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Mrs. Vacation and I volunteered to be courseworkers at the annual Birds of Prey World Cup Downhill ski race in Beaver Creek, Colorado, held the first week of December. We were part of the 800-member "Talon Crew", organized by the Vail Valley Foundation. Everyone treated us incredibly well. They fed us breakfast and lunch, gave us awesome Halti ski parkas and hats, and in general made us newcomers feel like part of the family. In the days leading up to the race, it was all about shoveling, sideslipping, and installing fencing. On race days we prepped the course and then did maintenance (raking and sideslipping) during the race. Evenings usually had something fun going on at the Coyote Cafe, or there was a barbequeue or dinner for the volunteers. The race itself featured the best skiers on the planet, and went off without a hitch (well done Greg!). There was a large, enthusiastic crowd on hand to watch young Carlo Janka of Switzerland do a clean sweep of the Downhill, Super-Combined, and Giant Slalom. Thank you to the VVF folks (Jen and Caroline), our crew chiefs (Sean and Kevin), our fellow crewmembers who made us feel right at home (too many to name), Ty and Roxanne for a fantastic dinner at the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse, and Greg and Susan for their wonderful hospitality and for hooking us up with this whole experience. |
 Early morning, flying west |
 The 2009 World Cup Birds of Prey Downhill |
 Dawn over Beaver Creek |
 First chair |
 Our crew chiefs, Sean... |
 ...and Kevin (mmmm, donuts) |
 Staging area at the top of the lift |
 Lots and lots of shovels, rakes, fence, etc. |
 Inside the Tuff Shed, at the volunteer staging area |
 Harvesting snow above Pete's Arena |
 Manning the snow chute |
 Snow field "harvesting" |
 Shaping snow above the Pumphouse |
 Shoveling snow against A-net #3 |
 Sean points out that the slope is steep |
 "Pete's Arena" area of the Birds of Prey downhill course |
 Looking up towards Pete's Arena and the Talon Turn |
 The grandstands at the Red Tail base |
 "ski down and look for the guy in the brown jacket..." |
 Top of the Golden Eagle Jump |
 Staging area |
 Top of "The Brink" |
 The "Abyss" |
 Volunteer BBQ (thank you Jimmy!) |
 The Tennessee Pass Cookhouse |
 Cheers to Ty and Roxanne |
 View from the Cookhouse deck under a full moon |
 The "Beave" at midnight under a full moon |
 The downhill start |
 The racer's-eye view of the finish area |
 Dye crew |
 Dying the final schuss to the finish |
 Setting up the finish line |
 A racer's (and courseworker's) nightmare, fresh snow |
 "Hot Laps" on the "Flyway" |
 Ski Patrol express ride to the top |
 Peering over the "Brink" at the finish line over a mile (and 2000 vertical feet) away |
 The "Pumphouse" NBC camera |
 Jimmy Roberts and Greg Johnson, the guys in charge |
 Shoveling below the "Pumphouse" |
 Looking up the steeps |
 Lots of snow to clear |
 Finish area for the GS |
 A German racer at the mid-mountain lodge |
 Minturn Saloon |
 Race day! |
 A racer finds his groove |
 Athlete staging area |
 Team Sweden |
 The awesome Swiss Ski Team |
 Team Austria |
 Team Russia |
 Team France |
 Team Canada |
 Team Croatia |
 Forza Azzurri! |
 Team USA |
 German team confab |
 Swiss Team coat-runner |
 France, Austria, Italy, (Head) and Germany |
 Rossignol |
 A Salomon technician |
 Prepping the gear |
 Fischer |
 Salomon |
 Nordica |
 Slalom course inspection |
 Our course maintenance spot on the slalom run |
 Slalom forerunner |
 NBC Pumphouse camera |
 The Coyote Cafe |
 Post-race chaos at Coyote Cafe |
 Coyote Cafe |
 Live TV feed from the 'Yote |
 Interviewing a famous Warren Miller skier (Chris Anthony) |
 Finish Arena |
 Racers in the crowd |
 Lower GS course and finish area |
 Schedule a World Cup race, and it will snow. |
 Early morning sundogs |
 Kevin and "Tunes" |
 6:15am bus ride from the employee parking lot |
 Famous signatures in the Ski Check office |
 Susan's hurt shoulder |
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All photos copyright © by Kent Christian