Unexcused Absences

Heather 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

Beaver Creek Village

Spruce Saddle Lodge at dawn

Tools of the trade

Talon Crew hauling A-net liner

Sean Norris

Raising the A-Net

High-speed slip above "Pumphouse"

Grading the back of the A-net

Just in case

The steeps in "Pete's Arena"

Course prep with a chainsaw?

Top of Golden Eagle jump

The final grading

30 seconds of rest

The daily debriefing at the Coyote Cafe

Conference at the top of Golden Eagle jump

Our room (thank you, The Charter, for the nice discount!)

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

A VERY early chairlift ride on race day

A Sony broadcast camera with a BIG Canon lens

Slovenian coach (team motto, "Go SLO!")

Course inspection

Nordica ski tech

The finish arena during the downhill

Scott Snow greets his fan club at the finish arena

Big right foot turn in "Pete's Arena"

Ted Ligety on course

Aksel Lund Svindal (easy now, ladies!)

Snow squalls during the Super G

Austrian TV

Didier Cuche with his famous ski flip

Bode wins the 2011 downhill

Team Jacket Composite

I also shot a brief video of McD doing some course prep… with a chainsaw!!!

As part of my work for the Talon Crew, I gathered stories from fellow crewmembers and quotes from the athletes during the 2011 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup ski races.  Enjoy!

Bode Miller

I spoke with Bode Miller after the first training run for the Downhill.
Heather: What would you like to say to the Talon Crew, the volunteer course maintenance workers?
Bode: This is the most well manicured course on the circuit. There’s a great quality to the snow. It’s so smooth because there’s an army of folks out there busting their butts, and we really appreciate it.

Long-time volunteer Shelly Zuroff relates the following tale:
I am working below the Golden Eagle jump, directing slippers as they come down the pitch. As the ski club kids come through, they keep missing the fluff pile right next to me. I am getting a little frustrated, so I look up the hill and see somebody standing there. I point straight at him and yell, “You! I want you right here!” Then, I gesticulate from him to the pile next to me.

He takes off and just obliterates the pile of snow.

“You did that really well, thanks!” I say to him. As he turns around, I realize it is Bode Miller

“Well,” he replies. “I try.”

Scott Snow

Scott Snow, the youngest racer on the US Ski Team and rising downhiller, took his first runs down the Birds of Prey racecourse earlier this week. He skied as a forerunner during the downhill training runs.
Heather: I know you’ve kept a map of the course since you were 15 that’s about six feel long detailing every turn and pitch along this course. You work on it every time you visit Beaver Creek and ski Golden Eagle. You’ve just skied your first World Cup course on the Birds of Prey, how was it?
Scott: It’s the most fun I’ve had in about a minute-and-fifty-one seconds of my life! It’s just like the other athletes say, the course is so smooth, perfect! I can’t wait to run it again!

Jan Hudec (photo by Praz)

World Cup gold medalist Jan Hudec joined the Talon Crew for dinner at the Dusty Boot on Tuesday evening. The downhiller wanted to thank the Crew for their work.
Jan: I stopped by to thank the Talon Crew. It’s such a pleasure to come to a beautiful hill and a beautiful village like this. It makes you really realize why you’re a ski racer! The athletes really appreciate all of the work that you do. We’re going to go out there this weekend and rip it up!

Hubert Seigmann (photo by Marlo Maroon)

Team Captain Sean Norris relates this tale:
The public has already left the mountain when Asa releases us. I am sweeping behind my crew when I see two of our newest volunteers, Hubert and Marlo at the side of the slope. Hubert’s binding has just broken.

One of the race crew comes up and asks Hubert if he needs help returning to the bottom. Hubert says no, turns, and skis straight down the hill. I mean straight down the hill on one ski! Marlo takes off after him and damn can that girl ski. I have to totally let it run to keep up with her! We’re all chasing this one-skied madman down the hill. We can’t catch him and all of us have on two skis!

He finally stops to wait for us. Hubert, Marlo and I collapse in fits of giggles. We’re having so much fun! I see confusion on the faces around us as race crew and ski patrol gather around us. They’re all wondering who is this guy who can ski faster than everybody on only one ski?

