Vancouver 2010 cancels 'general admission standing room' tickets to snowboard
halfpipe, ski cross and snowboard parallel giant slalom events at Cypress
Mountain

Tickets to be refunded

WEST VANCOUVER, Feb. 16 /CNW/ - General admission standing room tickets have been cancelled for Olympic men's and ladies' snowboard halfpipe on February 17 and 18; ski cross on February 21 and 23; and snowboard parallel giant slalom on February 26 and 27 at Cypress Mountain. Tickets will be refunded, said the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC).

Heavy warm rains on Saturday and Sunday have made the general admission standing room area at the Cypress snowboard stadium unsafe for spectators. The rains washed away almost a foot of snow in the area where the standing room area was to be located. General admission standing room tickets for men's and ladies' snowboard cross events were also previously cancelled for February 15 and 16.

With safety the top priority and with snowboard events taking place daily, there is insufficient snow to move and build the standing room area back up at the Cypress snowboard stadium. VANOC has protected sufficient contingency snow for field of play at Cypress Mountain.

"Our senior management and venue team have spent significant time on site to try and find a way to accommodate spectators in the standing room areas for the events. We've exhausted all avenues but it just wasn't possible to make the area safe for spectators," said Caley Denton, VANOC's vice president of ticketing and consumer marketing.

This cancellation and refund will affect approximately 20,000 spectators.

    
    The events affected at Cypress Mountain include:

    Wednesday, February 17, 2010 (Priced at $65)
    -   Men's snowboard halfpipe (SB003): 1:05 pm, 5:15 pm and 7:15 pm
        (Pacific Time) - Price category B only

    Thursday, February 18, 2010 (Priced at $65)
    -   Ladies' snowboard halfpipe (SB004): 12:30 pm, 4:00 pm, 6:00 pm
        (Pacific Time) - Price category B only

    Sunday, February 21, 2010 (Priced at $50)
    -   Men's freestyle skiing ski cross (FR004): 9:15 am and 12:15 pm
        (Pacific Time) - Price category B only

    Tuesday, February 23, 2010 (Priced at $50)
    -   Ladies' freestyle skiing ski cross (FR006): 10:00 am and 1:00 pm
        (Pacific Time) - Price category B only - Price category B only

    Friday, February 26, 2010 (Priced at $50)
    -   Ladies' snowboard parallel giant slalom (SB005): 10:30 am and 1:00 pm
        (Pacific Time) - Price category B only

    Saturday, February 27, 2010 (Priced at $50)
    -   Men's snowboard parallel giant slalom (SB006): 10:00 am and 12:15 pm
        - Price category B only

    Spectators who are not impacted by this cancellation and refund are:

    -   Spectators who have tickets for seating in the grandstand (priced at
        $150) for Olympic men's and ladies' snowboard halfpipe on February 17
        and 18; ski cross (priced at $125) on February 21 and 23; and
        snowboard parallel giant slalom (priced at $125) on February 26 and
        27 at Cypress Mountain.
    -   Spectators who have general admission standing room tickets for
        freestyle skiing aerials competitions later in the Games. This sport
        discipline is held in a separate stadium at Cypress Mountain.
    -   Those holding sport event tickets for all Whistler venues

    REFUND INFORMATION
    ------------------
    

Event Ticket information:

Refunds will be made following the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Games, including spectators who purchased their tickets on the fan-to-fan marketplace at www.vancouver2010.com. Account holders do not need to take any action to receive their refunds for event tickets. The transaction will be made directly with the customer.

Spectators with questions can visit www.vancouver2010.com, or call 1.800.TICKETS.

Olympic bus network ticket information:

Olympic bus network (OBN) spectators will receive refunds following the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Games.

The official and most up-to-date source for all Vancouver 2010 information, including schedules, results, tickets, and transportation is www.vancouver2010.com.

For further information: Media Contact: VANOC Media Relations, Tel: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]