BEAVER CREEK — High on the Birds of Prey men’s downhill course is a section aptly named “The Brink,” where racers moving at highway speeds emerge from a relatively flat section at the top of the mountain and plummet down a steep pitch that includes the vicious “Talon” turn.
“From heaven to hell,” course designer Bernhard Russi once said of “The Brink.”
Recreational skiers can ski it now, only 26 days before Beaver Creek hosts its third world championships. But they had better be good bump skiers.
Right now, it’s a mogul field. The section above it is a terrain park.
“Birds of Prey” was the scene of World Cup races a month ago, and mountain crews will begin converting it back into a race course next week. But for now, it’s open to the public.
“They can hit some rails and things up there, and then hit ‘The Brink,’ ” said Greg Johnson, Beaver Creek’s senior director of mountain operations. “It’s really good skiing. We’re going to start grooming it in the next couple of days, just to kind of set the stage for work later in the month, but we’re going to let the guests keep skiing up there for probably another (nine) days or so.”
Excitement is building for the biennial world championships, which Vail-Beaver Creek previously hosted in 1989 and 1999. The prestigious event has been held in North America only one other time, at Aspen in 1950. The budget to put on the event is $59 million, funded largely by television rights fees and sponsors, but admission will be free for spectators.
Massive temporary buildings have been erected at the finish area, one to serve as the International Broadcasting Center, the other to pamper VIPs. Those cost $7.5 million.
Building the new “Raptor” women’s downhill, including snowmaking, cost $6 million. Another $11 million will be spent on television production.
“We committed very early on to put a lot of money into television production to make sure the signal we send out to the world is showing ski racing at its very best,” said Ceil Folz, president of the nonprofit Vail Valley Foundation, which is organizing the event. “We almost have spared no expense in how many cameras, what kind of cameras, who our production team is. Our friends over in Europe, they don’t have to pay for television production. That’s something that’s unique for being in North America.”
“Raptor” runs parallel to “Birds of Prey” with a common finish. Last week, the U.S. women downhillers trained there. Crews will put in 28 miles of fencing along the courses.
There will be additional snowmaking to make the terrain even more challenging than it is for the annual men’s World Cup races. Shortly before athletes arrive, the courses will be watered to make them hard and icy.
The first event will be the women’s super-G on Feb. 3, although the women will have a downhill training session on “Raptor” the day before. The first men’s downhill training session is set for Feb. 3 after the women’s race.
Folz was a volunteer for the 1989 world championships. She was in charge of operations in 1999.
“Somebody said, ‘Are you so excited for it to be over?’ I said, ‘I would do another world championships the day we finish this one,’ ” Folz said. “It’s been so much fun, so exciting to see not just our community so ramped up — way more than for ’89 or ’99 — but also the friends that we’ve made here and overseas. We’ve had a great time doing it.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616, jmeyer@denverpost.com or
World alpine championships
Feb. 2 women’s downhill training, opening ceremonies
Feb. 3 omen’s super-G, men’s downhill training
Feb. 4 men’s super-G, women’s downhill training
Feb. 5 men’s and women’s downhill training
Feb. 6 women’s downhill, men’s downhill training
Feb. 7 men’s downhill, women’s downhill training
Feb. 8 men’s combined, women’s downhill training
Feb. 9 women’s combined
Feb. 10 team event
Feb. 12 women’s giant slalom
Feb. 13 men’s giant slalom
Feb. 14 women’s slalom
Feb. 15 men’s slalom