Yeah, that’s Hubert. He’s a retired World Cup racer. He’s raced the Birds of Prey. He’s come back to Beaver Creek to volunteer with the Talon Crew. Amazing.

Hermann Maier (photo by taloncrew.blogspot.com)

A tale from a course worker who desperately wishes to remain anonymous:
A number of years ago, I was working at the start shack. I see Hermann Maier coming toward me looking very serious. I back up to give him room, to allow him to get in his race zone. He keeps coming toward me. He’s a big guy, and he looks mad, so I back up all the way to the fence. And he keeps coming toward me! I start to back through a gap in the fence that opens into trees and he’s still coming toward me! I freeze, having absolutely no idea what to do.

“Not you.” he says in his thick, Austrian accent. “Toilet.”

Ski long enough, well enough, or volunteer on a hill enough and you’ll probably get a free jacket. Ski parkas act as a secondary currency in this industry. Who doesn’t want or can’t use a new ski jacket? Win a race? Get a jacket! Earn a spot on a team? Congratulations, nice jacket! Volunteer to work a race? You earned your jacket!

Until spending the winter here at The Beav, I did not know about the currency of ski parkas. But like many items of clothing, I’m learning that certain items carry more caché than others. Ignorantly, I happily received my free Descente Jacket for winning my division in the 2007 NASTAR (National Standard Race) finals, my Halti 2009 Birds of Prey Talon Crew Jacket, and my Eddie Bauer First Ascent 2010 Birds of Prey Talon Crew Jacket. Now, I realize that wearing these jackets on the hill and around town means a whole lot more than keeping warm and dry in a great parka.

NASTAR Podium

My first jacket is from a NASTAR race.  At the race, a seasoned racer known as the pacesetter sets a par time on the race course which, along with your age and gender and race time, is used to calculate your handicap and standing. My win at the 2007 Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships in my age and skill division brings to mind the phrase, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” Arriving at the race course, I learn that my division consists of only three women. I ski my hardest during my first run in the race and move into in first place for my division! During my second run, I hit a rut, flip over, and slide down the hill on my backside while the waistband of my ski pants acts as a scoop and packs my pants with several pounds of snow. Unharmed and still legally in the race, I pop back up. Crossing the finish line, I immediately bend and drop my pants to my ankles, dumping out the snow. I turn around, expecting to see a fellow (female) competitor behind me. Instead I see pacesetter, Olympian, and World Cup skier AJ Kitt cruising through the finish, doubled up with laughter. I still win first place (beating all two competitors) and earn a gorgeous orange jacket (my favorite color). When I meet other racers with the same jacket, they have no idea I mooned AJ Kitt during the race – they only recognize me as a fellow winner.

Kent in the 2010 Jacket, Heather in the 2009 Jacket

How did Kent and I earn Talon Crew jackets? Beaver Creek annually hosts the Birds of Prey, the only regularly-scheduled stop in America on the men’s alpine World Cup circuit (read more about our experiences on the Talon Crew here). The Talon Crew is comprised of many folks who donate their time and muscle power to this annual event. This jacket (courtesy of the Vail Valley Foundation) means the wearer worked the race and generally marks the person as a bona fide expert skier. The jacket offers the wearer instant ski credibility in this town. Plus, they’re really nice parkas! Even out-of-towners know of the famous race, and question the owner about work on the race course. When meeting other Talon Crew on the bus or at the store, the phrase, “nice jacket,” generally precedes a friendly introduction.

Weasel Workers at the Vancouver Olympics

What’s rarer than a Talon Crew jacket in the Vail Valley? A blue Weasel Worker jacket from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics! The Weasel Workers at Whistler function much like the Talon Crew. Frequently, members of one crew will spend time volunteering with the other. I see a decent number of these jackets with the huge Olympic logo on the back around town, and I know that the folks that sport them earned these jackets the hard way (starting work at 3 am to shovel the race courses) and got to see the Olympics up close and personal.  [Many thanks to Jane Macintyre for the photo.  Read about her Olympic Adventure here.]

Currently, the most avant-garde items in the Vail Valley are things with the 2015 logo. Why 2015? Vail and Beaver Creek will host the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. Excited to host this prestigious event again, valley residents sport 2015 bumper stickers while 2015 ice sculptures sprout at busy venues. An official 2015 jacket in 2011 identifies you as an event insider. Oh, and if you happen to have a jacket from the 1989 or the 1999 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships held right here at Beaver Creek, your stock is on the rise. Very cool vintage.

