Sea to Sky residents didn't waste any time taking Olympic organizers up on the offer for more tickets to local events.
Organizers would not say how many tickets were sold on the Internet last weekend but did say the volume was "high and exceeded our expectations."
"We've seen strong demand for tickets from the Sea to Sky community in the past, so we're really pleased with the enthusiastic response to the weekend ticket offering for Whistler-based residents," said Caley Denton, vice-president of ticketing and consumer marketing for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Games (VANOC). "We continue to work with all our venues to make as many tickets as possible available to the public and we hope to have more tickets available for locals when we open our Whistler Ticket Centre in November."
Many Sea to Sky residents who did not get tickets in the earlier lottery system had been upset that they wouldn't be able to see any of the events happening in their own backyard.
"We believe this opportunity for locals to buy tickets to the events being hosted in Whistler has boosted the strong community spirit in the Sea to Sky corridor," said Denton.
Residents who created an account to get their tickets will receive two Whistler Victory Ceremony tickets, while quantities last, when they pick up their event tickets in late November.
