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2010 Vancouver Olympic Venues

written by: Mark Ruthenberg

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics will be hosted by both Vancouver & Whistler with the activities and venues split between the two:

Vancouver Venues

Curling

The 5,600 seat capacity Vancouver Olympic Centreis adjacent to Queen Elizabeth Park and just 4 km from the Olympic Village site.

The new facility will provide the largest spectator capacities for Curling in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. The facility will operate after the games for community-based ice hockey, figure skating, fitness and other indoor sport and recreation pursuits.

The second facility, for competitor training, will be at the eight-sheet Richmond Curling Club The Richmond training venue will be dedicated to Curling and is located 11 km from the Vancouver Olympic Village.

Transit Access
Take the SkyTrain Canada Line to King Edward station, then walk 1.1 kilometres to the venue. By bus, you can take the TransLink #3, #15, #25, #33 bus routes. TransLink offers schedule information and travel planning.

More about Curling

Freestyle Skiing / Snowboarding

Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard competitions will take place at Cypress Mountain Resort ("Cypress") on the North Shore of Vancouver, directly overlooking Vancouver. Cypress can accommodate 12,000 fans for Freestle skiing, Snowboarding, and 8,000 sppectators along the Snowboard halfpipe. Cypress is located in Cypress Provincial Park just 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver and the Olympic Village. The downhill ski and snowboard slopes provide spectacular panoramic views of Vancouver and the Pacific Ocean. Cypress is one of three local ski resorts on Vancouver's North Shore.

Cypress comprises two adjacent peaks, Mt. Strachan and Mt. Black. The vertical drop is 470 m from an elevation of 1,450 m on Mt Strachan, and a vertical drop of 240 m from an elevation of 1,220 m on Mt. Black. Cypress has the highest vertical drop and the most skiable terrain of the three resorts on the North Shore, and is has 350,000 annual skier/snowboarder visits and 110,000 cross-country skier visits. Cypress also offers dramatic night skiing and snowboarding on many of its runs.

The Freestyle and Snowboard venues will creating more skiable terrain without having any environmental impact. The Aerial jump hill will add night lighting and be built to Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) specifications using existing terrain for in-run, table, landing and corral lengths and angles. The Mogul course will provide a 275 m course, 40 m wide with a 27 degree average slope. The course will also run Dual Moguls for World Cup events before or after the Games. Lift access will be provided by a new chairlift. Training runs will use the actual Freestyle Skiing courses.

Construction began during the summer of 2006, and began hosting regional or national FIS Freestyle Skiing events in the 2006/2007 winter season. New snowmaking facilities will ensure that all courses, including training areas, have snowmaking capabilities.

The Snowboard competition site will use existing ski terrain with minor modification. The proposed Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) and Halfpipe events will be situated on an existing run named "Gully-Fork" at the base of Mt. Black, right in front of the new Base Lodge facility, from where spectators can view the entire course. The PGS course on "Gully-Fork" will running for 550 m with an average slope of 18%. Lift access will be via the "Eagle" detachable high-speed quad chair on Mt. Black. The Halfpipe course will be custom-built at the bottom of the PGS course, making this an excellent venue for both Snowboarding competitions, and will have night lighting.

Halfpipe training will take place on the competition course on Mt. Black starting on February 2, 2010. The PGS competitors will have access to training on "Lower Fork" starting on February 5, 2010 up until the competition. The PGS competition course will be ready for training starting on February 9, 2010, two days following the Halfpipe competition.


Transit Access
The Olympic bus network from the Capilano University departure hub in North Vancouver (allow 40 minutes), from the Simon Fraser University departure hub in Burnaby (allow 60 minutes) OR from the Lonsdale Quay transfer hub, after a Sabus ride from downtown Vancouver (allow 30 minutes). From the Olympic bus network drop-off point, you’ll be required to walk 1.6 kilometres on snow to reach the freestyle stadium and 2 kilometres to reach the entrance of the snowboard and ski cross stadium.