Got Snow? With Scott Snow, Member of the US Ski Team

National ski team jackets command the highest value, as they are the hardest to earn and rather rare. Members of each nation’s ski team receive unique jackets each year; they all look great. To receive a team jacket, you have to earn a spot on your national ski team. Not an easy thing! But sometimes, athletes give them away (to family, friends, significant others, their professional ski tuners, etc.) or donate them to a favorite charity. Occasionally these rare jackets show up on Ebay. I’m really not too sure how these jackets enter the marketplace, but they have HUGE caché here at The Beav. The owner of a US Ski Team jacket in the Vail Valley can probably trade it for any jacket on the market, or sell it for a nice sum of cash.  [Thanks to Scott Snow for letting us use this photo.]

One word of caution – don’t plan on wearing the jacket of a national team (while skiing) unless you’re a really good skier. If you’re a good skier, you might be a retired racer, a friend or colleague of a racer, a coach, or somebody in the business who supports the the team. If you’re a rich person who generously paid several thousand dollars at a charity auction for the jacket, I doubt you’ll be skiing in it. If you’re a mediocre skier who paid $800 for it on Ebay thinking you’ll look cool… folks will actually think you should have spent your money on ski lessons instead.

Beaver Creek Ski and Snowboard School Uniform

The final jacket deserving mention in this post is not for sale, so it’s hard to value. The Beaver Creek Ski and Snowboard School uniform from DNA keeps instructors toasty warm on the coldest days and contains enough pockets to make your head spin (yes, there’s even one big enough for a file folder).  The only place you’ll find this particular jacket is on the mountain, where you’ll hear the instructors affectionately referred to as Smurfs.  We smurfs enjoy our work, work with fun colleagues, and love the wide variety of folks we teach (read about Kent’s first day on the job here).  Plus, the resort and local businesses treat us really really well.  A rumored bumper sticker making its way around the employee locker room sums it up, “My job is better than your vacation!”

I last purchased a ski parka in 2001. Are there gorgeous jackets for sale all around me? Yes! Is the Vail Valley one of the best spots for ski-wear shopping in the world? Yes! But, I enjoy my “free” jackets earned by racing and volunteering. They’re all great jackets, and it’s fun to mark being a part of an event. I don’t mind matching fellow NASTAR winners or Talon Crew volunteers when skiing or around town. It’s just another sign I belong here for the winter.

VIP Area!

The champagne and baked salmon (with capers and lemon) on Saturday were divine. As were the grilled asparagus, the artichoke and olive salad, and the spectacular desert table. Were we at one of Beaver Creek’s numerous gourmet restaurants? Had we lost our minds and dropped $50 a person on a buffet brunch? Had we somehow fallen asleep and woken up as wealthy celebrities? Nope, we just knew the right person.

“Fantasy” Saturday Lunch

Thanks to a well-connected friend, we were given passes to the VIP hospitality tent at the Birds of Prey race on Saturday (one of our days off). Rubbing elbows with the rich and famous proved a delightful way to watch the Super-G race. The VIP area occupied a large section right next to the finish – including a portion right next to the athlete’s finish area. “So,” we thought, “this is how the other half lives.”

Endless line of private jets at Eagle-Vail Airport

But at Beaver Creek, it’s more like how the other two-thirds live. Besides a fine pedigree in the racing world, The Beav is famous for attracting the ultra-rich and famous. To give you an idea, the minimum size for a slope-side home at The Beav is 12,000 square feet, leading to the phrase commonly used to describe a wealthy couple, “Oh, their house meets the minimum.” And during holiday periods, the private jets are triple-parked at the local airport.

“Reality” Sunday Lunch

Fantasy Saturday passed, and on Reality Sunday we were back on the bus at 6:00am headed for a pre-dawn chairlift ride to work another shift on the Talon Crew. The GS, short for Giant Slalom (a “technical” event more about agility and technique than raw speed) race was on, and we were back volunteering just above the Golden Eagle jump shoveling, raking, and minding the gates during the race. The athletes rocketed by at about at about 40 – 50 mph, cranking through a series of turns right in front of us. Yes, the view was amazing.

