Vancouver

VENUE DESCRIPTION

Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately 125 kilometres (78 mi) north of Vancouver. Incorporated as the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), it has a permanent population of approximately 9,965, plus a larger but rotating "transient" population of workers, typically younger people from beyond BC, notably from Australia and Europe.
Over two million people visit Whistler annually, primarily for alpine skiing and mountain biking at Whistler-Blackcomb. Its pedestrian village has won numerous design awards and Whistler has been voted among the top destinations in North America by major ski magazines since the mid-1990s. During the 2010 Winter Olympics, Whistler will host most of the alpine, nordic and sliding events, though freestyle skiing and all snowboarding events will be hosted at Cypress Mountain near Vancouver.

COMPETITION VENUE INFORMATION

Whistler Olympic Park/Whistler Paralympic Park will be used for all the 2010 Olympic Winter Games events in cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and biathlon, and for all the 2010 Paralympic Nordic events. All the events for cross-country skiing, Nordic combined (the cross-country skiing portion) and the Paralympic Nordic (cross-country skiing and biathlon) will start from the cross-country stadium, while the Olympic biathlon events will start at the separate biathlon stadium. The approximate 1 x 2 kilometre area at the venue will consist of two separate 5 kilometre cross-country skiing competition courses, a 4 kilometre biathlon competition course and a 3.75 kilometre Paralympic sit-ski competition course. In addition, there will be warm-up trails and several cutover trails for the shorter competition distances (2, 2.5, 3, 3.3 and 3.75 km). Whistler Olympic Park will also include an additional 20 to 25 kilometres of Olympic training trails and recreational trails.

The distance from Whistler Olympic Park to the Olympic and Paralympic Village Whistler is approximately 14 kilometres.

COMPETITION COURSE MAPS AND PROFILES

 olympic-course-plans-and-profiles.pdf.pdf

HOW TO GET TO WHISTLER

Whistler is located on British Columbia Highway 99, also known as the "Sea-to-Sky highway", approximately 58 kilometres (36 mi) north of Squamish, and 125 km (76 mi) from Vancouver. The highway connects Whistler to the British Columbia Interior via Pemberton-Mount Currie to Lillooet and connections beyond to the Trans-Canada and Cariboo Highways.

Elite-class rail service only is provided between the Whistler railway station and North Vancouver by the Whistler Mountaineer. Regular passenger schedules are no longer available. Rail service through to Jasper is provided by the Rocky Mountaineer, using Canadian National Railway tracks from North Vancouver via Whistler and Prince George. The station for tour passengers embarking from Whistler is in the Southside area, between Nita and Alpha Lakes.
Local bus transit service is provided by the Whistler and Valley Express, which also provides service to Squamish and Pemberton.
Local aviation is served by the Whistler/Green Lake Water Aerodrome, which has service to several cities in the province.
The main airport that most Whistler residents tourists use is the Vancouver International Airport, located 140 km south.