More about Snowboarding

Ice Hockey/Figure Skating

The Ice Hockey competition events will take place in two venues: General Motors Place (GM Place), and at a new arena at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Winter Sport Centre.

Canada Hockey Place (otherwise known as "General Motors Place")

General Motors Place is a 17,830-seat, ice hockey arena and entertainment centre, located 2 km from the Vancouver Olympic Village. It is home to the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team, the Vancouver Ravens (NLL lacrosse) and the Canadian Hockey Association Centre of Excellence. This arena has great sightlines & comfortable seating, and has plenty of experience with broadcasting. To convert from an NHL-sized to an international-sized (60 m x 30 m) ice surface, three rows of seats are removed to expose the wider ice-making slab.

Transit Access
Take the SkyTrain Expo Line/Millennium Line to Stadium-Chinatown station OR Canada Line to Vancouver City Centre station. Other nbearby downtown rapid transit stops are at Main Street-Science World, Yaletown Roundhouse, Waterfront or Granville stations,all with good and well-lit pedestrian access to the arena.

University Of British Columbia Thunderbird Arena

20 minutes west of the Olympic Village is the University of British Columbia (UBC) on a 402 ha scenic oceanfront campus,. next to the 763 ha forest of Pacific Spirit Park,. UBC is one of Canada's leading universities with 35,000 full-time students, including international students from more than 100 countries, pursue both undergraduate and graduate degrees in 12 different faculties. UBC has athletes in 17 different sports in Canada's largest intramural sports program.

The new 8,000 seat UBC Winter Sport Centre will be the secondary venue for men's and women's Ice Hockey. Some of the seats are planned to be temporary, with approximately 5,500 permanent seats. A second ice surface for training will also be incorporated into the development, with team dressing rooms adjoining both venues. The facilities will be able to convert between international and North American-sized ice surfaces, and will replace the aging Thunderbird Arena ice complex.


Transit Access
From downtown, take the Canada Line to Broadway-City Hall station OR Expo Line/Millennium Line to Broadway station OR Millennium Line to Commercial Drive station, and then transfer onto the 99 B-Line express bus to UBC. You can also take these alternative TransLink bus routes: 4, 9, 17, 25, 33, 41, 43, 44, 49, 480, N17. For TransLink routes & schedule information.

Training Facilities
One of two City of Vancouver municipal venues will be available for ice hockey training (great places to watch teams without paying Olympic admissions): Killarney Municipal Arena or Trout Lake Recreation Centre. This will be finalized closer to the Olympics, following community input.

More about Hockey
More about Ice Skating

Short Track Speed Skating

The Short Track Speed Skating events will take place in the existing 15,000 seat Pacific Coliseum at 65 ha Hastings Park, located 8 km east of the Vancouver Olympic Village. The competition ice sheet will be shared with Figure Skating, each sport will have a dedicated training sheet, only a few minutes walk away from this venue. The Pacific Coliseum unobstructed sightlines, excellent acoustics and 21 m ceiling clearance with wide concourses that overlook the field of play. The ice surface is being upgrade to Olympic size (30m by 60m).

Hastings Park is currently home to two institutions: the Pacific National Exhibition and the Hastings Park Racetrack (equestrian).Other buildings are located on the site, including the Pacific Coliseum, Agrodome, Forum, Rollerland and the Garden Auditorium.


Transit Access
Take the Expo Line/Millennium Line to 29th Avenue station or Millennium Line to Renfrew station. From either of these stations, transfer to the Games Express bus which links directly to the venue, OR catch the TransLink bus #135 to the stop at Hastings Street & Lillooet Street. From downtown Vancouver, you can take bus 135 from outside the Burrard SkyTrain station or anywhere along Hastings Street. From the North Shore, the North Vancouver Games Express bus from the Phibbs Exchange (just north of the Second Narrows Bridge) will link directly to the venue. Alternative bus routes are the #10, #16, #160.

