Birds of Prey (ski course) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Birds of Prey Downhill Course
The Birds of Prey course in December 2011
Birds of Prey Downhill Course Location in the United States
Location	Eagle County, Colorado
Nearest city	Avon, Colorado
Coordinates	39°34′59″N 106°31′23″W / 39.583°N 106.523°W / 39.583; -106.523
Vertical	2,470 ft (753 m)
Top elevation	11,427 ft (3,483 m)
Base elevation	8,957 ft (2,730 m)
Snowmaking	yes

The Birds of Prey is a famous ski course in Colorado, United States. It's known for hosting exciting World Cup races. These races usually happen in early December each year.

This course has also hosted the important Alpine World Championships twice. These big events took place in February 1999 and 2015. The Birds of Prey course is mainly for downhill skiing. But it can also be used for Super-G and Giant Slalom races by starting from lower gates.

A World-Class Ski Course

The Birds of Prey course was specially built for the 1999 World Championships. It was designed by Bernhard Russi, a Swiss Olympic champion from 1972.

The first World Cup race here was in December 1997. It was won by Kristian Ghedina from Italy. After that, skiers from Austria often won, especially the famous Hermann Maier. He won three downhill races in a row on this course. This included the 1999 world title, which 20,000 fans watched! He also won World Cup races in the next two seasons.

In December 2004, American skiers Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves finished first and second. This was a huge moment for American men's downhill skiing. It was the first time they had a one-two finish in downhill, and the first in any event in over 20 years! The next year, Rahlves won, and Miller came in second. Miller won again in December 2011, making him a three-time winner on this course.

About the Course

For the World Cup downhill race in December 2012, the race started very high up. The starting gate was at 11,427 ft (3,483 m) above sea level. The finish line was at 8,957 ft (2,730 m). This means skiers dropped 2,470 ft (753 m) vertically!

The course was about 1.71 miles (2.752 km) long. It had an average slope of 27 percent, which is about 15 degrees. The steepest part was 45 percent in the middle. The fastest race time was 1 minute and 39.59 seconds by Daron Rahlves in December 2003. He reached an average speed of 61.0 miles per hour (98.2 km/h)! This means he dropped about 24.9 feet (7.6 m) every second.

In November 2018, the weather made them start the race lower down. The starting gate was at 11,158 ft (3,401 m). This made the course shorter, about 1.286 miles (2.070 km) long. The vertical drop was 2,201 ft (671 m). Even with a shorter course, the winning time by Beat Feuz was 1 minute and 13.59 seconds. His average speed was 62.9 mph (101.2 km/h)!

The finish area, called Red Tail Camp, is about 800 feet (240 m) higher than the main village of the resort.

Course Jumps

The jumps on the Birds of Prey course are named after different birds of prey. These exciting jumps include Peregrine, Screech Owl, Goshawk, Golden Eagle, Harrier, and the final jump, Red Tail.

Women's Races

Super G Event

In December 2011, there wasn't enough snow in France. So, a women's Super G race that was supposed to be in Val-d'Isère was moved to the Birds of Prey course. This was a big deal because it was the first time women had ever raced on this course! The race was won by American skier Lindsey Vonn from Vail, Colorado.

New Women's Course: Raptor

Next to the Birds of Prey course, a brand new downhill course for women was built. This was for the 2015 World Championships. It's called Raptor. This new course hosted three women's World Cup events in November 2013. These races were a test for the World Championships that happened just over a year later. Lara Gut from Switzerland won both of the speed events on the Raptor course.

Race Results

Here are the results from some of the biggest races held on the Birds of Prey course.

World Championships – Men's Downhill

These tables show the winners of the Men's Downhill at the World Championships held on this course.

Date	Gold		Silver		Bronze		Notes
7 Feb 2015	Patrick Küng	1:43.18	Travis Ganong	1:43.42	Beat Feuz	1:43.49	[1]
6 Feb 1999	Hermann Maier	1:40.60	Lasse Kjus	1:40.91	Kjetil André Aamodt	1:41.17	[2]

World Cup – Men's Downhill

This table shows the winners of the Men's Downhill World Cup races on the Birds of Prey course.

Season	Date	First Place	Time	Second Place	Third Place	Notes
2020	7 Dec 2019	Beat Feuz (2)	1:12.98	Johan Clarey, Vincent Kriechmayr (tied for 2nd)		[3]
2019	30 Nov 2018	Beat Feuz	1:13.59	Mauro Caviezel	Aksel Lund Svindal	[4]
2018	2 Dec 2017	Aksel Lund Svindal (4)	1:40.46	Beat Feuz	Thomas Dreßen	[5]
2017	2 Dec 2016	Canceled due to warm weather; moved to Val-d'Isère
2016	4 Dec 2015	Aksel Lund Svindal (3)	1:42.34	Kjetil Jansrud	Guillermo Fayed	[6]
2015	5 Dec 2014	Kjetil Jansrud	1:40.17	Beat Feuz	Steven Nyman	[7]
2014	6 Dec 2013	Aksel Lund Svindal (2)	1:44.50	Hannes Reichelt	Peter Fill	[8]
2013	30 Nov 2012	Christof Innerhofer	1:41.69	Aksel Lund Svindal	Kjetil Jansrud	[9]
2012	2 Dec 2011	Bode Miller (3)	1:43.82	Beat Feuz	Klaus Kröll	[10]
2011	3 Dec 2010	Canceled due to strong winds; moved to Kvitfjell
2010	5 Dec 2009	Carlo Janka	1:43.49	Didier Cuche	Aksel Lund Svindal	[11]
2009	5 Dec 2008	Aksel Lund Svindal	1:43.85	Marco Buechel	Erik Guay	[12]
2008	30 Nov 2007	Michael Walchhofer	1:13.74	Steven Nyman	Didier Cuche	[13]
2007	1 Dec 2006	Bode Miller (2)	1:46.15	Didier Cuche	Steven Nyman	[14]
2006	2 Dec 2005	Daron Rahlves (2)	1:13.37	Bode Miller	Hans Grugger	[15]
2005	3 Dec 2004	Bode Miller	1:39.76	Daron Rahlves	Michael Walchhofer	[16]
2004	5 Dec 2003	Daron Rahlves	1:39.59	Stephan Eberharter, Bjarne Solbakken (tied for 2nd)		[17]
2003	7 Dec 2002	Stephan Eberharter	1:40.18	Michael Walchhofer	Daron Rahlves	[18]
2002	The 2002 Winter Olympics were held in Salt Lake City this year.
2001	2 Dec 2000	Hermann Maier (3)	1:40.66	Lasse Kjus	Stephan Eberharter	[19]
2000	27 Nov 1999	Hermann Maier (2)	1:43.77	Stephan Eberharter	Kristian Ghedina	[20]
1999	The 1999 World Championships were held in February this year.
1998	5 Dec 1997	Andreas Schifferer	1:41.17	Hermann Maier	Stephan Eberharter	[21]
	4 Dec 1997	Kristian Ghedina	1:41.16	Jean-Luc Crétier	Lasse Kjus	[22]

• Skiers with Multiple Wins:
  • 4 wins: Aksel Lund Svindal
  • 3 wins: Hermann Maier (This includes his 1999 world title!)
  • 3 wins: Bode Miller
  • 2 wins: Daron Rahlves
  • 2 wins: Beat Feuz

Video

Images for kids

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  Bernhard Russi from Switzerland helped design the course.

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  Ted Ligety from the USA won many giant slalom races.

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  Aksel Lund Svindal from Norway won a record 4 downhills on this course.

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  Hannes Reichelt from Austria won many Super-G events.