Birds of Prey (ski course)

Birds of Prey is a World Cup downhill ski course in the western United States, located at Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado. A regular stop on the men's World Cup tour, the races in Beaver Creek are usually held in early December. The course hosted the Alpine World Championships in February 1999 and 2015. With lower starting gates, it is also used for Super-G and Giant Slalom races.[1]

Birds of Prey
Downhill Course
Birds of Prey course in December 2011
Birds of Prey
Downhill Course
Location in the United States
LocationEagle County, Colorado
Nearest major cityAvon, Colorado
Coordinates39.583°N 106.523°W / 39.583; -106.523
Vertical  2,470 ft (753 m)
Top elevation11,427 ft (3,483 m)  
Base elevation  8,957 ft (2,730 m)
Snowmakingyes
Websitewww.bcworldcup.com/birdsofprey/

World class

The Birds of Prey course was developed for the 1999 World Championships, designed by Swiss 1972 Olympic champion Bernhard Russi.[2] The first World Cup race was won by Kristian Ghedina of Italy in December 1997, but the course was then dominated by Austrians, led by the legendary Hermann Maier. He won three consecutive Birds of Prey downhills: the 1999 world title in front of 20,000 spectators, followed by World Cup victories in each of the next two seasons.

In December 2004, Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves took first and second place, respectively, in the World Cup downhill race,[3] the first ever one-two finish for American men in a downhill, and the first in any event in over two decades, since Phil & Steve Mahre in the 1984 Olympic slalom. The two Americans switched positions on the podium the following year, as Rahlves joined Maier as a multiple winner. Miller joined them the next year and gained a third title on the course in December 2011.

Course

For the World Cup downhill race in December 2012, the starting gate was at an elevation of 11,427 ft (3,483 m) above sea level with the finish line at 8,957 ft (2,730 m), a vertical drop of 2,470 ft (753 m). The course was 1.71 miles (2.752 km) in length,[4] an average gradient of 27 percent (15 degrees), with a maximum gradient of 45 percent in the middle. Rahlves' time of 1:39.59 in December 2003 is the fastest in competition for the full course, an average speed of 61.0 miles per hour (98.2 km/h) and an average vertical descent of 24.9 feet (7.6 m) per second. The course that year had a vertical drop of 2,484 feet (757 m) and a length of 1.687 miles (2.715 km).[5]

In November 2018, weather forced a lower start at 11,158 ft (3,401 m), reducing the course length to 1.286 miles (2.070 km) with a vertical drop of 2,201 ft (671 m). With the flat section of the top eliminated, the winning time of 1:13.59 by Beat Feuz yielded an average speed of 62.9 mph (101.2 km/h) and an average vertical descent of 29.9 feet (9.1 m) per second.

The Red Tail Camp finish area is about 800 vertical feet (240 m) above the resort's main village.[6]

Jumps

The jumps of the race course adhere to the birds of prey theme: Peregrine, Screech Owl, Goshawk, Golden Eagle, Harrier, and the concluding Red Tail.

Women

Super G

Due to a lack of snow in France in December 2011, the women's super G scheduled for Val-d'Isère was moved to the Birds of Prey course, which had hosted men's races the previous week. It was the first time that women had raced on the course. The race was won by American skier Lindsey Vonn of Vail, Colorado.[7]

New course

Adjacent to Birds of Prey on Beaver Creek Mountain, a new women's downhill course was built for the 2015 World Championships.[8] Named Raptor, it hosted three women's World Cup events in November 2013, a test run for the world championships less than fifteen months later.[9] Both speed events were won by Lara Gut of Switzerland.

