Vail drops ‘triple crown’ for 2009 bid, chases only alpine{mosimage}Vail’s ambitious plans to host three skiing and snowboarding world championships in 2009 have been dropped, and now members of the Vail Valley’s delegation will seek only to host the World Alpine Ski Championships.

The decision to withdraw bids to host the 2009 snowboarding and freestyle world championships was announced by delegation in Miami on Wednesday, June 2, only one day before the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) 16-member governing council was scheduled to vote.

The 25-member delegation team, consisting of key community, Vail Resorts and Vail Valley Foundation officials, arrived in Miami earlier in the week for the FIS congress.

Vail’s well-publicized triple bid concept was unprecedented and ambitious. Vail Valley Foundation President Ceil Folz said only a week ago that they were holding fast to the concept, even if it meant they would come home empty-handed.

But by Tuesday night, the group felt it was time to change direction. “It was just something that unfortunately wasn’t met with the same enthusiasm that we had for it,” said John Dakin, a bid consultant for the delegation. “We’ve come too far with the [FIS] and with all of our friends around the world to push the point.”

The last-minute decision has sent the group scrambling to modify its campaign, which involves conversations with federation delegates, informational booths and a final promotional demonstration for the judging panel.

Vail was competing against Gangwon Province, South Korea, for the snowboard championships, and with Inawashiro, Japan, for the freestyle championships. Those two countries now remain the only possible hosts in their respective categories.