Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay

British Columbians will be among the first — and last — to catch a peek of the Olympic Flame when the historic torch relay for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games kicks off its 106-day Canadian journey in Victoria next year.

The relay, which will spend 27 days in total on the West Coast, will involve 3,500 torchbearers and visit 266 communities in BC. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is presented by Coca-Cola and RBC and proudly supported by the Government of Canada.

Information on how British Columbians can apply to be torchbearers can be found at iCoke.ca, sogoactive.com or rbc.com/carrythetorch.

Click on "Related Links" to the right of this article to view maps of the torch route in B.C. and nationally, and to find out if it will be stopping in your community.

Facts on the Olympic Flame:

– arrives from Greece in Victoria, October 30, 2009

– will be within a one-hour drive of 92 per cent of B.C.'s population

– will travel 9,750 kilometres by land, water and air

– torch will visit 1,770 metre-high Kootenay Pass; the highest point it will reach in Canada

– torch will stop at the sight of the Last Spike driven into the CP Railway

– will reach 50 Aboriginal communities in B.C.