BEAVER CREEK — The first downhill of the World Cup season took place last week at Lake Louise, Alberta, but that was little more than a warm-up run compared with the intensity of what the racers face here.
The Birds of Prey is a highly respected downhill — with exciting jumps, steep technical turns and speeds exceeding 80 mph on a course 1.7 miles long.
“This downhill is really fun, especially after Lake Louise, which is so soft and kind of lame,” American Ted Ligety said Wednesday after the first training run for Friday’s race. “This hill is in awesome condition.”
Lake Louise is considered easy, a “glider’s course,” and the snow wasn’t in good condition.
“It would have been nice if Lake Louise wasn’t a joke,” Ligety said. “It’s good to be here, where they actually prepped it right.”
Teammate Andrew Weibrecht was delighted to see the condition of the Birds of Prey, which was built in 1997 for the 1999 world championships and has been an annual World Cup stop ever since. It will host another world championships in 2015, with the addition of a women’s downhill nearby.
“Lake Louise was awful,” Weibrecht said. “It’s nice to be on a real hill with real snow. I think the snow is the most consistent, top to bottom, that I’ve ever seen it.”
A good downhill needs high speeds, scary steeps, varied terrain and good jumps. Birds of Prey has it all, making it a favorite stop for the tour’s downhillers.
“It’s just awesome to be back on a hill that really kind of challenges you and makes you bring everything you’ve got,” Weibrecht said. “Lake Louise, you can get down safely without exerting a lot of effort. This is full-on downhill, where you have to be ‘in it’ and going the whole time. It’s nice to have to bring that type of intensity.”
A little over 30 seconds into the course, racers make a blind high-speed turn onto a steep pitch aptly called The Brink.
“You slip over that thing in the morning, first-time inspecting, it’s a shock to the system,” Erik Fisher said. “It’s the first time of the year where you’re standing in the start gate and you’re actually nervous. Lake Louise, you don’t really get that.”
Switzerland’s Didier Cuche has been on the downhill podium here three times. He won a super-G here in 2002 and was third in super-G last year.
“If you make the perfect run here,” Cuche said, “even if you are not on the top but you had the perfect run like you wanted to, that’s an indescribable feeling.”
Footnote.
Three races scheduled for Europe have been moved here next week because of insufficient snow in the Alps, giving Vail’s Lindsey Vonn a chance to race World Cup in her home valley for the first time.
Beaver Creek will host a men’s giant slalom Tuesday, a women’s super-G Wednesday and a men’s slalom Dec. 8. Those races follow already scheduled men’s races this weekend: Downhill Friday, super-G Saturday and giant slalom Sunday.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
