Birds of Prey (ski course)
Encyclopedia
Birds of Prey is a World Cup
downhill ski
course located at Beaver Creek
, Colorado
, USA. A regular stop on the men's tour, the World Cup races in Beaver Creek are usually held in early December. The course hosted the World Championships in February 1999
, and is scheduled again for 2015
. With lower starting gates, it is also used for Super-G
and Giant Slalom
races.
For the World Cup downhill race in December 2009
, the starting gate was at an elevation
of 11,427 feet (3483 m) above sea level with the finish area at 8943 feet (2726 m), a vertical drop of 2484 feet (757 m). The course was 1.747 miles (2.812 km) in length, an average gradient of 27 percent (15 degrees), with a maximum gradient of 45 percent in the middle. The December 2010
downhill race was cancelled due to high winds.
The Birds of Prey course was built in 1997 for the 1999 World Championships
, designed by 1972 Olympic champion Bernhard Russi
. The early races were dominated by Austria
ns, led by the legendary Hermann Maier
. In 1999, he won gold at the World Championships in front of 20,000 spectators. In December 2004
, Americans Bode Miller
and Daron Rahlves
won the gold and silver in the World Cup downhill race, the first ever one-two finish for American men in a downhill, and the first in any event in over two decades, since the 1984 Olympic slalom.
Alpine skiing World Cup
The FIS Alpine Ski World Cup is the top international circuit of alpine skiing competitions, launched in 1966 by a group of ski racing friends and experts which included French journalist Serge Lang and the alpine ski team directors from France and the USA...
downhill ski
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
course located at Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek Resort
Beaver Creek Resort is a major United States ski resort near Avon, Colorado, run by Vail Resorts. The resort comprises three villages, the main Beaver Creek Village, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead to the west...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, USA. A regular stop on the men's tour, the World Cup races in Beaver Creek are usually held in early December. The course hosted the World Championships in February 1999
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1999
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1999 were held in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado, U.S.A., from February 2-14, 1999.Lasse Kjus of Norway placed in the top two in all five events, winning two gold medals and taking three silvers. Hermann Maier of Austria won gold medals in the two speed...
, and is scheduled again for 2015
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 are scheduled to take place in the United States, at Vail/Beaver Creek, Colorado.-Finalists:All three finalists for 2015 had attempted to host the 2013 championships, which were awarded in 2008 to Austria....
. With lower starting gates, it is also used for Super-G
Super Giant Slalom skiing
The Super Giant Slalom is an Alpine skiing discipline. It is usually referred to as Super G and is a "speed" event, along with the faster Downhill event; the Giant Slalom and Slalom events are known as the "technical" disciplines.-History:...
and Giant Slalom
Giant Slalom skiing
Giant slalom is an alpine skiing discipline. It involves skiing between sets of poles spaced at a greater distance to each other than in slalom but less than in super G....
races.
For the World Cup downhill race in December 2009
2010 Alpine Skiing World Cup
The 44th World Cup season began on October 24, 2009, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on March 14, 2010, at the World Cup finals in Garmisch, Germany....
, the starting gate was at an elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
of 11,427 feet (3483 m) above sea level with the finish area at 8943 feet (2726 m), a vertical drop of 2484 feet (757 m). The course was 1.747 miles (2.812 km) in length, an average gradient of 27 percent (15 degrees), with a maximum gradient of 45 percent in the middle. The December 2010
2011 Alpine Skiing World Cup
The 45th FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season began on 23 October 2010, in Sölden, Austria, and concluded on 20 March 2011, at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.Being an odd-numbered year, the biennial World Championships took place in February...
downhill race was cancelled due to high winds.
The Birds of Prey course was built in 1997 for the 1999 World Championships
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1999
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1999 were held in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colorado, U.S.A., from February 2-14, 1999.Lasse Kjus of Norway placed in the top two in all five events, winning two gold medals and taking three silvers. Hermann Maier of Austria won gold medals in the two speed...
, designed by 1972 Olympic champion Bernhard Russi
Bernhard Russi
Bernhard Russi is a former alpine ski racer. He was an Olympic, World Cup, and World champion in the downhill event....
. The early races were dominated by Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns, led by the legendary Hermann Maier
Hermann Maier
Hermann Maier is an Austrian former alpine ski racer. Maier ranks among the finest alpine ski racers in history, having won four overall World Cup titles , two Olympic gold medals , and three World Championship titles...
. In 1999, he won gold at the World Championships in front of 20,000 spectators. In December 2004
2005 Alpine Skiing World Cup
The 39th World Cup season began in October 2004 in Sölden, Austria, and concluded in March 2005 at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. The overall winners were Bode Miller of the U.S. and Anja Pärson of Sweden....
, Americans Bode Miller
Bode Miller
Samuel Bode Miller is an American alpine ski racer. He is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and is generally considered the greatest American alpine skier of all time...
and Daron Rahlves
Daron Rahlves
Daron Louis Rahlves is an American freestyle skier and a former alpine ski racer. Raised in northern California, he attended the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont and currently resides in Truckee, California...
won the gold and silver in the World Cup downhill race, the first ever one-two finish for American men in a downhill, and the first in any event in over two decades, since the 1984 Olympic slalom.
External links
- bcworldcup.com/birdsofprey - official site
- FIS-ski.com - podium finishers at Beaver Creek - accessed 2010-12-18