The final is already sold out, as are all the matches featuring the hosts and favourites Canada.

As excitement begins to mount once again here, organisers of Vancouver 2010 are also expecting the Opening Ceremony at BC Place to be full to capacity.

The men and women's alpine events at Whistler is also proving popular and are sold out.

Caley Denton, the vice-president of ticketing at Vancouver 2010, said: "We've had a huge uplift of interest since the Olympics ended.

"Basically, people looked around after the Olympics ended and started wondering what to do next.

"They found they want to do it again."

Paralympic ticket prices range from $15 (£9.75) to $175 (£114), for top seats at the Opening Ceremonies.

No competition charges more than $50 (£32.50) for a single ticket.

Denton said Vancouver 2010 expects to sell most - though not all - of the 260,000 tickets available for the Paralympics, including a large number that have already gone to schoolchildren at discount prices.

He said: "What we found [from previous Paralympics] is that once people get into an event, the buzz tends to grow and they want to come back.

"They enjoy the spirit of it all, and those who go find themselves absolutely blown away by the athletes they see.

"So we expect to keep selling tickets as the Games go on."