Results

World Championships – Men's Downhill
Date Gold Silver Bronze Notes
7 Feb 2015    Patrick Küng1:43.18 Travis Ganong1:43.42    Beat Feuz1:43.49
6 Feb 1999 Hermann Maier1:40.60   Lasse Kjus1:40.91   Kjetil André Aamodt1:41.17

World Cup – Men's Downhill
Season Date First Time Second Third Notes
20207 Dec 2019   Beat Feuz (2)1:12.98 Johan Clarey, Vincent Kriechmayr (tie 2nd)
201930 Nov 2018   Beat Feuz1:13.59   Mauro Caviezel Aksel Lund Svindal
20182 Dec 2017 Aksel Lund Svindal (4)1:40.46   Beat Feuz Thomas Dreßen
20172 Dec 2016canceled, warm temperatures in November; rescheduled to Val-d'Isère
20164 Dec 2015 Aksel Lund Svindal (3)1:42.34 Kjetil Jansrud Guillermo Fayed
20155 Dec 2014 Kjetil Jansrud1:40.17   Beat Feuz Steven Nyman
20146 Dec 2013 Aksel Lund Svindal (2)1:44.50 Hannes Reichelt Peter Fill
201330 Nov 2012 Christof Innerhofer1:41.69 Aksel Lund Svindal Kjetil Jansrud
20122 Dec 2011 Bode Miller (3)1:43.82   Beat Feuz Klaus Kröll
20113 Dec 2010canceled, strong winds; rescheduled to 11 March in Kvitfjell [10]
20105 Dec 2009   Carlo Janka1:43.49   Didier Cuche Aksel Lund Svindal
20095 Dec 2008 Aksel Lund Svindal1:43.85 Marco Buechel Erik Guay
200830 Nov 2007 Michael Walchhofer1:13.74 Steven Nyman   Didier Cuche
20071 Dec 2006 Bode Miller (2)1:46.15   Didier Cuche Steven Nyman
20062 Dec 2005 Daron Rahlves (2)1:13.37 Bode Miller Hans Grugger
20053 Dec 2004 Bode Miller1:39.76 Daron Rahlves Michael Walchhofer
20045 Dec 2003 Daron Rahlves1:39.59 Stephan Eberharter, Bjarne Solbakken (tie 2nd)
20037 Dec 2002 Stephan Eberharter1:40.18 Michael Walchhofer Daron Rahlves
20022002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City
20012 Dec 2000 Hermann Maier (3)1:40.66 Lasse Kjus Stephan Eberharter
200027 Nov 1999 Hermann Maier (2)1:43.77 Stephan Eberharter Kristian Ghedina
19991999 World Championships in February
19985 Dec 1997 Andreas Schifferer1:41.17 Hermann Maier Stephan Eberharter
4 Dec 1997 Kristian Ghedina1:41.16 Jean-Luc Crétier Lasse Kjus

Video
  • You Tube.com - The Birds of Prey Downhill - From Jalbert Production's The Thin Line
  • You Tube.com - Hans Knauss - Audi Birds of Prey POV Downhill - December 2010

References
  1. "bcworldcup.com/birdsofprey/index.aspx". Archived from the original on 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  2. Lloyd, Barbara (February 4, 1999). "The Ski Report; Birds of Prey Course is not for shrinking violets". New York Times.
  3. FIS-ski.com - results 2004-12-03 - downhill - Beaver Creek
  4. "Results: Beaver Creek downhill" (PDF). FIS-ski.com. November 30, 2012.
  5. "Results: men's downhill" (PDF). FIS. December 5, 2003. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  6. "Trail map". Beaver Creek Resort. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  7. Meyer, John (December 7, 2011). "Lindsey Vonn skis to super-G victory on Birds of Prey". Denver Post.
  8. "Beav's new women's DH course named 'Raptor'". Ski Racing. September 6, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  9. Meyer, John (November 26, 2013). ""Raptor" downhill course at Beaver Creek gains World Cup ski reputation". Denver Post. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  10. "Second downhill in Kvitfjell". FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Fédération Internationale de Ski. 7 December 2010. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010. The cancelled Men's Downhill from Beaver Creek (USA) will be replaced on Friday, 11. March 2011 in Kvitfjell (NOR). The organizers in Kvitfjell take over once more a World Cup race that was canceled somewhere else.
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