BEAVER CREEK — There isn’t much natural snow in the high mountains, which are speckled with white rather than being blanketed the way skiers would prefer to see them. Fortunately for the world’s best downhillers, who are here for the annual “Birds of Prey” World Cup races, natural snow isn’t a necessity.
Racers actually prefer man-made snow, and they are raving about the quality of the course for racing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They had their first official downhill training session Wednesday.
“It’s great, it’s perfect,” said the top U.S. downhiller, Californian Travis Ganong. “It’s really good snow, it’s as good as it gets.”
Recreational skiers and riders aren’t so fortunate. Only two trails are open for free skiing here. Vail has only one.
Covering a downhill race course with man-made snow is no mean feat. The course is 1.6 miles long with a vertical drop of almost 2,500 feet. Average speeds exceed 60 mph, reaching 75 mph in the fastest sections.
“This is always very consistent here,” said Utahn Steven Nyman. “With the high altitude, it always gets cold at night. It’s great.”
Since becoming a regular December stop for the World Cup downhillers in 1997, Beaver Creek has been known for consistently producing great racing conditions on one of the world’s most respected downhill tracks.
“The man-made snow in Colorado is always really dense and dry, and it’s always really fun to ski on,” Ganong said. “They don’t need natural snow here to have a good race. Luckily they have the (sub-freezing) temperatures to make enough snow.”
Despite often-challenging weather so early in the season, Beaver Creek has had a remarkable record for being able to stage races. Only in 2001 and 2016 was the resort unable to make sufficient snow for racing. The cancellation last year was tough to take because Beaver Creek is the only U.S. resort that hosts men’s World Cup races. Outside of Beaver Creek and Canada’s Lake Louise, the men race the rest of the season in Europe.
“It was a huge blow to not come here last year and miss the U.S. race,” said Ganong, who won a silver medal when the world championships were held here in 2015. “It’s awesome to be back.”
The men’s downhill schedule began last week at Lake Louise, a resort in Alberta where it rained for three days. Ganong called conditions there “the most garbage, worst snow ever.” Prior to Lake Louise, the Americans had successful training at Copper Mountain.
“It’s nice to feel how the skis react and get some good feelings on the hill again,” Ganong said. “It’s in perfect shape.”
The men will race super-G on Friday, downhill on Saturday, and giant slalom on Sunday.
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