Beaver Creek, Co. Site of the Men's World Cup in the United States, http://www.bcworldcup.com/.DAY 1---Tuesday, November 30, 2010. 20 degrees, no wind and the sun is shining. Absolutely beautiful. 18 countries represented as well as 79 racers. Carried skies, camera gear and computer up the hill, from parking lot to the press center. Wore myself out and then barfed. Well, not the best way to start a day. Amazing after a barf how good you feel. Onward with the day.
Ted Ligety and Bode Miller are favorites for the USA. Training has been moved
up from Wednesday to Tuesday, November 30, due to coming weather conditions. Training start at 12:30. Average speed coming down the hill is 94 mph.After first day of training, Cuche from Switzerland is in the lead, 1:47:80. Bode Miller (USA) is at 1:48:91, Ted Ligety (USA) 1:52:54, Erik Guay (CAN) 1:48:72.
Racers range from born in 1989 with the oldest racer born in 1969.
Beaver Creek will host the 2015 Men and Women's World Alpine Ski Championship.
DAY 2----Wednesday is snowing, training day 2 is still on for 11am. Lower visability, less sun and snowing. We made it through 41 racers and then canceled the race. Inversions, warm on top of the mountain with snow and rain midway and by the time the racers get to the finish their goggles are frozen over.
Snow, snow and more snow. It is pebbled snow, icy snow and very dry. It is like walking on sand.
Bode Miller is the US favorite. Miller, 33, won three medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Miller last won on the Birds of Prey course in 2006.
Running on little sleep and lots of adrenaline. Sent a query to Vanity Fair Magazine as well as a photo to Sports Illustrated today.
DAY 3---Thursday morning is clear skies and warm. Warm is not a good condition as
the course could become soft which makes for dangerous conditions.
Sun, sun , son, all day long. Put on the sunscreen today. Gorgeous. Very fun to play with camera and the sunlight. Catching sun rays an
d goggles with reflections.
the course could become soft which makes for dangerous conditions.Sun, sun , son, all day long. Put on the sunscreen today. Gorgeous. Very fun to play with camera and the sunlight. Catching sun rays an
d goggles with reflections.ESPN is here and setting up cable everywhere. Watching some of the first footage to come over from their cameras. You can feel the excitement in the air today.
Young childre
n and adults alike from the Beaver Creek community have come to see their favorite racer. Bode Miller is certainly their favorite.
n and adults alike from the Beaver Creek community have come to see their favorite racer. Bode Miller is certainly their favorite. Bode takes the time to talk with children, photos as requested and talks with the press. The cow bells will be ringing when he comes down the hill. The children yell, "BODE, BODE."
Grugger ends the third training with a time of 1:45:37. Bode Miller was fourth with a time of 1:45:60. Tomorrow will tell the story of the best downhill racer. Conditions are great for a wonderful day of racing. The course was fast today. Gravity is more a nuisance than a law when it comes to ski racing.
Press conference and captains meeting spoke of a fast course, unpredictable weather and a time to promote the ski world.
With Vail very close to Beaver Creek, fashion is a part of the atmosphere. Color, women, childr
en, families and alike visit the trainings. Eddie Bauer fashioned the jackets for the event at Beaver Creek, very fun and festive.
The trainings as well as the race itself is free and open to the public. This is the only north america stop for the World Cup. After Beaver Creek the racers will go to Europe. Beaver Creek is the 2015 location for the men and women's World Cup Championships.
en, families and alike visit the trainings. Eddie Bauer fashioned the jackets for the event at Beaver Creek, very fun and festive.The trainings as well as the race itself is free and open to the public. This is the only north america stop for the World Cup. After Beaver Creek the racers will go to Europe. Beaver Creek is the 2015 location for the men and women's World Cup Championships.
As well as watching the men in Beaver Creek we are keeping up to speed on the women in Lake Louise.
Following Tommy Ford, a young skier with great potential. He is an ambassador for Steadman Philippon Research Institute. The institute seeks to keep people physically active late into life with pioneering othopedic research and education. Check out their website: http://www.sprivail.org/. Racers know the importance of physical health and mental health. I like Aksel Lund Svindal's saying, "Elegance is an attitude".
DAY 4---Downhill competition today. Up at the hill at 7:30. Paul will run the course a couple of times and see where he wants to be for photos.
I will be a the finish. Working with Austria, Associated Press and Getty in the press area today. Great people to work with. Most speak english as a second language.11am came and went, windy on the top. Race delay until 12:30. Women's race at Lake Louise is at 12:30, so the Men must wait until 1:30. Now they are waiting until 2pm. Still very windy and now the short days and darkness at 4:30 will become a factor. Maybe the Men will do the downhill on Monday? Race is offically cancelled. There is a solemn and glum feeling on the hill, from the athletes to the spectators. The athletes safety is the number one concern. The volunteer's worked so hard and no race. They talk about having the stuffing knocked out of them. Thanks to all the volunteers for their hours and hours of hard work.
Bode Miller and Ted Legity came into the crowd to lift the spirits of their fans. They stop for autographs as well as photos. They talk with their fans, from the children to the adults, serious talk as well as fun and laughter.
It is the end of a long day. Paul and I are empty, wait all day, and then on race. Emotionally exhausting.
