He's only lived in Squamish for six months but Matt Hallat is no stranger to the area, and he's still considered Squamish's lone Paralympic Games athlete.
The 25-year-old skier grew up taking on Vancouver's Grouse Mountain and moved to Whistler three and a half years ago to focus on his Paraplympic goals.
Hallat said there's an advantage to having trained and competed on Sea to Sky mountains, but it's only a small edge.
"You know just being familiar with the area as well is comforting," he said.
"In your mind it's an advantage but it doesn't give you a head start in the race either, so you still have to compete, and it still comes down to 90 seconds of a race. You have to do the best in your situation, really."
Hallat had his leg amputated at the age of five when he was diagnosed with a form of cancer called Ewings Sarcoma. With the aid of two outriggers crutches with skies on the ends of them Hallat will compete in the standing classification in the downhill, super G, giant slalom, slalom and super combined skiing events during the March 12 to 21 Games.
The number of competition categories far surpasses anything seen in the Olympic Games, but it's par for the course at the Paralympics.
"There's a few Paralympians who compete in all five for sure. It's not totally unusual for people in our sport to do all five."
Although he says his favourite event is the slalom, Hallat knows he's strong in downhill too he placed seventh in the World Cup race held in Whistler last year.
He said he isn't nervous or worried about any race in particular, he's just trying to keep his eye on the prize.
"At this point, I'm just trying to stay calm. The energy of everything that just happened and everything that's coming. It's huge, right? So I'm trying to remain calm and focus on what I have to do to have success," he said.
"The toughest thing to do is just keep it simple and remember what gives you success and just stick to that because everything is just trying to pull you away from that."
Hallat said being able handle pressure is a key to his success.
"It's part of the game. It's not going to go away, you can only ignore it for so long and eventually it will creep up on you if you keep ignoring it so you have to accept it and prepare for it as best you can."
Since he's never been to the podium of the World Cup, Hallat said he thinks he'd surprised everyone if he reaches the podium at the upcoming Games, but regardless of medals, he said he plans to do his best.
"My goal is to go out everyday and if I can lay down my best performances then specifically in slalom I have an outside shot," he said.
"Everything has to go right for me to have a chance at the podium, but obviously that's what I'm striving to do. My goal is to put forth my best possible performance and at the end of the day that's good enough for me and where ever that puts me, it puts me."
After the Paralympic Games, Hallat plans to return to Simon Fraser University where he will continue his business administration studies and combine his university degree with a lifelong involvement in sports.
TORCH RELAY COMES TO TOWN
Less than a month after the Olympic Torch Relay wove its way through the streets of Squamish, another torch will be making its way into town the Paralympic Torch.
"We're bringing in the [Business Improvement Association] and other partners to make this an event that will help celebrate downtown Squamish as well as celebrate the Paralympic athletes that live in this town," said recreation, parks and tourism director Bob Kusch.
The town was chosen to be one of 13 celebration communities across the country to host the Paralympic Torch at a celebration in the Royal Bank Plaza on Sunday (March 7).
In a traditional ceremony starting at 11 a.m., the Squamish Nation will ignite the Paralympic Torch at Totem Hall and transport it by canoe to the downtown area at 1 p.m., transport it to the Royal Bank parking lot and ignite a cauldron.
Once the cauldron is lit, a continuous torch relay will loop around Winnipeg Street, Second Avenue, Victoria Street and Cleveland Avenue, with four transfer points giving visitors a chance to view the relay exchange and the festivities, according to Kusch.
The names of Squamish's 29 torchbearers were released this week. They include: Mae Palm, Bruce Lebans, Sarah Tipler, Cole Anderson, Gregory Batchelar, Eileen Jacobs, Dilbarjit Bhumber, Mel Camili, Irene Chan, Yuka Chokyo, Nathan Clement, Carol Fielding, Kate Foster, Daniel Gauthier, Bruce Gilmour, Candice Halls, Thomas Harry Jr., Susan Hughes, Authur Laramie, Tamsyn Morote, Nicholas Johnston, Asela Pilapitiya, Matt Salli, Tim Shoults, Beverley Toy and Brad Zdanivsky.
Crowds will be entertained by the likes of Sea to Sky musicians Dana-Marie Battaglia and George Leach, as well as a demonstration by mountain bike trials rider Ryan Leech. Attendees will also have to speak to local athletes and will hear from federal, provincial and municipal representatives.
Mayor Greg Gardner said during the district council meeting Tuesday (March 2) if anyone has the chance to attend Paralympic Games events, they should do so.
"I'm told that they are of all the events Olympics and Paralympics, that the Paralympic competitions are the most inspiring and exciting."
During the Paralympic Games which run from Friday (March 12) to Sunday March 21 Brennan Park Recreation centre will cease being the hub of activity it was during the Olympic Games. The former Spirit Centre will continue to showcase the Squamish Historical Society exhibit and Canadian-themed elementary school artwork, but the huge big screen TV and special programs will no longer be available.
"We go back to normal programming as of Monday [March 1]," said Brennan Park program co-ordinator Tamsyn Morote.
Both the Olympic and Paralympic Torch was designed by Bombardier but the Paralympic Torch is blue in colour rather than white and displays the official emblem of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.
The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) website says the torch designs "inspired by Canada's open land, vast potential and smooth, fluid lines left in the snow and ice from winter sports."
The Paralympic Torchbearer uniform is similar to the Olympic Torchbearer uniform except it's predominantly blue in colour rather than white and features the official Paralympic emblem along with the Latin word agitos which means "I move" on the back of the jacket.
