By Ross Leonhart BEAVER CREEK — Just like that, the world of professional ski racing came through Beaver Creek for the Xfinity Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup.
About 18 inches of snow fell at Beaver Creek during race week, but all three men’s World Cup races went off without a hitch — thanks to the internationally recognized Talon Crew, a group of volunteers who dedicate days, sometimes weeks, to preparing a course that is both safe and suitable for the fastest men on skis.
“Everybody said last year was really difficult because we didn’t have any snow. Last year was easy because you don’t have to shovel sunshine,” said Sean Norris, the on-hill coordinator for the Talon Crew — the man in charge of all volunteers on the mountain. “This year was the hardest that I’ve ever seen this mountain in terms of the efforts that it took to get it done,” he added from the front row of the spectator area of the Sunday, Dec. 2, giant slalom races.
Racers from all around the world gave praise to the crew throughout the weekend, and Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal donated his prize for podium finishes to the crew — giant bottles of Tincup whiskey.
“I was trying to do a warmup run down to the start and there were about 18 inches of fresh powder. I couldn’t even make a turn before the run,” American Travis Ganong said on Saturday. “But on the track they did an amazing job.”
LIFE OF THE TALON CREW
From the crowded spectator area on the final day of Birds of Prey, Norris stood in the front row with Merlon Busey, of the Hot Shot group of Talon Crew. Both have been with the crew since its inception in 1997.
“It’s changed a lot,” Norris said. “Back then you could do anything and everything and there were no rules. We did it all. Now there’s a lot of concerns with respect to safety. There’s a lot of things that we ask paid staff to take care of and don’t ask our volunteers to step into those kinds of things.”
Volunteers on the Talon Crew do everything from setting up barriers and netting to icing down the track so snowcats can maneuver onto them to clearing loose snow to moving equipment to keep the course in shape throughout the days.
Norris said the average age of the crew is around 60 years old with a lot of retired people coming from all walks of life, and this year the Talon Crew was about 50 percent new.
“We just have a lot of people that return every year because they’re dedicated to what happens on that mountain,” Norris said, pointing from finish area. “And with 53 percent of the crew being new, they got to see the hardest thing ever to put together, so that will be their baseline, and that’s a pretty cool baseline.”
Dads on the course
Americans Jared Goldberg and Wiley Maple took to the Birds of Prey course over the weekend, and their fathers …read more
Via:: Post Independent