We've always been curious about bobsledding and the Olympians who make up the US team. The entire sport seems to be shrouded in mystery: Who are these people that become Olympic-level bobsledders? Seems like a serious boarding school sport, up there with fencing, badminton and sneering.
For us non-blue bloods, the Park City Mountain Resort offers a moderately daring and inexpensive alternative with the summertime Alpine Slide. For $11, you can select one of four different courses to race down on your own sled. Unlike bobsledding no helmets are required and if it gets too scary, you can pull the brake.
The 3,000 foot course down the banked concrete track is not exactly like racing 90 degrees up an ice wall at 60 mph, but for a casual summer afternoon, it does the trick. As long as you're over four feet tall, you can be the captain of your alpine slide ship.
We recommend arranging a four-person race with your friends, adding a fifth to stand on the side mid-course somewhere and wildly ring a cowbell for that Olympic rush. After about 27 of those 3.2 Utah beers, you'll be raising the stars and stripes and belting out the national anthem in no time.
The International Olympic Committee claims women's ski jumping doesn't merit admission into the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver because the sport wouldn't be competitive enough. That has former Salt Lake City mayor Deedee Corradini protesting the decision, along with her Women's Ski Jumping USA Foundation.
Maybe if more ladies strapped on skis and started jumping, they'd join the cause. The facilities used for the 2002 Olympics are open to the public year-round, and a few local clubs offer lessons and camps to learn the sport.
An all-day personal lesson from Axis Freeride costs $500. Yeah, it sounds steep, but if you want to learn how to rocket down a big icy ramp and fling yourself through the air, you can't skimp. (A half-day intro class will run you $85, but you'll need to bring your own gear.)
By the end of the day, you'll be flying 30 feet off the K10 jump--and if you're especially talented, your instructor might let you try the K20 or K40, which send you soaring up to 100 feet. In addition to ski jumping, you can also learn bobsled, skeleton and luge. Try 'em all before deciding what kind Olympics protest to join.
Hope you had a chance to follow our adventure on Twitter, in the Jaunted Flickr Pool and on our Sundance 2008 Map. And just 'cause we're done with the 'dance doesn't mean you shouldn't stick around: We've got lots more fun field trips planned this year.
Sadly, we've fled the icy streets of Park City, but that doesn't mean that Sundance isn't still chugging right along. Though folks are already filtering out of Utah, the fest continues until Sunday. If you're sticking it out, you can actually watch some movies now that there's a bit of breathing room in town.
Tickets are still available for "Black List"--which HBO already picked up--and for "Raisin in the Sun", starring Diddy and Sean Patrick Thomas. You can also get tix for "Sugar", a complex rags-to-riches sports drama from Sundance stars Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.
Saturday is Awards Night, followed by the Awards Night Party at the Park City Racquet Club. Besides the hobnobbing, you can also make plans there for films to see Sunday morning: All the winners will be screened the next day throughout town, and last-minute tickets will be available.
During Sundance, rooms at the Yarrow Hotel start at $400 a night. Given that the Yarrow is about as swank as some suburban Comfort Inns we've stayed at, that really sucks. So how did we beat the system? Couchsurfing Park City.
We'll admit, it wasn't easy to find a place to crash; lodging is tight when 50,000 people descend on a town of 8,000. But as the film fest continues this week, more and more people will be heading out, leaving floor space and couches--and maybe even some bedrooms--wide open. It's up to you to scam your way into those spots.
Our first few tries didn't pan out. One friend who was in town on business couldn't host us per company rules. Another pal was too busy working to even meet up for a drink, let alone put us up for the night. A few random emails to some random people we found on the Internet didn't even net replies.
Just when we were getting really nervous about finding a spot, a friend of a friend called up offering a couch at a condo on Deer Valley Drive. Perfect! The spot was on a few bus routes and provided some people to party with.
The airline set up shop at the Village at the Yard, which is basically a star-friendly gifting lounge. While we were there, Jessica Alba, Method Man, Perez Hilton and Mischa Barton ex Cisco Adler all dropped by to look through the swag.
And while we had other things happening later that night, VA's Charles Ogilvie kept working the party circuit. Turns out Paris Hilton loves WiFi and wants to try out Virgin's new in-flight system when it debuts. She must not have heard that you can IM from one of JetBlue's planes!
What? You weren't at Sundance this weekend? It's okay, you weren't alone; apparently many stars stayed away out of deference to the WGA strike or fear of the paparazzi gauntlet they would face. Variety reported that A-list attendance was much lower than in recent years, despite a bumper crop of high-profile movies like the "U2" concert film "U23D" and Robert DeNiro's "What Just Happened?"
Not that Sundance was completely out of star cameos. Colin Farrell flirted with publicity reps while promoting his crime caper "In Bruges," and Mary-Kate Olson fielded 45,000 questions about what it was like to make out with Ben Kingsley for their movie "The Wackness," in which he plays a pot-smoking psychologist. But there was no playtime for Diego Luna and Sandra Oh; they were too busy voting on the Sundance jury along with Quentin Tarantino and Marcia Gay Harden. Someone's got to pick out the next "Little Miss Sunshine!"
Film is obviously the main event this week, but other video art is on show at the New Frontier on Main. Works ranging from Jennifer Steinkamp's Mike Kelley Trees, above, to interactive video sculpture from Daniel Rozin are free and open to everyone in an underground space in the Frontier on Main mall.
Also cool was an installation by Hasan Elahi. The artist who started lifecasting after he says he ended up on an FBI watchlist, has collected a bunch of photos of airports, bathrooms, planes and signage from around the globe. It's total travel porn, and we love it.
