The last of those facts is ringing rather too true at the moment.

Conditions at the relatively low elevation (910m) have not been helped by a recent spate of unseasonably warm weather, and the arrival of the Pineapple Express - a weather system originating in the Hawaiian Islands which has brought heavy rainfall here in January.

The resort has had to close its facilities to the public three weeks early to preserve what little snow there is.

However, the organisers of the Games (Vanoc) are if anything extremely resourceful.

Snow has been stockpiled above the competition slopes in a sort of 'giant snowball' and a fleet of vehicles are waiting to be mobilised to bring truckloads of snow from higher ground if required.

Although the fears of cancelled events are premature, there will still be a few headaches to contend with: for example the spectator stands and camera platforms have all been built to allow for two metres of snow underneath them - which just isn't there at the moment!

Away from the troubles at Cypress, everything else does seem to be progressing well as planned. It's still relatively early days at the IBC (International Broadcast Centre) where most of the BBC team will be based, but broadcasters will be arriving in numbers soon.

The BBC office has been fitted out ready for occupation, and the set design from our interior broadcast position in the IBC has been installed.

The BBC has a relatively small team of 75 in Canada - but that's nothing compared to the national Canadian broadcaster CTV.

Serving three English and two French-speaking networks, they have a total of five separate studios and programme control rooms in the IBC and have a staff contingent of nearly 1500.

The Winter Olympics are hugely significant in Canada and CTV have been rehearsing since last year.

They have just won the rights from public service broadcaster CBC and are under a lot of pressure to deliver - we can't even show any pictures of their studios here as they're being kept under wraps for the big launch on 12 February.

Despite the issue with Cypress, these Winter Olympic Games should be spectacular. It's been snowing heavily in Whistler, where the alpine and nordic skiing take place, and the scenery in both Vancouver and Whistler is fantastic.

In order to capture these memorable images, and to provide a sense of the geography and location of the venues, BBC has teamed up with the US broadcaster NBC to shoot some dramatic aerial footage.

The helicopter, complete with gyro-stabilised camera has been flying over the last couple of days, and we hope that the pictures will greatly enhance the BBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics which begin on 12 February.

They take place from 12 to 28 February and, with less than 14 months to go, it's been a busy few days visiting venues, scouting for live locations, securing accommodation and meeting a lot of the people we'll be working with when the Games come around.

With the different sports split between Vancouver, which is the largest city ever to host the Winter Olympics, and the ski resort of Whistler, we want to make sure that our live presentation represents both locations.

In an ideal scenario we would capture that as our studio backdrop, but that's easier said than done.

Our main operation will be in the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) which is housed in the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre. It's a spectacular new building complete with a living roof of grass which affords views across water to the mountains.

It would suit us to have a studio in the IBC, being much closer to our operations centre, and on a sunny day the view would be great. However it becomes much more limited at night and during poor weather.

To get around this, we've been looking at alternative locations which provide some foreground and a view of the city as well. However, the further away from the IBC we go, the more complicated it becomes - so there isn't an ideal solution, yet.

The resort of Whistler will play an important part in the Games, playing host to Alpine, Nordic and sliding (bob, luge and skeleton) events. Two hours drive from downtown Vancouver along the scenic Sea-to-Sky Highway, it's a summer and winter playground for adventure seekers and is Canada's most popular year-round destination.

Once again, we want to present from a location there which reflects the beauty of the mountains but also captures the bustling village atmosphere. We have seen plenty of options this week - but finding one location which serves all purposes has not been easy, and there's still some way to go before we finalise our location here.

In Whistler we were lucky enough to be some of the first people to experience the new Peak 2 Peak gondola which stretches between Whistler Mountain and its neighbour Blackcomb.

It's an amazing feat of construction, and has broken a host of world records: longest lift (4.4 km), longest unsupported span (3km) and highest point above the ground (436 metres).

Whilst not directly linked with Olympic venues, this new lift will open up new possibilities in the resort, providing spectators with stunning views. Stuart Rempel, Senior VP of Marketing and Sales, Whistler Blackcomb said: "It wasn't built with world records in mind, that's just a happy coincidence - it's really all about the guest experience".

