The cancellation is expected to cost organisers about �239,363

Twenty thousand fans been told they will not be able to attend Olympic events at Cypress Mountain because lack of snow has made many areas unsafe.

Standing room tickets were cancelled for snowboard halfpipe, ski cross and snowboard parallel giant slalom.

"It's just too unstable out there and too unsafe to have people walking around," said ticket boss Caley Denton.

"The grandstand is not affected at all, this only affects standing room. Ticket holders will get an automatic refund."

Two days ago, organisers cancelled general admission for snowboarding events at the venue in West Vancouver after heavy rain.

Crews have been battling since mid-January to replace snow repeatedly melted away by some of the warmest weather on record.

But with Games competition under way they can no longer bring in snow from other mountains.

"Our senior management and venue team have spent significant time on site to try to find a way to accommodate spectators in the standing room areas for the events," Denton said.

"We've exhausted all avenues but it just wasn't possible to make the area safe for spectators."

The news is just the latest in a series of weather-related woes suffered by the organisers.

Lack of snow saw the flagship men's downhill postponed from Saturday in Whistler and both the men's and women's super-combined events postponed indefinitely.

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