longest jump will often have the highest style points.

An exception to this can be found in the landing portion of the jump.  Long jumps can make landing in a controlled position more difficult. The quality of landing can be a determining factor in deciding the finishing place when the distances are similar.

Austria’s Gregor Schlierenzauer is one to watch this Olympics. He recently turned 20 years old in January and had already racked up 28 World Cup successes while he was still a teen and has 32 wins total under his belt. Schlierenzauer has recorded jumps of 142 and 137 meters for a total of 273 points, beating Norway’s Anders Jacobsen (269 pts) and Germany’s Michael Neumayer (264 pts).

Watch for the 2010 Winter Olympics Ski Jumping to begin February 12th, 10:00 AM. This should prove to be a close competition and as usual thrilling to watch!