Jaunted

2010 Vancouver Olympics Venues

Skiing and Bobsledding: The bulk of the Winter Olympics will be held here including biatholons, ski-jumping and cross-country skiing. Bobsled, the luge and skeleton races will take place at the The Whistler Sliding Centre on Blackcomb mountain. Alpine skiing events will take place on Dave Murray Downhill on Whistler Mountain. (Paralympics downhill will take place on Franz's Run.)

Skating and Hockey: The figure skating and the short-track speed skating competitions will take place in Vancouver's Pacific Colisieum. Ice Hockey will be played in the Canada Hockey Place and the USB Thunderbird Arena.

Speed Skating: Longer-distance speed skating will take place at the Richmond Olympic Oval, next to the Fraser River, south of downtown Vancouver.

Crazy Jumps and Snowboarding: Fortunately, one doesn't have to trek up to Whistler to see the more exciting skiing competitions like moguls and aerials. These will be held in Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver as will the parallel slalom races and snowboard half-pipes.

Athlete's Village: With the not-so-shocking revelation that athletes knock the boots like crazy in the Olympic athletes' village during the Olympics, all eyes will be on the sleeping arrangements next year. There will be two athletes villages--one in Vancouver (hello, big city!) and one in Whistler (romps in the snow, anyone?) According to an entry on Wikipedia, the Whistler Village will house 2,400 athletes, coaches, trainers and officials. After the Olympics, the villages will be turned into a new residential nabe.

Mascots: The Vancouver 2010 Olympics has three mascots: Sumi, Quatchi and Miga. All three are "locals" of British Columbia. Sumi is a hybrid animal spirit that inhabits the mountains of British Columbia. Miga is a sea bear from Tofino, beyond Vancouver Island. And our favorite, Quatchi, is a "young sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada."

All mascots are very cutesy looking and their faces are printed on anything and everything you can imagine printing Olympics mascots on. That Sumi lunchbox or Quatchi mouse pad can be yours by ordering online

For more on Whistler, check out the rest of our stories from our Whistler Field Trip