By Kassandra Linklater - @Klinked on Twitter

Every couple of months I look at my “Bucket List,” a list of things one wants to accomplish before they die, to check out my progress. Some of them are simple: smile everyday, some are time consuming: complete a MBA, some involve my idols: take Rick Mercer out for a beer, and some I know will take a lifetime to accomplish: become a Canadian worth remembering.

There are some that I don’t know how they will happen: travel to every continent, so I go with the flow, and some I have to actively pursue: speak five different languages. But last week I saw an ad online, and quickly realized that #51, watch the sunrise on the side of a mountain, was going to become a reality. I had always imaged that #51 would occur in far off lands, like on the side of Mount Kilimanjaro. I never imaged it would happen in my own back yard.

However, a once in lifetime experience was just around the corner and this was all thanks to the Olympics: Grouse Mountain was going to be open 24 hours for two weeks.

The fact that my snow pants were a bit snug and 6 inches too short was a stark reminder that it had been a long time since I had gone skiing. Slowly a nagging feeling crept through my body as I stared at my bare ankles in the mirror, but I quickly brushed it aside, as I was on a quest to find snow pants and a waterproof winter jacket, (how can you tell I live in Vancouver). Lucky, the frugal gods were on my side and I found pants and a jacket all for under a $100 dollars!

My friends and I set the date and I was prepared. With 10 hours of sleep and a mid-day nap behind me, I was ready to conquer the mountain. As I put on the layers of clothes, the nerves started to set in again. Ignoring them once more, I crossed the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge at 12:00am, with my radio blaring and a coffee in my cup holder.

There was something magical about that night, there was not a cloud in the sky and for some reason, and everything just felt right. We bought our lift tickets and it was “to the top of the mountain we go.” Olympic tip: Can’t make it to Cyprus, check out Grouse, there are tons of amazing Olympic activities on the top of the mountain, including live DJ events, and for the ones who like to get up early, or in my case, don’t go to bed at all, the NBC Today Show starts taping at 4:00am.

But back to the mission. Around 1:00am, I finally found the rental shop, and after trying on 3 different boots to find the right size, I was almost set. As I awkwardly walked down the stairs in my ski boots, with the skis over my shoulder and the poles in my left hand, my fears finally caught up to me. “I don’t think I can do this.” The cold night seemed to be taunting me to go back in, and I started to rationalize returning the skis to go sit in the chalet till the sun came up.

See, three years ago I was in a four-pile up on the #1 highway, and my initial prognoses was one that I don’t care to repeat. The thought that I would be skiing three years later was a notion that I don’t believe my Doctors would even bother to entertain. But I was determined to not let others dictated my limitations, or lack there of.

The first twenty minutes were painful, both physically and to my ego as it was not as simple as just getting back on the bike. Luckily, one of my friends was a former ski instructor and showed me the basics. By 2:00 in the morning, things started to click, and like Stella, I seemed to get my groove back. I ask to be left to my own devices, as this moment seemed too big that if someone asked me as question I may not respond. Whipping down the hill I started to feel freedom, and on the chair lift back up I felt peace and clarity.

Minutes turned into hours and after almost plowing into Matt Lauer, as we skied down to watch the Today show taping, the dawn was starting to break. A hot coffee and after some much needed sitting, we were back at it. After a long debate about the difference between sunrise, dawn and daybreak, and what time the sun truly comes up, we decided to break in the newly groomed ‘Cut’ around 6:00 am. I have to be honest, the pain started to creep in and I wasn’t able to make it down all the way on our last run. But sitting on the snow and watching the sunrise over our world class sitting was truly amazing.

Later that day, I was watching some of the events on TV, and one channel had a sports doctor on talking about what an athlete goes through during speed skating, particularly on how they can’t just be strong physically but need to be mentally too. They need to learn how to turn the idea of pain into ‘pleasure,’ in a sense. Embrace it. It was eerie for me to hear him explain the process, as this was exactly what I had taught myself during my recovery. The old adage: ‘no pain, no gain,’ rang true for me.

I sat back and wondered how many people have learned to embrace struggle during these games. Whether it was the life time of training for the athletes, the monetary hardships for the American speed skating team, the exhaustion that the VANOC team must feel after the seven year marathon of organizing, or the five years it took my new friend from Germany to save up to attend these games.

For me, the biggest struggle that has occurred during the games has been for Canada. A young nation, we see finally ready to step out into the world, and say, “here we are.”

During the opening Olympic ceremonies, Shane Koyczan, slam poet extraordinaire, defined Canada in a way that I believe captured everything about us. We are young, we are proud; we have a defined culture that is indefinable, yet undeniable. We are a walking stereotype, with our hockey and poutine. We are kind, we are rude, we try, we fail, but most importantly, “we are an idea in the process of being realized.”

For the rest of the Olympics I am going to dedicate my blog not to the Olympic games, but to the impacts that it is having on our people from coast to coast to coast. I decided to start from myself, and my “abandonment of hesitation.”

For “we are more than hills to ski or countryside ponds to skate, we are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait.” We are a nation that is changing before our very eyes. The world is watching Canada, but so are we.

Signing off for now,

Kassandra

Check me out @Klinked or walking around the city in looking for your story.

Kassandra is currently the News Editor of Kwantlen’s independent student newspaper – The Runner, a member of Kwantlen’s President’s Ambassadorial Team (PAT) and the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Mentor program - Leaders of Tomorrow.