Friday marks day two of the World Cup Cross Country Skiing Championships in the new Olympic venue in the Callaghan Valley.

Last season there were suggestions the cross-country course was too easy. This season, athletes are fighting to catch their breath as they cross the finish line.

"At the very end it's such a long double pull -- it's deceptively long," says Canadian cross-country skier Sara Renner. "So I think the race will be won on the size our your biceps, so we'll have to work on that."

But that's what this weekend is all about: Figuring out what needs work before the world arrives in 2010 for the Olympic Games.

"We added a little bit more so it's a little longer than what we did last year for the nationals," says Tim Gayda, Vanoc's VP of sport. "So we'll see what feedback is -- see how they feel about this one and then we'll work on Olympic course."

In day one of cross country competition, no Canadians made the podium. But they've made that their goal.

"It's a little long for me," says cross country skier Sean Crooks. "I usually like shorter courses, but we've been working on making everything here our strength and we're doing well. I still need some more work as the stadium showed today."

While the results of the Canadian team do matter, what might matter more to organizers is just how smoothly things go, as they attempt to host two world cup events in one weekend.

In addition to the cross country skiing there is the Nordic combined - a two in one sport that sees athletes soaring from the nearby jumps, and soon afterward skiing the track.

"What we have here is really a compressed Olympic program," says Whistler Olympic Park's John Alberg tells CTV. "We have between three and four events everyday. You can go between ski jump and cross country."

Admission is free and they hope as many as 2000 spectators will come to watch.

It's a number they hope they can handle. There is limited space for public parking, along with shuttle service to and from Whistler. And without the Olympic bleachers in place, most must stand in the snow to watch and cheer.

So far, most don't seem to mind.

The cross-country World Cup and Nordic combined World Cup runs Jan. 15 to 18 in Whistler.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Sarah Galashan