Snowboarders lose vital training days for Vancouver 2010

HALFPIPE snowboarders have had two days of training cut from their Winter Olympic preparations in Vancouver.

HARD WORK: A snow moving machine shapes the snowboard cross course in Cypress
Mountain but a lack of the white stuff is causing organisers some headaches (Getty Images)

The unseasonably warm temperatures in Canada have meant more snow needs to be added to Cypress Mountain, set to play host to the freestyle and snowboarding events.

Instead of receiving five days on the snow before the men's halfpipe competition begins on February  17, athletes will now only have three days as helicopters dump more of the white stuff on top of the mountain.

The roads leading to the mountain are virtually snow-free and with conditions predicted to remain mild, organisers are getting increasingly desperate with the first medals due to be awarded in less than a week's time.

Vancouver's Organising Committee vice president for sport Tim Gayda believes the priority for the Games is having optimum conditions by the time competition day comes around.

"We definitely want athletes on the course but the main thing is to protect the field of play," said Gayda.

"We want to make sure the field of play is the best it can be for the games.

"We are not relocating any of these events - they are taking place at Cypress one hundred percent."