Ted Ligety (USA) on his way to 1st place in GS

Even more fun was watching America’s own Ted Ligety thunder by not 15 feet away from us on his way to winning his first Birds of Prey World-Cup race (he’s finished third, fourth, second and fourth here the past four years). Yes, these photos here are ones we took, not pictures grabbed off the web.

Priceless view

During a particularly large raking session between races (the GS has 2 runs), a gentleman stopped by and chatted with our section chief. We and the other volunteers jealously admired his Kjus “Birds of Prey” special edition jacket. Not that our Eddie Bauer First Ascent Birds of Prey jackets weren’t wonderful, but Kjus jackets typically sell for the price of a small car – and this one was just stunning. Afterwards, I asked our chief what that gentleman had done to get such a great jacket. The chief responded that he was the major American sponsor of the race, and head of a multinational chemical corporation. I found it interesting that he was out on the hill with the volunteers, and not in the VIP tent. Apparently, the view from the racecourse IS priceless!

Best seat in the house

One final note, to add to the “Why Beaver Creek” post, the final racer had finished Sunday and we were beginning the long process of taking down all the “stuff” associated with putting on a World Cup ski race when the Chief Race Director for the World Cup, Günter Hujara (the number one official in World-Cup-land), skied up to us and reached out a hand and personally thanked us for all the hard work we had put in as volunteers the past week. And then we watched as he continued down the racecourse and did the same with all the volunteers on the hill. Günter is a major celebrity in the ski-racing world, and he could easily have just gone on to his fancy hotel suite and catered meal, yet he took the time to look us in the eye and thank us personally. A truly classy gesture.

Heather adjusts a gate

Aksel Lund Svindal

Race Finish Stadium

Marco Sullivan (USA)

Beaver Creek Resort first opened in 1980. Originally conceived as an Olympic venue, it rapidly became a premier American racing venue. The Beav hosted the World Ski Championships in 1989, again in 1999, and was recently awarded the 2015 World Ski Championships.

Beaver Creek also annually hosts the Birds of Prey, the only regularly-scheduled World Cup ski race in America. The Birds of Prey consists of three races: the Downhill (the fastest and most dangerous event, a “speed event”), a Super G (another “speed event”) and a Giant Slalom (known as a “technical event” because it involves more precision and agility than raw speed). Top racers arrive every December to test themselves against the mountain and against each other.

Golden Eagle Jump

Hosting a World Cup ski race involves an enormous amount of work. While it might seem as simple as putting up a few sponsors banners, setting some race gates and organizing a clock, the race course actually requires tremendous preparation and maintenance. The work is so difficult that it is impossible to hire workers for the job. In Europe, where alpine ski racing is a national pastime, host countries assign army soldiers to prepre the race course. At Beaver Creek, the work is done by volunteers – hundreds of them – known as the Talon Crew.

The Talon Crew consists of about 400 volunteers who work for approximately 10 days, starting a week before the first race, to make sure that the hill conditions for the Birds of Prey are the best in the world. This is our second year volunteering with this group, and we thought you might like to know what it’s like to put on a World Cup Ski Race. This is what our work was like on Tuesday.

Pre-dawn chairlift ride

The alarm rings at 5:00 am. We start the day with “World Cup Breakfast Burritos” prepared by a friend who knows just how much energy the day is going to take. By 5:50 am we are fully geared up for a day on the hill and walk to the employee bus stop for a ride up the hill from Avon (where we live) to the resort. It is still dark when we load the chairlift on our way to the mid-mountain Spruce Saddle lodge, volunteer headquarters. A quarter moon hangs over the lift and the stars shine against the indigo sky while the lights of the homes in the valley fall softly on the snowy landscape. It is also very, very cold.

Volunteer Briefing

By 6:30 am we arrive at volunteer headquarters in the upper floor of the Spruce Saddle lodge. At 6:45 am the crew chief briefs the groups on the day’s events, projects, and safely procedures. After the briefing, we put on all of our gear and head to the top of the mountain. It is dawn.

