VANCOUVER -- 'Welcome to Vancouver. The temperature is plus 8 ...'
You try to imagine yourself as a visitor to the XXI Olympic Winter Games from some far corner of the world landing here Monday with his parka in the overhead bin, looking out the airplane window at green grass between the runways.
"It's a perfect day in Vancouver. Damn!" said a local scribe of the big arrival day for the Winter Olympics of the scene the arrivals were greeted with here Monday.
Hundreds of people were playing golf. An ice sculpture wouldn't have made it past noon.
However, the Main Press Centre is state of the art with a view.
You couldn't dream up a more easy-on-the-eyes location for media people to pen their prose, which usually begins with a first impressions column upon arrival.
The sun was out Monday, which it almost never is between November and March, but it has been every second day here in the warmest January and early February on record.
There's no snow anywhere other than the patch of it at the Cypress Mountain freestyle and snowboard course.
"There is a rumour the first snowboard event has been cancelled," said Christian Hrab, Canada's snowboard high performance director. "It is a false rumour. All systems are go. It's going to be fine. We could do it today on this a beautiful Vancouver day."
He brushed away as meaningless the fact there have been two days of training runs cancelled and only three days left for the rest of them at the venue where helicopters have hauled snow from the interior of B.C.
Those arriving expecting to see some snow without taking the trip up to Whistler, are informed by the locals to be careful for what they wish.
The truth is that the worst thing that could happen to the Winter Olympics in the Great White North of is for it to actually snow in the host city.
It would absolutely cripple the transportation system.
But to find flaws, you first have to take your eyes away from the sun reflecting off the water where the five Olympic rings will light up the night and become the most photographed sight of the Olympics.
And if this was you're arrival day, then you had to be struck by the sheer beauty of the city which visitors don't always see when it's cloud covered, raining and generally depressing.
Certainly not at the athlete's village.
"All the athletes who have been to previous Olympics are telling us this is the best one ever," Chef de mission Natalie Lambert said. "The view of the city is stupendous and magnificent and the treatment from the volunteers is really amazing and it's not just the Canadians, everybody from the other countries are telling us the same thing.
"Canada has a wonderful reputation for organizing major sports events and I can tell you right now Canada is going to live up to that reputation."
TERRY.JONES@SUNMEDIA.CA