The lift system, which took 18 months to build, will enable skiers and boarders to cross directly from one ski area to the other in 11 minutes - a journey which would previously have taken closer to an hour. The trip itself is incredibly smooth despite the speed of 7.5 metres per second - and if you want to heighten the sensation of floating in the air, two of the gondolas even have glass bottoms.

Without doubt the Peak 2 Peak will provide some of the most spectacular views at the Winter Olympics - and you can be sure that BBC Sport will be showing them to you in 2010.

The BBC's area in the IBC (International Broadcast Centre) is buzzing with activity, the studio in the Ling Long Pagoda is taking shape, and the sun has even been shining most days! However, issues of security and access still dominate the build-up.

As would be expected, the local authorities are very sensitive about the area surrounding the Olympic Green. However, the negative effect of this is that simple tasks, like catching a taxi, become incredibly difficult due to traffic restrictions. Some of our staff, who have been relying on taxis as the only means of transport to their hotel, were forced to take an hour-long walk back yesterday.

Progress with our studio in the gleaming Ling Long Pagoda has been mixed. Most of the equipment was delivered by container two days ago after a three-month journey by sea.

When we arrived, though, we found that the owners of the building had installed some extra lighting bars - which meant that our carefully designed lighting truss now didn't fit inside the studio.

Fortunately our brilliant team of engineers spent all of yesterday sawing, hammering and rebuilding - and came up with an ingenious solution which should ensure our viewers get an even better view of the Bird's Nest and Olympic Green.

And at least we don't have to clean our own windows...

To see where the BBC Studio is situated in relation to Beijing and the venues, we have created some 3D virtual animations - which will look stunning in HD.

One issue which may seem trivial, but has occupied a lot of time over the past two-and-a-half years, is that of water delivery to our offices in the IBC.

First we're told that we won't have water, then we're told that we can't bring in large barrels (they're a security risk), then we're told we have to find our own supplier (and now barrels are no longer a security risk) - it's been one of the many frustrations of these Games.

We felt we'd achieved a victory of sorts when we finally managed to get a local company to deliver yesterday. Although when it arrived, I must admit it wasn't the biggest delivery vehicle in the world...

Next week, post-Lockdown, a lot more of the team start to arrive. Perhaps then we can then get on with the real job in hand.

To be fair, there have been a number of sub-contracted technicians here for a month already fitting out the BBC's area in the International Broadcast Centre (IBC).

We have had to travel to Beijing 11 days earlier than intended, thanks to an unscheduled World Broadcaster briefing which has been called because of serious issues with the local organisation.

However, having spent nearly a week in Beijing, we're finding that the biggest frustrations concern security and access. Despite having the "correct" passes, we and our colleagues are continually being prevented from accessing certain areas of the Olympic Green. This can be particularly infuriating - especially when there is no apparent reason and when some people with a certain pass are let through and others with the same pass aren't!

Communication is obviously difficult at the best of times, with very few Chinese speaking English (at an Olympic Games, English is the language of broadcasting, and normally would be widely spoken and understood). But it is also apparent that there are communication issues within the local organisation. Until this improves, we will continue to be the guinea pigs who test out the system before the rest of the team start arriving in force.

On to the good news. Our studio in the amazing 130m-high Ling Long Pagoda is nearly ready for habitation.

The view from the studio should be stunning - especially if the air is clear. Unfortunately the first few days were all very gloomy.

But yesterday we were at least treated to a rare sunny day. What a difference it would make if this was the norm during the Olympics.

We've also just completed some 3D animations of the Olympic Green and other Beijing venues. These will give dramatic views of the geography and layout of the Olympics, and will look spectacular in HD.

But for now, it's back to the job of passes and access - we have a member of our team who has just arrived and, if he can't be issued with the right pass, he won't even be allowed into his hotel. Happy days...

The big events are what I love most of all about BBC Sport. There's a huge amount of planning involved, but when the events come around it's the BBC at its best - top quality production, the whole of the BBC pulling together, a fantastic team atmosphere and the added buzz of being at the biggest sporting occasions.

I've been involved in planning the Winter Olympics in Vancouver for the last 2 1/2 years, and it's been a privilege to visit Canada on various planning visits. The scenery around Vancouver and Whistler is spectacular and will lend itself to some memorable images during the Games - and the people here are proud to be hosting the Olympics and are getting very excited by the prospect.

As someone who loves golf, skiing and mountain biking it's a part of the world I'll definitely be returning to in the future.