Olympic Memories

One month later and I am still thinking often of the Winter Games in Vancouver. There are moments from the various competitions that will stand out in my mind forever as some of the greatest in sports. I was fortunate this year to be watching the games on Eurosport, the excellent sports network we have here in Europe. Although the commentary was in German, the 24/7 live coverage of events, the lack of commercials and the general enthusiasm Europeans have for the Winter Games made for a wonderful experience.

During part of the Games, I was traveling in Norway, the absolute world nexus of winter sports. It was heartening to be going through rail stations, hotels and airports and seeing large groups of people clustered around the televisions, rapt in their attention to whatever was on. The entire country was in an Olympics-inspired fever.

Back home in Stuttgart, I had my kids join me to watch sports that they would otherwise have no interest in and they would get as caught up in it as me. Even the wife shared my excitement over the biathlon and cross-country events which are my favorites. When Norway's Ironman of Biathlon, Ole Einar Bjorndalen, anchoring the men's relay team, shot an astounding 5 shots with no misses in the final shooting and completely left the poor Austrian who had been leading behind, we danced around the room and yelled along with 3 million Norwegians. It was a dramatic and compelling victory that probably went largely unnoticed in the USA, but I will never forget it.

Other Olympic moments to remember:

• Lindsey Vonn's Downhill gold medal run
• Bode Miller on the Super-G
• American pair wins the Nordic Combined?
• Magdalena Neuner's incredible Biathlon performance for Germany
• And of course, the Canadian Ice Hockey team's performance in the Gold Medal game!

Of course, being half Canadian, I'm a bit biased, but the people of Canada have a lot to be proud of for the way these games went. Oh Canada!

Indian Soldiers Killed in Avalanche

The Indian Army's Military Mountaineering School in Kashmir was hit by an avalanche today, killing 17 soldiers.

Avalanche Deaths

Many people die each year in avalanches, and it's not uncommon here in Europe to see stories of avalanche deaths on a regular basis throughout the winter. One particularly tragic story came from Italy has week, where 3 people were killed in an avalanche, then 4 of their would-be rescuers were killed as well. I'm short of time right now, but there is more to say on this subject.

Olympic Biathlon Contender

Biathlon is simply the greatest sport in the world and it goes straight to the heart of military mountaineering. It takes extraordinary skills, conditioning and zen-like concentration to go from flat-out sprint to stable shooting position in just seconds.

That's why I was very happy to see a recent article in the New York Times that says we may actually have a viable American medal contender in the next Winter Olympics.

The Norwegian Home Guard school includes a 30-kilometer military biathlon as one of the culminating events of it's Ski School. It's a bit different than what you see on Eurosport - no skinny skis and race guns there. When I went through in 1991, they were still on wooden skis (allegedly required by the Norwegian Constitution) and winterized H&K G3s. The instructors said it was a "man's race." Skol!