VANCOUVER, B.C. - The Paralympic Games may have fewer athletes, a leaner lineup of competitions and a smaller budget but they will have one thing the Olympics were sorely lacking: Winter.
Temperatures have dropped in Vancouver, which was unseasonably balmy during the Olympics last month, even for the West Coast city.
Residents in some areas of the city awoke Thursday morning to see a thin blanket of snow covering the ground.
It quickly melted but Cypress Mountain, the ski and snowboard venue on Vancouver's North Shore which so troubled organizers in February, was expecting up to 30 cm of snow.
And with temperatures finally dropping near zero, the white stuff was expected to stick around for a while.
On neighbouring Grouse Mountain, more than 40 cm of snow had fallen over the previous three days, prompting managers to declare "winter has returned with a vengeance."
"The recent cold weather and this major snowfall has provided some of the best conditions since December," general manager Michael Cameron said in a statement.
Winter also ran its icy fingers over Whistler, where the Paralympic nordic and alpine events are being held.
A wet, heavy snow fell, blanketing the ground and covering volunteers.
The falling snow delayed alpine ski training, although the cross-country training went ahead as scheduled.
Weather played havoc with the alpine skiing schedule during the Games. Warm temperatures, fog and rain forced races to be delayed and postponed.