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As members of the National Team, we had the opportunity to participate in the Skate Canada High Performance Camp in Vancouver. It took place at the P.N.E., in the Pacific Coliseum, more commonly known as the arena being used for the 2010 Olympic Games. We had already skated in it at the 2008 National Championships, but the arena had a little bit of a different feel considering it was
 devoid of spectators (the event was closed to the public) and that they had installed new specially padded boards: they were soft and padded to impact the crashes of the speed skaters that were sharing the rink with us, and about four feet thick. This made it especially hard for Carol to pass us our water bottles and mop up my face when I’d be sweating (an extremely important task). In any case, it was great to get a general idea of how the rink will be for the next Olympic games.
We left early Wednesday morning, and after five hours of sitting watching an odd movie of a lady having three affairs at the same time, we arrived to Vancouver. We spent the whole afternoon walking around Robson Street, where Carol bought a mysterious CD that she wouldn’t show us (possibly a future program). That evening, we had a reception with T-Fal, a cookware company and our new sponsors.
 We had to be very adventurous trying different finger foods that included raw fish, mysterious mushrooms, and foie gras (yuk!). Then we headed back to the hotel and got to get to know our roommates a little better. The next day was filled with practices, which included a combination of skating, eating, and sitting for hours until the next practice would start. However, it was a great opportunity to see everyone’s new programs. That night, we had a dinner at the Harley Davidson museum. We had a nice curry meal accompanied with a motivational speech from Tracy Wilson. Afterwards, we got to look around the museum, but the majority of us got scolded at for sitting on the ancient motorcycles and so we left rather hastily. At the dinner, we were also told that Skate Canada will be doing a “tough girls” campaign with Harley Davidson. Another great partnership!
On Friday we had our first competition simulation. This included and early morning practice and then a super long wait until our O.D. “competition”, which wasn’t until seven at night. During our long break, we went shopping, where we bought shirts and Paul replaced his torn underwear. After an O.D. runthrough and various reports from judges and technical specialists, we headed back for a delicious dinner at one of Carol’s favourite restaurant, Indigo.
 Then it was bedtime to get ready for another early morning the next day. We started with another early practice, and luckily, we were first up to do our simulation. Once again, we had the chance to talk with various judges and receive insightful comments. Then, we could just sit and watch the ladies, pairs and men and they did their respective simulations (more sitting around!). Finally, we took the bus home and the entire National team went out for a team dinner at the Cactus Club Café, a new and modern kind of restaurant. Then it was time for bed before a 4:00 a.m. wake up to get to the airport. We got home Sunday afternoon, just in time to finish all our homework before school on Monday.
All in all, it was a great experience. There was a lot of sitting and waiting, but the camp gave us some great tools to help us build up towards this years national championships and eventually towards the 2010 Olympics. In addition, we got to get to know all the other skaters better; it’s always nice to know your teammates when you head out to a competition. In any case, our calendars are clear for the next while, and all our training is focussed on a great outing at Skate Canada at the end of October. We can’t wait until then.
Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier
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