UPDATE: Cold front helps BC course prep

A week out from the first scheduled downhill training run on the wicked Birds of Prey downhill course, World Cup organizers at Beaver Creek remain confident next week’s slate of races will proceed despite warm weather and a lack of natural snow.

A WEEK OUT from the first scheduled downhill training run on the wicked Birds of Prey downhill course, World Cup organizers at Beaver Creek remain confident next week’s slate of races will proceed despite warm weather and a lack of natural snow. However, as of Wednesday morning Beaver Creek was blessed with 6 new inches of snow and the forecast for the remainder of the week looks promising.
    The cold front should drop low temperatures into the single digits, according to Vail Valley Foundation communications chief John Dakin. That would allow snowmaking crews to crank up the guns on a Birds of Prey track that still needs a lot of coverage.  
    “We’re probably 50 to 60 percent done with the course. We’re good from the downhill start to Pumphouse, and quite honestly that’s the toughest place to make snow on that course,” Dakin said on Tuesday before the storm. “We’ve got some work to do between Pumphouse and [the] Golden Eagle [jump], and we’ve got a lot of work to do between Golden Eagle and the finish.”
    Colder temperatures combined with the mid-mountain finish area, and the fact that much of the north-facing course is in shade most of the day should help preparations. Dakin estimated course workers would need three to four nights of solid snowmaking to have the course ready for racers.
    That being said, Dakin stressed that “every ripple in that hill will be apparent. You’ll get your money’s worth in that ride” this year.
    The FIS is scheduled to make a decision on the status of Beaver Creek’s four-event World Cup slate on Friday at noon local time, and Dakin said organizers feel confident that if the forecast for colder weather holds, racing will proceed as planned next week. The one and only time World Cup racing was scuttled at Beaver Creek due to warm weather and a dearth of snow was 2001.
    “It’ll be a scramble, and we’re going to need all the help we can get from the weather from tonight through the weekend and into next week,” Dakin said.