Dawn at the top of Beaver Creek

A World Cup ski race can’t be held on a normal ski hill. Work on the Birds of Prey course begins with the Beaver Creek professional race crew in October. They supplement the natural snowfall with manmade snow to ensure that all rocks, trees and obstructions of the mile-and-a-half race course are covered. Then comes the “A” net. This is the last and biggest line of defense in case a racer, who travels at speeds up to 80 mph, should fall or loose control. These nets catch the skier who may fly (literally) off the course and keep them from hitting trees in the woods. They are about 25 feet tall and run along almost the entire course. In front of the “A” net is anywhere from 1 to 3 layers of “B” fence which serve to catch (or at least slow) falling skiers prior to an impact on the “A” net. Between the professional crew and the volunteers, over 5 miles of “B” net are installed along the race course.

Slipping the Course

Now, World Cup skiers don’t ski on snow. Really? Yes, they actually ski on ice. The industry phrase is “injected snow.” Starting 10 days before the race, the Talon Crew sets out with fire hoses and long pipes with dozens of nozzles and soaks the race course with approximately 2.5 million gallons of water. This water freezes and turns the race course into semi-vertical ice skating rink. The ice will last until late March, making this slope, “Golden Eagle,” the most challenging ski run in the county.

Finish Stadium

The Talon Crew has four basic assignments beyond watering; we “slip the race line”, meaning we slide with our skis sideways to the hill or in a wedge to remove any actual snow from the ice’s surface and to polish the ice to a smooth finish; we stomp down and then rake or shovel this excess snow off the race course over the “A” and “B” nets into the woods; we install “B” nets; and we smooth the race course between racers by slipping the course or or by raking.

This is all physical, challenging work which frequently lasts from dawn until dusk on slopes so steep that it is often impossible to stand without crampons. So, why do we do it? We actually have a great time! It’s fun!! The Talon Crew consists of a group of people with positive attitudes and a great fun streak, and we are happy to join them. And the bonus? Being on the race course, feet away from the best skiers in the world as they pass you at speeds up to 80 mph and soar off jumps that take them over 100 feet through the air.

The downhill course at “Pete’s Arena” – steep!

We arrive with our crew at the top of the race course just after dawn. Our first trips down the course involve pushing any overnight snow off the race course with our skis. This is actually a lot of fun. Our crew of 9 takes turns sliding sideways down the race course. The goal is to keep your skis sideways to the hill and push the excess snow down with you. Basically, we each start a mini-avalanche and ride it down, much like surfing, to the shovel-out area at the bottom of each pitch. Each skier takes a section of the race course as wide as their skis, following tip-to-tail the path cleared by the preceding teammate. In areas where the snow is too deep for this, we trample it down and subsequently remove it by rake and shovel. This part is not so fun. It’s like riding a StairMaster at 10,000 feet with 20 pounds of skis and snow on each leg.

Once the race course is suitably cleared of snow around 11:00 am, we quickly consume sandwiches at the volunteer hut and report our assigned area just above the Golden Eagle jump. We work on the surface of the jump, smoothing the racecourse and removing any excess snow. By now it’s 12:30 pm – showtime!

Kent and Gunter Hujara, Top FIS Guy

At 12:30 pm the racers begin coming down the hill. Today is a training run, but it is executed exactly like a real race. I stand on the sidelines, directing the skiers who travel down the course between racers (coaches, ski technicians, and course maintenance workers). Kent stands with a big yellow flag just above the Golden Eagle jump. Should a racer have an accident on the Golden Eagle jump, Kent will wave the subsequent racer out of the course, stopping the race. We are quite close to the racers as they come down the course, and they make a most unusual sound. The sound of a human traveling 70 mph without the aid of machinery is difficult to describe. The racers thunder as they pass, but the sound is soft, like a rocket ship with a velvet engine.

Bode Miller on Course – Kent watches with the Flag

The training runs all happen without incident, and the last racer finishes the course at around 2:30 pm. The Talon Crew heads back to the top of the hill. We spend the next few hours shoveling excess snow from “The Brink”. By the time we finish and ski to the bottom, the sun has set. It is about 5:00 pm. Just another day on the Talon Crew.

Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR) – Heather’s Heart Beats Faster

NBC will cover the Birds of Prey race Sunday, December 5th at 2pm ET. Universal Sports will also webcast the event.