By Elena Hight

VANCOVER — My Vancouver Olympic experience has been absolutely amazing. Since I got off the plane in Vancouver I have not stopped. We were just thrown straight into the craziness that is the Olympics.

Processing where you get all of your gear, media conferences, Opening Ceremonies filled the first two days here. After that we had three days of practice and of course our competition.

South Tahoe's Elena Hight, second from left, is surrounded by U.S. teammates. Photo/Provided

Straight after that it was time to enjoy. Three hockey games, cat boarding, the women’s aerials event, the Vancouver aquarium, amazing dinners around Vancouver, and a trip up to Whistler to hangout with friends filled the next six days after my contest.

Sleep has not been a priority … jamming everything into the short amount of time we have here has been. So I have been fueling the days with coffee and tons of smiles.

While I have already been in Vancouver for two weeks, I feel like it has flown by. There really is nothing like the Olympics, the energy around the village is unprecedented and there really is no way to describe it.

While my competition didn’t go the way I had hoped, I have brought away so much from this experience. New friends, an epic pin collection, amazing photos, the feeling of representing my country, and cheering like I have never cheered before.

I am more than happy with what I have experienced here, and it is a couple of weeks of my life that I will never forget.

Elena Hight lives in South Lake Tahoe, rides at Northstar-at-Tahoe and competed in the halfpipe in the Vancouver Winter Olympics.