Press Center
For Immediate Release
December 4, 2008
Media Contact:
John Dakin
(970) 390-0481
OVER ONE FOOT OF NEW SNOW OVERNIGHT FORCES CANCELLATION OF
AUDI BIRDS OF PREY WORLD CUP SUPER COMBINED EVENT
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado—The latest in a series of winter storms that has blanketed the Vail Valley claimed the opening race of the 2008 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week at Beaver Creek Thursday as the Super Combined competition was cancelled following over a foot of new snow on the racecourse overnight.
Race officials made the call at 6:30 a.m. when the jury decided based on the accumulation of new snow and the forecast for the remainder of the day that course crews would not have enough time to be able to return the course to race ready conditions.
“While this is a tough decision for us as organizers and for all the race staff and volunteers that have worked so hard on the hill,” explained Michael Imhof, Vice President of Sales and Operations for the Vail Valley Foundation, “there was no other option for today. Now it’s time to turn our attention to tomorrow and the downhill.”
Course crews will work the racecourse with snowcats throughout the day and all through the night in order to prepare the course for Friday’s scheduled World Cup downhill competition. Volunteers will work in shifts to supplement the work of the cats.
All other World Cup related activities for Thursday, including the special Thursday Night Lights celebration at 5:30 p.m. in Beaver Creek Village, remain as scheduled.
The Audi Birds of Prey Downhill is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start on Friday, December 5. A decision has not been made on the status of the cancelled Super Combined.
Extended weather forecasts call for the snow to end Thursday, with partly sunny conditions on tap for the remainder of the Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Week.
The 2008 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week is a project of the Vail Valley Foundation. For more information on Birds of Prey, visit www.bcworldcup.com. For additional information on the Vail Valley Foundation, check out www.vvf.org.
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