FIS Chief Race Director Atle Skaardal. GEPA/Wolfgang Grebien

Atle Skaardal, FIS chief race director for the ladies, conducted his final inspection of the ladies courses for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 last week in Vail and Beaver Creek, Colo. and took some time out of his schedule to discuss the season’s main event.

Atle, the dry land preparations on the Vail-Beaver Creek 2015 World Championships courses have now been finalized – are there any changes or news?

There’s still a lot going on to prepare for the World Championships but there [is] no real news or changes done to the courses over the summer.

A lot of coordination work is now underway, especially related to the extensive plans by the host broadcaster to create a unique TV production. We are especially dealing with the challenge of moving their equipment around, given the limited time available between the races. This is one of the major topics we are working through as we move closer towards the event.

The good news is that the Vail-Beaver Creek 2015 Organizers are a long way along the road and are very well prepared already now. 

The ladies had a chance to test the Championships courses last season, and the new Raptor piste received very positive feedback. Are you expecting to see similar conditions next February?

For sure, that is the goal. We had great conditions during the test events. And we hope to see something similar during the World Championships. Obviously we also need some luck with the conditions and particularly with the weather. We can deal with major challenges but also need Mother Nature to be kind with us.

But, since the Organizers are so well prepared, I am confident we can handle even the most difficult of situations. So far all is looking very good!

Besides the new Raptor course, the ladies will also have a chance to race on the (in)famous Birds of Prey men’s course for the giant slalom. Why was that decision made?

The Birds of Prey is a famous giant slalom course on the men’s circuit and the men enjoy racing there. That’s why we’re very happy to have the opportunity to have the ladies’ giant slalom title race on the men’s course, including running over Golden Eagle.

Some reasons for this decision include our wish to ensure the best possible coordination between the men’s and ladies schedules, and the needs of TV production. This change allowed us to optimize the Championships program.

In addition, we found it is reasonable to use an existing course rather than creating a separate course for the ladies’ GS competition. This way we have both a long-term plan for using the Birds of Prey and Raptor in the future, and a very solid plan for this edition of the FIS World Ski Championships.

Release courtesy of the Organizing Committee of Vail-Beaver Creek 2015