WHISTLER, B.C. -- Whistler Mayor Ken Melamed woke early to a welcome omen: Fat snowflakes falling outside his window, dressing the town in a fresh coat of white.

"It's beautiful," he said, relief in his voice.

After seven years of preparation, the reality - the Olympic Games are almost here - began to set in for Whistler on Friday, with the arrival of the torch relay.

"There is this palpable nervousness in many of us," Mr. Melamed said.

"Whistler has been a training ground and home for high-performing athletes since its inception, it's part of our DNA. So there's a very personal, emotional connection."

Everywhere in the village, the pending arrival of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games is apparent. Squads of support workers in matching corporate jackets fill the sidewalks, official Games vehicles clog the roads, and shops are crammed with Olympic souvenirs. All that remained to do Friday was get the residents decked out in red to welcome the torch.

In a community chock-a-block with athletes - 18 of them from the area are set to compete for Canada in the coming weeks - organizers had to pick just one to light the cauldron in the village, someone who exemplifies the values of the Olympics.

Who to choose? In the end the honour fell to an athlete who isn't competing this winter.

Tyler Allison, 17, is an elite mountain bike competitor. Also known as "AirTime Tyler" for his daredevil skills on two wheels and on skis, he's managed to keep top grades despite a gruelling competition and training schedule - and he also finds time to coach younger riders.

Mr. Allison was just 11 years old when residents here gathered in the village square to find out if they would host the 2010 Games. "The energy was crazy," he recalled. "There were thousands of people, you couldn't walk."

Sitting in his parents' climbing and fitness centre in the heart of the village, he is as anxious as any resident to see the town pull it off.

"It's a weird feeling, now we are seeing everything come together, it's big and blown up."

He grew up in a town designed to manufacture athletes: skiing and snowboarding in the winter; hiking, mountain climbing and biking in the summer. "It's a safe place to be," said his mother, Corinne Allison. "As a parent you have fewer things to worry about."

Not that any of his favourite sports are risk-free. Still, his worst injury to date didn't happen on the slopes or on the track. A scuffle with his younger brother left him with severed tendons. He displays a large red scar up his arm where the scissor blade stuck. An accident, he stressed, but he added:

"We don't fight any more." He hasn't got all the feeling back in his right arm but he's training for the world championships next summer at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que.

Another homegrown athlete, Julia Murray, also carried the torch, although she had to abandon plans to ski with the flame. She wasn't taking any chances as she recovers from a recent training injury - she's still hoping to compete in the new Olympic sport, ski cross.

Ms. Murray's father, two-time Olympian Dave Murray, died when she was a tot but his name graces a downhill ski run here. Her mother, Stephanie Sloan, is a three-time world champion freestyle skier.

It's a rich inheritance, genetically, but Ms. Murray also credits where she lives for her success.

And it's an exciting place to be right now: "The parking is not that great, but there is a buzz around town," she says.