Your Own Winter Olympics Smartmoney.com
, The Winter Olympics roll around and remind us about the glory of sport, the importance of international cooperation and just how nuts you have to be to set foot in a bobsled. And yet here we are, crammed into one with four other suicidal adrenaline junkies, about to crack 50 mph and 3 Gs on an Olympic bobsled run. “Don’t hold the straps like that,” says brakeman Joshua Hunt. Why? “If we were to crash, you’d break your arms.” Oh.
This February, millions of Americans will spend the three weeks of the XXI Winter Olympiad glued to their TVs, transformed into rabid fans of ski jumping and curling. But with all the focus on the festivities in Vancouver, B.C., it may be surprising to learn that it’s not the only place stoking the Olympic flame this winter. In former host cities across the continent, travelers—even those picked last in gym class—can get their own taste of Olympic glory, from headlong bobsled rides in Calgary to Friday-night curling lessons outside Salt Lake City to rickety elevator trips to the top of Lake Placid’s vertigo-inducing ski jump. The popular sport of spectating isn’t out of the question, either, with many towns hosting World Cup qualifying events. And one forgotten venue, Squaw Valley, Calif., is now celebrating its 50th Olympic anniversary with nostalgic ski tours on its 1960 courses, led by former competitors.
Of course, there’s more than just the Olympic spirit at work here. It’s no secret that hosting is an expensive undertaking: Vancouver anticipates spending about $3 billion this year, though that pales next to the reported $42 billion spent by China on the Beijing Games. What’s more, a recent survey by the European Tour Operators Association found that visitation to Olympic cities often stalls after the games, leaving all those new hotel rooms and venues sitting empty.