More about Speed Skating

Speed Skating

The Speed Skating events will take place in a new facility at the Richmond Skating Oval, just south of Vancouver. Interestingly, in the original Olympic bid, the skating oval was to be located on the campus of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.

The Richmond Skating Oval has a new 400 m track housed in a 23,450 m2 multi-purpose building with a four-lane running track around the perimeter of the speed skating oval. The oval will incorporate state-of-the-art ice plant using sustainable technology and will facilitate television coverage of events and provide extensive viewing areas.


Transit Access
By rapid transit, Take the SkTrain Canada Line to Aberdeen station, then walk 1.5 kilometres to the entrance of the venue, OR catch a TransLink bus #401; 407 (contact TransLink for routes & schedule information. (Dress appropriately as the route you're walking along runs beside the Fraser River, with waterproof clothing--in case it rains--and comfortable footwear are recommended.)

More about Speed Skating

Whistler Venues

Alpine Skiing

All the Alpine Skiing events and training will take place at Whistler Creekside in the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW). All of the Alpine competition courses for both speed events and technical events wil take place on existing ski runs, minimizing the environmental impact to the area.

The RMOW was founded in 1975 and is now home to 10,000 permanent residents, with more than 2 million annual visitors. Whistler/Blackcomb is a leading alpine resort with the highest vertical drop in North America (52480 ft or 1,625 m) and is world-renowned for its outstanding skiing terrain and excellent services. Whistler Mountain opened in 1966 and adjacent Blackcomb Mountain opened in 1980. The two mountains combined have the largest ski area in North America with more than 3,075 ha of skiable terrain, 200 marked trails and 12 alpine bowls. Since 1992, at least one magazine has ranked Whistler/Blackcomb the Number One ski resort in North America

Alpine Speed Events - Downhill, Super-G And Combined Downhill

All Alpine speed events will be located on Whistler Mountain. The Men's Downhill, Super-G and Combined Downhill will take place on the legendary "Dave Murray Downhill" course. The Women's Downhill, Super-G and Combined Downhill will take place on a separate course called "Franz's" run. The "Dave Murray Downhill" course has already been used for a number of World Cup races, Canadian Championships, NorAm and FIS races for both men and women.

The Men's Downhill course starts at an elevation of 1,672 m, runs for 3,717 m to a finish altitude of 715 m. It drops 957 m, with an average grade of 27%, (ranging from 47% to 3% slope). The Women's Downhill course starts at 1,410 m, runs 2,502 m and ends at an altitude of 714 m. The vertical drop is 696 m with an average grade of 29% (ranging from 41% down to 18%).

Alpine Technical Events - Giant Slalom, Slalom And Combined Slalom

All the Alpine technical events will take place at the Whistler Creekside base of Blackcomb Mountain on the run named "Cruiser." The courses will meet FIS standards, and there are plans to provide lighting on the Combined Slalom course in order to have the option of staging the Slalom portion of the Combined event at night.

The Men's Giant Slalom course starts at an altitude of 1,225 m and runs for 1,602 m to a finish altitude of 775 m. It drops 450 metres with an average grade of 29% (ranging from 40% down to 18%). The Men's Slalom course, situated on the Giant Slalom course, starts at 995 m and finishes 775 m running a length of 764 m. The 220 m vertical drop has an average grade of 30% (ranging from 40% down to 20%). The Women's Giant Slalom course starts at 1,175 m and runs for, while the Women's Slalom course starts at 975 m and drops to 775 m, running for 707 m. The Giant Slalom course drops 400 m and the Slalom course drops 200 m with an average grade of 30% for both courses (Maximum grade of 40% for both courses, minimum grade of 18% for Giant Slalom and 20% for Slalom). For both courses these are the maximum permissible vertical drops under the FIS course specifications.

