Photos from the 2011 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Downhill (he said)
by Kent 8 Dec 2011Heather previously posted the writings she did as official Talon Crew blogger for the 2011 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Downhill at Beaver Creek, so here I’ll just add my $0.02 on our week in Colorado and include two slideshows of photos I took during the 10-day event. For more on what the Talon Crew is about, see Heather’s posts on the subject, “Life on the Talon Crew” and “A Volunteer’s Life”
My impression of this year’s experience on the Talon Crew was even better than the two previous years. The whole operation really is a well-oiled machine, from the top (Brad, Jen and Kerry) on down. Living in the base village was superior to staying down in Avon and having to deal with the shuttle buses, so thank you to The Charter for their discount Talon Crew rate! We had a minor glitch with our room layout that they solved with a smile, no questions asked. Moving the Tuesday night volunteer party to the Dusty Boot was another big win; while the Minturn Saloon of previous years was a good time, it was certainly more convenient for those of us without cars to attend the event at the base village.
And I can’t talk about how fun volunteering is without mentioning our crew chiefs, Sean and Kevin. They set a really good tone for the work, keeping things organized and flowing during the day, and definitely letting their hair down once happy hour comes around. From Sean and Kevin and the returning crew members all the way to the new recruits this year, this team is a blast to work with.
First slideshow is a set of photos from the pre-race course prep. The Talon Crew begins preparing the downhill track the Friday after Thanksgiving, and works for five straight days setting up A-net, slipping the course, preparing the start house, installing B-fence, and raking out uneven areas of the course.
TALON CREW COURSE PREP 2011
Next comes two days of downhill training and three days of World Cup racing action. I’ve got action photos of some athletes and other associated race-day photos.
RACE DAY PHOTOS, BIRDS OF PREY 2011
I also shot a brief video of McD doing some course prep… with a chainsaw!!!
