It is three days until the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies and we just landed in Vancouver.  We are early due to my wife, former Paralympian Muffy Davis, working as an Athlete Ambassador for the International Paralympic Committee.  We arrived in a city that is primed for welcoming individuals with disabilities, both the competitors and those here to watch the 2010 Games.

Note: The author is a disabled sports professional – and a new dad!

We were greeted with smiles and whisked through a special customs line for athletes and members of the Paralympic community.  The hospitality of the Canadian volunteers and organizing committees is already very apparent. It is going to be an incredible event.

As we left the airport we witnessed workers transforming the Olympic Rings into the IPC “Spirit in Motion” logo, a sign that the transition from the 2010 Olympics into the 2010 Paralympic Games is nearly complete.   The Canadian government has made sure guests, athletes and family members coming to the Games will enjoy their visit. 

The most difficult part of hosting Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is often the distance between the large host city and the outlying sports venue.  As a professional skier, I have enjoyed skiing in Whistler Blackcomb in the past but dreaded the drive to the mountain.  The re-engineered Sea to Sky highway is still as breathtaking as before, but now it is a surprisingly quick journey to some of the best downhill skiing and outdoor adventures in the world.

Upon arriving in Whistler, the transition to the Paralympic Games was even more apparent.  It’s a great time to bag those maple leaf mittens that were the hot item at the Olympics: the village stroll in Whistler is scattered with shops sporting signs for 20% to 50% off  Olympic apparel, while rolling out their Paralympic merchandise at full prices.  And restaurants like Dups Burritos have a Paralympic Countdown to opening ceremonies listed prominently in their storefront windows.

Tickets are still on sale at the box offices in Whistler and Vancouver so if you have never made it out to witness the Paralympic games, now is the time to make the drive, because you won’t have an opportunity like this again for at least a decade or two.