At least 15 athletes and coaches are preparing for the 2010 Winter Olympics at Whistler, and not Cypress Mountain, where a lack of snow has forced the cancellation of training days.

Competitors in snowboard's halfpipe discipline will lose two official training days - Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 - and no athletes will be able to access Cypress until Monday at the earliest. The halfpipe competitors are down to three training days from a scheduled five.

"We had a bunch of contingency plans for too much snow, or too little snow, and we're largely knee-deep in the contingency plan for too little snow," said Tim Gayda, vice-president of sport for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games (VANOC).

Olympic organizers and the International Ski Federation (FIS) also decided Saturday that recreational sessions planned for the athletes this weekend would have to be moved to the Whistler-Blackcomb resort, about two hours north of Vancouver.

More competitors are expected to take up VANOC's offer over the coming days. Whistler is equipped with a halfpipe and a moguls course.

"The more that athletes are on that [Cypress] pipe, the more it works it down," Gayda said. "We believe this is in the best interests of the athletes."

At Cypress, helicopters are dumping bins of high-elevation snow, harvested from the British Columbian interior, every three minutes. More than 5,000 cubic metres of snow will be dropped on the venue, and a snow-hardening technique is being considered as a last resort.

The next test comes Monday, when women's moguls skiers are scheduled to begin training, and when the snow harvesting stops.

VANOC must provide a minimum amount of training before holding competitions, according to FIS rules. The revised schedule for half-pipe training begins on Feb. 14, and athletes require at least two days before the competition can commence.

"We are not re-locating any of these events," Gayda said. "They will take place at Cypress Mountain. 100 per cent."

On Friday, Cypress opened to Olympians but quickly aborted plans to allow "free ski" and "free ride." Athletes are being offered time in Whistler, with VANOC paying for their transportation, lunches and lift tickets.

Gayda would not respond when asked how much the Cypress makeover is costing VANOC. A spokeswoman said the funds are coming from an overall contingency budget, and Gayda added that VANOC has committed to opening its books after the Games.

Vancouver experienced its warmest January on record, and at 3 p.m. PT Saturday, it was six degrees C and mostly sunny atop Cypress. According to Environment Canada, there is no chance of snow until Wednesday, and temperatures are expected to remain above freezing this week.

Organizers are using snow from Mt. Strachan, one of Cypress's two peaks but not the site of Olympic competitions, and from Manning Park and Zopkios Ridge, two spots along the Coquihalla Highway in B.C.'s interior. Gayda said those locations were selected because they provide high-elevation snow that has not been corrupted.

Sarah Lewis, representing the FIS, said half-pipe competitors would still receive more training time than at a typical world cup event, and that competitors in freestyle skiing and snowboard are accustomed to challenges with the weather and snow conditions.

"It's certainly more than adequate," she said about the remaining training time for half-pipe.

Lewis said the extra training time provided at an Olympics mostly benefits the athletes from smaller nations where the sports are still growing, and where facilities and suitable conditions are scarce. When asked if the less than ideal conditions would alter the integrity of the competitions, Lewis noted that the conditions are the same for all the athletes.

Gayda said workers at Cypress are focusing on the finish areas for freestyle and snowboard, as well as ski routes for the Olympic workforce, roughly 750 people, to move about the mountain. Organizers are trying to get as much snow as possible at the venue, so that they have enough to sustain competitions throughout the Games.

"Where we're at now is, we're just being safe in case this weather does continue through the Games," Gayda said. "The key thing for us is that we've had enough snow on the actual courses.

"So, the field of play, where the athletes are competing, the majority of those courses are well under way in terms of construction. The moguls course is largely complete, as well as half-pipe and a good portion of the snowboard cross."