Training/Warm-Up Venues The training/warm-up course for the Men's and Women's Downhill, Super-G and Combined Downhill events will use Whistler Mountain's existing "Raven" & "Ptarmigan" runs. The Women's alternate warm-up venue will be "Upper Franz's." The Men's and Women's Giant Slalom, Slalom and Combined Slalom training/warm-up runs will use "Short Horn" to the skiers' right of "Cruiser," with a secondary training/warm-up area on the "Springboard" run on the upper portion of Blackcomb Mountain.

More about Skiing

Biathlon / Cross Country / Ski Jumping / Nordic Combined

All Biathlon, Cross Country, Nordic Combined and Ski Jumping events and training will take place in the proposed Whistler Nordic Centre in the beautiful Callaghan Valley, just a few kilometres west of the world famous Whistler resort. All of the Nordic venues are within walking distance of each other (700 m, under a half mile). These sport venues are located on a plateau in the midst of beautiful glaciers and mountains, which provide consistent weather conditions, with an average February snow base of 165 cm. The Biathlon stadium will be 875 m above sea level, with the nearby Whistler Olympic Village 550 m above sea level.
The Callaghan Valley's terrain is suitable for developing courses that will meet the needs of all the Olympic and Paralympic events as well as any future changed requirements. The facilities are expected to be ready for regional competitions during the winter of 2006/07.

The Ski Jumping venue will be situated just above the Biathlon venue, with the Cross Country venue located 700 m to the south. The elevation at the proposed Ski Jumping start gate is at approximately 1,100 m with the stadium finish area at 900 m. The terrain allows jumps to be built using the natural topography, from K30 and K50 training jumps all the way up to the K90 and K120 jumps, all built to the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) standards. Construction for the Ski Jumping facility should be completed for the winter of 2007/2008 in order to host a National event that season and a Pre-Olympic competition in the winter of 2008/2009.

More about Ski Jumping
More about Cross-Country Skiing

Bobsleigh / Luge / Skeleton

These event will take place at the new Whistler Sliding Centre, to be built at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, in the heart of the Whistler Village resort. It is adjacent to one of the Alpine venues and easily accessible to visitors. The Whistler Sliding Centre will newly built for the 2010 Games.

This location offers tourist and recreational use of the track for ongoing economic sustainability of the facility after the Olympics. The Whistler Sliding Centre project includes land preparation and grading, road and parking lot improvements, track development and refrigeration plant construction. Vancouver 2010 is investigating "green" energy initiative in conjunction with the Whistler Sliding Centre which may benefit the alpine ski area and the alpine base lodge facilities.

The proposed track has a running length of 1,350 m from the highest point located at 926 m in elevation. There are a total of 18 curves, with a vertical drop of 124 m from the Men's Bobsleigh start to the finish line. The track has an average grade of 9.2% to the finish line with a maximum grade of 17% and a minimum grade of 4%.

More about Bobsleigh / Luge / Skeleton

Olympic Villages

Vancouver 2010 will have two Olympic Villages to house competitors and officials: one in Vancouver and the other in Whistler. This reduce both athlete's driving time and impact of altitude on training & competition. the distance athletes will have to travel to their venues and will also minimize the effects of changes in altitude in relation to their competition and training venues.

Vancouver's Olympic Village will provide a vibrant waterfront urban metropolis. The Whistler Olympic Village will provide an intimate alpine community, surrounded by the mountains and evergreen forests. After the Olympic Games both Athlete's Villages will become affordable housing, which is in short supply in both communities.

Accommodation

In order to plan, organize and stage the Games, VanOC will secure accommodations for its key user groups including the International Olympic Committee, the National Olympic Committees of participating nations, International Sport Federations, international and domestic corporate sponsors, international and domestic news media, athletes' families, team coaches and support personnel. For these user groups, VANOC requires approximately 16,000 rooms in the Greater Vancouver area and approximately 3,500 rooms in the Whistler area.

If what happened in Calgary in 1988 is any indication, many Vancouverites will be able to rent their entire homes for outrageous prices (even by Vancouver standards), go on a nice vacation for the Olympics month, and significantly pay down their mortgages.