Course Preview: January 29, 1999
"It's going to be sweet racing on the new downhill course," Chad Fleischer says, referring to the new Birds of Prey downhill course cut into the steep slopes at Beaver Creek. When Vail-Beaver Creek hosted the World Championships 10 years ago, the top complaint was the lack of challenge in the men's downhill course.

No one will be complaining that this new course will be easy. In fact, there were some grumblings after its debut on the World Cup circuit last year: too steep, too intimidating, too much like the notorious Hahnenkamm course in Austria. The new course drops 2,400 vertical feet with an average gradient of 14 percent, with sections as steep as 23 percent in some pitches.

"The new course is just a small piece of what Vail and Beaver Creek plan to showcase to the world in what promoters are calling the 'last great party of the 20th century'..."

Designed by renowned course designer Bernhard Russi, a 1972 Olympic gold medalist, the downhill course is so steep that fans have to dig in along its flanks just to be able to stand up.

But the new course is just a small piece of what Vail and Beaver Creek plan to showcase to the world in what promoters are calling the "last great party of the 20th century."

The speed events — downhill and super-G — will be at Beaver Creek while the technical events — slalom and giant slalom — will be at Vail, about 10 miles apart. And ski racing, a sophisticated action sport that only captures the imagination of the American public during the Olympics, isn't all that Vail will have.

For these next 15 days of February, Vail will take the world's center stage as host of the Worlds. The World Championships come every two years and Vail has been fortunate to host these races, second only the Olympics in stature and importance, twice in a decade.

With all the world watching, it gives Vail a chance to show off. Like an actress preening in the spotlight, Vail will turn on its charm and try to seduce the world with its graceful ski terrain, its tony shops, good restaurants and packed bars. This time around, the world championships lets Vail spread its feathers for all the world to see.

"When we hosted the Worlds in 1989, we focused 'on mountain,' making sure the race courses were in the best shape for the racers, making sure that the technical aspects of the race were world-class," says John Garnsey, president of the local organizing committee. "This time, we know how to do all that stuff. So now we're focusing 'off mountain,' to give guests the best ski racing experience possible, but make it as fun as possible as well."

Garnsey says there will be parties, booths, concerts, beer tents, street musicians, expo areas and scores of other activities to bring in people for the two-week extravaganza. In Europe, the World Championships would attract tens of thousands of spectators. In 1989, when Vail hosted the Worlds for the first time, the town threw a party and no one showed up.

This time around, they're making sure that won't happen.

"We're going to offer something to everyone, whether they like ski racing or not, whether they ski or not," Garnsey continued. "It's a chance for Colorado to show off to the world and we're going to pull all the stops to make sure that happens. We want to make this a fun, exciting event."

— Andrew Hood, Mountain Zone Correspondent
Andrew Hood is a freelance writer living in Denver. For three years he's covered European cycling in the summers and snowsports in the winter.