Cypress Mountain, seen here in January, has suffered from a lack of snow this winter. (CBC)

Olympic officials announced Saturday that in order to save snow, they would scale back training time for athletes at one of the mountain venues for the 2010 Winter Games.

Vancouver Olympic organizers say they need to keep athletes away to preserve the courses on Cypress Mountain.

Cutting back training on the halfpipe to three from five days still gives snowboarders plenty of time on the venue, said Sarah Lewis of the International Ski Federation.

"The situation, the change, it's the same for everybody," she said at a news conference in Vancouver Saturday.

"We've seen that rather a lot of the athletes are choosing to come in a little bit later, to train outside the hecticness of the Olympic atmosphere."

Freestyle skiers and snowboarders are also being offered trips up to the host mountain resort of Whistler, B.C. just to keep in shape.

About 15 athletes and officials had taken organizers up on that offer as of Saturday.

Cypress, which is just north of Vancouver, has suffered from the warmest January on record, forcing organizers into an extensive contingency plan that has involved bringing in snow from across the province.

Their new hunting ground is about two hours east of Vancouver off the Coquihalla highway, where trucks are now bringing 3,000 cubic metres of snow from Yak Peak.

Organizers say while the courses themselves are coming together, they continue to bring in snow to help finish off other areas on the field of play like the path athletes will take to get on and off the mountain.

"We're 100 per cent confident that the events will take place as we scheduled them," said Tim Gayda, vice-president of sport for the organizing committee. "We have enough snow up there to get the job done."