Birds of Prey (ski course) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Birds of Prey Downhill Course
Birds of Prey course in December 2011
Birds of Prey Downhill Course Location in the United States
Location	Eagle County, Colorado
Nearest city	Avon, Colorado
Coordinates	39°34′59″N 106°31′23″W / 39.583°N 106.523°W / 39.583; -106.523
Vertical	2,470 ft (753 m)
Top elevation	11,427 ft (3,483 m)
Base elevation	8,957 ft (2,730 m)
Snowmaking	yes

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.

World class

The Birds of Prey course was developed for the 1999 World Championships, designed by Swiss 1972 Olympic champion Bernhard Russi. 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, 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, 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).

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.

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.

New course

Adjacent to Birds of Prey on Beaver Creek Mountain, a new women's downhill course was built for the 2015 World Championships. 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. 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 Küng	1:43.18	Travis Ganong	1:43.42	Beat Feuz	1:43.49	[1]
6 Feb 1999	Hermann Maier	1:40.60	Lasse Kjus	1:40.91	Kjetil André Aamodt	1:41.17	[2]

World Cup – Men's Downhill

Season	Date	First	Time	Second	Third	Notes
2020	7 Dec 2019	Beat Feuz (2)	1:12.98	Johan Clarey, Vincent Kriechmayr (tie 2nd)		[3]
2019	30 Nov 2018	Beat Feuz	1:13.59	Mauro Caviezel	Aksel Lund Svindal	[4]
2018	2 Dec 2017	Aksel Lund Svindal (4)	1:40.46	Beat Feuz	Thomas Dreßen	[5]
2017	2 Dec 2016	canceled, warm temperatures in November; rescheduled to Val-d'Isère
2016	4 Dec 2015	Aksel Lund Svindal (3)	1:42.34	Kjetil Jansrud	Guillermo Fayed	[6]
2015	5 Dec 2014	Kjetil Jansrud	1:40.17	Beat Feuz	Steven Nyman	[7]
2014	6 Dec 2013	Aksel Lund Svindal (2)	1:44.50	Hannes Reichelt	Peter Fill	[8]
2013	30 Nov 2012	Christof Innerhofer	1:41.69	Aksel Lund Svindal	Kjetil Jansrud	[9]
2012	2 Dec 2011	Bode Miller (3)	1:43.82	Beat Feuz	Klaus Kröll	[10]
2011	3 Dec 2010	canceled, strong winds; rescheduled to 11 March in Kvitfjell
2010	5 Dec 2009	Carlo Janka	1:43.49	Didier Cuche	Aksel Lund Svindal	[11]
2009	5 Dec 2008	Aksel Lund Svindal	1:43.85	Marco Buechel	Erik Guay	[12]
2008	30 Nov 2007	Michael Walchhofer	1:13.74	Steven Nyman	Didier Cuche	[13]
2007	1 Dec 2006	Bode Miller (2)	1:46.15	Didier Cuche	Steven Nyman	[14]
2006	2 Dec 2005	Daron Rahlves (2)	1:13.37	Bode Miller	Hans Grugger	[15]
2005	3 Dec 2004	Bode Miller	1:39.76	Daron Rahlves	Michael Walchhofer	[16]
2004	5 Dec 2003	Daron Rahlves	1:39.59	Stephan Eberharter, Bjarne Solbakken (tie 2nd)		[17]
2003	7 Dec 2002	Stephan Eberharter	1:40.18	Michael Walchhofer	Daron Rahlves	[18]
2002	2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City
2001	2 Dec 2000	Hermann Maier (3)	1:40.66	Lasse Kjus	Stephan Eberharter	[19]
2000	27 Nov 1999	Hermann Maier (2)	1:43.77	Stephan Eberharter	Kristian Ghedina	[20]
1999	1999 World Championships in February
1998	5 Dec 1997	Andreas Schifferer	1:41.17	Hermann Maier	Stephan Eberharter	[21]
	4 Dec 1997	Kristian Ghedina	1:41.16	Jean-Luc Crétier	Lasse Kjus	[22]

• Multiple winners
  • 4 wins: Aksel Lund Svindal
  • 3 wins: Hermann Maier (includes 1999 world title), Bode Miller
  • 2 wins: Daron Rahlves, Beat Feuz

Video

Images for kids

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  Bernhard Russi (SUI); the course constructor

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  Ted Ligety (USA) won a record 6 giant slaloms

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  Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR) won a record 4 downhills

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  Hannes Reichelt (AUT) won a record 4 super-G events