Winter Paralympics

VANCOUVER: 12TH - 21ST MARCH 2010

Venues:

Like the 2010 Winter Olympics, the sporting events during the Paralympics will be shared between Vancouver and Whistler.

Whistler:

• Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village
• Whistler Creekside - Alpine Skiing
• Whistler Nordic Venue - Biathlon, Cross Country Skiing
• Whistler Celebration Site - Nightly medals presentations and Closing Ceremony

Whistler Olympic & Paralympic Village:

The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village (WOPV) will be located in Whistler, British Columbia and will also serve both the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics. Smaller than the Vancouver Olympic Village, it will accommodate 2,400 athletes, coaches, and officials with 450 beds made especially with wheelchair access. Site preparation began in 2006 with construction starting in March 2007 and is expected to be completed in the Summer of 2009.

Whistler is one of the two host communities for the Games. The site of this athletes' village is in the Cheakamus Valley approximately 20 minutes south of the Whistler Mountain competition venues, and 6km from the highway cutoff for the Whistler Olympic Park sliding events venue in the Callaghan Valley.

Whistler Olympic Park:

The Whistler Olympic Park is the location of the Nordic events facilities for the 2010 Winter Olympics and is located in the Madeley Creek basin in the Callaghan Valley, west of Whistler. 

The facility will host the biathlon, cross-country skiing, nordic combined, and ski jumping, and after the Olympics will remain a public facility, complementing the extensive wilderness trails and alpine routes already in use. Three stadia, with both temporary and permanent features, are being built with a capacity for 10,000 spectators each (6,000 for the Paralympics).

The location is approximately 8 km from the junction of its access road with Highway 99 and 14 km from the Whistler Olympic Village. 14 kilometres of cross country and biathlon trails, two ski jumps (90 and 120 metre), and another 20 to 25 km of recreational trails are being built. Overall, $100 million will be spent on the facilities in the Callaghan Valley.  Permanent ones were completed in the autumn of 2007. In the future, it will be a cross-country and back country ski facility.

The park was officially opened to the public on 22nd November 2008 at noon PST despite having no snow the previous evening. The area received 30 cm of snow overnight. Inauguration took place at the 1020 m2 day lodge to mark the start of the public skiing season. 500 people daily would use the lodge during weekends and 100 during a regular weekday on the $119 million project.

Vancouver:

• BC Place Stadium - Opening Ceremony
• UBC Winter Sports Centre - Ice Sledge Hockey
• Hillcrest Park - Wheelchair Curling
• Vancouver Olympic Village

BC Place Stadium:

BC Place Stadium is Canada's first domed stadium and is the largest air-supported stadium in the world[1]. It is located on the north side of False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is owned and operated by PavCo (BC Pavilion Corporation), a Crown Corporation of the government in the Province of British Columbia.

BC Place has been the home to the CFL's BC Lions since 1983, and will serve as the site for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

A monument commemorating Terry Fox is located outside the stadium, as well as a smaller monument commemorating Percy Williams. The BC Sports Hall of Fame is located inside the stadium at Gate "A"-Level 300.

The stadium is served by the Skytrain's Stadium-Chinatown Station. The False Creek Ferries and Aquabus dock at the Edgewater Casino also serves the stadium.

Vancouver Olympic Village:

The Vancouver Olympic Village (VOV), is the Olympic Village being purpose built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia.  A 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2) village with over 600 units will be able to accommodate over 2,800 athletes, coaches, and officials.

Preparation and construction of the site Vancouver began in February 2006. Construction is expected to be completed by November 1, 2009, in which it will be turned over to the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) for use during the Winter Games. On April 7, 2010 it will be returned to the City of Vancouver. The village will be converted into residential housing, a community centre, daycare, retail, and service spaces.

UBC Winter Sports Centre:

The UBC Winter Sports Centre, or the UBC Thunderbird Arena is an arena located in the University Endowment Lands, just outside of the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The arena, which features a 7,500-seat main ice rink along with two other rinks, and will be used for men's and women's ice hockey in the 2010 Winter Olympics and sledge hockey in the 2010 Winter Paralympic

Hillcrest Park:

Hillcrest Park is located in the Riley Park-Little Mountain neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located immediately north of Queen Elizabeth Park and west of Riley Park.

Next to Hillcrest Park is the site containing Nat Bailey Stadium, home of the Vancouver Canadians baseball team; the Millennium Sports Centre, home to both the Phoenix Gymnastics Club and the Pacific Indoor Bowls Club; and the Vancouver Racquets Club.

The little league Little Mountain Baseball has its ballpark and clubhouse in Hillcrest Park They also use ballparks at Riley Park for the younger age groups. In addition, there are two larger diamonds used by Vancouver Community Baseball. During the soccer season the ballparks are converted to be used as soccer fields by various competitive and recreational leagues.

Hillcrest Park also is home to the Vancouver Curling Club. It is currently on the south-west corner of the park in a small building, and has only 5 sheets. With the 2010 Winter Olympics coming to Vancouver the club will be getting a new, expanded facility, called the Vancouver Olympic Centre, next door to the Millennium Sports Centre. The new facility will house a new community centre, library, ice rink, curling arena, and the Percy Norman Aquatic Centre. Construction of the arena started in March 2007 and was mostly completed by February 2009. The aquatics portion of the building will not be completed until spring of 2009, and the final renovations to finish the community centre will occur after the 2010 Winter Games.

• Travel Request Form

If you wish to register your interest in attending the Winter Paralympic Games please complete the form above, or email Dave Freeman at Travel Places.

Take me to the main Travel Places website Home Page. 

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