Calgary was the site of the 1988 winter Olympics. We spent the day visiting the main location of the luge, bobsled, ski jump, snowboard half pipe, and freestyle skiing just outside of Calgary. The highlight of the day was watching Noel take a zip line from the 90m ski jump tower. I could not believe the view from the top. Noel said the ride was incredible and he had little time to be scared as the entire trip last just under 9 seconds! This ski jump tower is no longer in use because the landing area is too small to support the current style of ski jumping.
The ski jump event at the 1988 Olympics was popular to watch due to Michael Edwards, otherwise known as the “Eddie the Eagle.” Eddie the Eagle was a beginning ski jumper from Great Britain. He had only participated in the sport for two years prior to the Olympic games and he became a mascot of sorts for the games since he represented the dreams of athletes throughout the world. Today the Olympics have an Eddie the Eagle rule that prevents athletes from competing in the games unless they have placed in the top half of an international event. The kids loved seeing dad repeat Eddie the Eagle's feat. And they even stood on the podium and got into the western spirit.
We also spent time at the Olympic Park playing mini-golf on a course that Noel described a completely uphill and visiting the Olympic museum. After departing the park we drove west for about an hour for our stay in Banff National Park. Again, the scenery was spectacular even though a rainstorm was passing through the area. Noel tried to take video of the mountains as we came closer to Banff, but due to the weather it was fairly impossible to see them until we were much closer. A valiant and funny effort by Noel that took close to 10 minutes of video time with little to see…
