Olympic torch blessed and bound for Whistler

One of four First Nations communities that have been given an official role in the Winter Games welcomed the Olympic torch to their traditional territory on Thursday, blessing theflame as it entered a region that has been waiting for this moment for nearly a decade.

Hundreds of residents of the Squamish First Nation packed a hall in Stawamus, just south of the town of Squamish, as the flame was carried in to the beat of aboriginal drumming.

"Thank you for blessing this sacred fire that has been shared throughout the world," Laverne Baker, a Squamish elder, told the crowd, during a traditional blessing ceremony.

Squamish is one of the so-called Four Host First Nations, a collection of bands that each received $20 million ingovernment land and cash in exchange for their support of the Games on their traditional territories.

'This is starting to be the icing on the cake for everything' Squamish resident Rob Stuart

After the blessing, the flame was passed onto another waiting torch as it has thousands of times since the cross-country relay began last fall and continued on its way along the Sea to Sky Highway.

The Olympic flame has passed through every province and territory, travelling as far north as Alert, Nunavut, before arriving Thursday in the region where the dreams to host the 2010 Winter Games first began.

Bound for Whistler

The torch passed through the town of Squamish on Thursday evening, and on Friday is bound for Whistler, when the flame will visit an Olympic host community and a sports venue for the first time since arriving in Canada from Greece.

Earlier Thursday, the flame made its way down the Sunshine Coast before boarding a ferry to Horseshoe Bay.

The torch was carried onto the ferry by a torchbearer who uses a wheelchair, and a cauldron was lit on the ship.

Soon after, the torch arrived in the small community of Furry Creek, where local resident Rob Stuart saw it pass by.

Stuart, 53, said the torch makes the Olympics seem all the more real, seven years after Vancouver and Whistler were awarded what, at the time, was dubbed the "Sea to Sky Games."

"The heart went a little pitter-patter there for a second," said Stuart when asked how he felt about seeing the torch.

"There's been all the stages, but now it's the first really visual thing that I think everybody can see."

The fact that the torch was travelling toward Whistler on the Sea to Sky Highway, which saw massive upgrades to prepare for the Games, wasn't lost on Stuart.

"The people along this corridor certainly put up with a lot of grief with that highway being built, so I guess this is starting to be the icing on the cake for everything," he said.

The torch will leave Whistler on Saturday morning, heading north to Pemberton before circling around to Merritt and then heading into the Lower Mainland.

Large community celebrations are expected to cheer on the torch as the relay nears its final destination, moving through downtown Vancouver into the opening ceremonies Feb. 12.