Final Alpine Worlds Push for Beaver Creek/Vail

ANTALYA, Turkey (May 28) – The International Ski Federation will decide Thursday, June 3 on the location of its 2015 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships. Representatives from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and candidate site Beaver Creek/Vail and Vail Resorts, are heading into the biennial FIS Congress in Turkey confident in their strong bid to engage the world in Colorado.

For two weeks in February, the Vail Valley will look to unite nations and bring thousands of new, youthful participants to the sport through the excitement of alpine skiing at its highest level.

Representatives from the bid committee include Vail Resorts, the Vail Valley Foundation and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, who for nearly a decade have been passionately working to bring alpine’s biggest non-Olympic stage back to America for the first time since Vail hosted the event in 1999.

“Beaver Creek/Vail would be an incredible host for the 2015 Worlds,” said bid ambassador and Vail resident Lindsey Vonn, Olympic gold medalist and double World Champion. “I was such a young girl in 1999, but I remember the energy and excitement and know that kids from all over the world would be fired up to see their Olympic heroes compete in America.”

Also bidding are 1956 Olympic host Cortina d’ Ampezzo, Italy and St. Moritz, Switzerland, which hosted the 2003 World Championships. The final decision will be announced in Antalya at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, June 3 (12:00 p.m. EDT).

“Our partnership with Vail Resorts and the Vail Valley Foundation goes back to the early days of World Cup ski racing in the United States,” explained U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt. “The Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 World Championships bid represents more than just a two-week athletic competition.  It is a unique opportunity within our sport to engage the world, providing an opportunity for nations to unite in bringing thousands of new, youthful participants to the sport through the excitement of the Championships.  Beaver Creek and Vail are among the elite ski racing sites in the world and we believe that it is an opportune time to return the World Alpine Ski Championships to the United States.”

As a part of the inaugural World Cup season in 1967, the Vail Valley is an integral part of the legacy of alpine skiing and has since become a mainstay on the World Cup tour since 1983. The men’s Birds of Prey race week in Beaver Creek has risen to elite status among athletes and fans since becoming an annual World Cup event in 1997.

Beaver Creek/Vail also bid for both the 2009 and 2013 World Championships with the 2009 bid going to Val d’Isere, France and the 2013 event awarded to Schladming, Austria. The 2011 Championships will take place in nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

The June 3 vote is taken by the 16 members of the FIS Council, with an absolute majority required to win the Championships.

By Tom Kelly