Prince George, B.C. – Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

That was the sentiment in Canada Winter Games House when Prince George received a couple of big dumps of the snow the past week.

“Yeah absolutely. We were getting a little nervous in January, but the two snowfalls have been really, really good,” says CEO Stu Ballantyne.”And you know what? It’s the one thing we can’t fix and so I’m glad mother nature decided to come to the games.”

He says the snow has done a lot to ensure strong conditions for the alpine skiers, snowboarders, freestylers and the two Nordic events (biathlon & cross country) but also notes its brought at least one major wrinkle.

“Snow doesn’t necessarily help the ice oval people. We need (cooler) temperatures for them and of course we need to clear the snow off the ice.”

Ballantyne, who’s been organizing major events like the Games for the past two decades, says his team is now focusing on the final touches in the run-up to when the athletes arrive Thursday and the opening ceremonies take place on Friday.

“The first few years you’re working on capital projects, whether they’re electrical or building things or upgrading facilities, painting, those kinds of things. Now we’re into what we call overlay – the items that will come in and turn a venue from just being a competition venue into a Canada Games competition venue.”

He says that includes pageantry and overlay for each individual sport (there’s 19 of them).

“It could be targets, it could be special flooring, in the case of the squash courts we have to actually physically build two glass squash courts – and so each venue is going through that transition and then on top of that there’s the pageantry to make it look pretty and also to make sure our sponsors get their do.”

Ballantyne, who’s lived in Prince George almost four years now, says getting the games ready has been a massive effort.

“It’s been great, this is a big stretch for the city. It’s accommodations, transportation, everything that needs to be done to accommodate up to 15,000 visitors over the two weeks.”

He encourages area residents to soak up the experience because it doesn’t last long.

“It’s 18 days but the reality is you wake up and everybody starts competing and everything goes. The next thing you know you’re 14 or 15 days into the games. So take the time and enjoy it because it comes and goes really quick.”