KETCHUM, Idaho — Sun Valley will host the Audi FIS Ski World Cup Finals from March 22 through March 27, with the best skiers in the world competing in four different disciplines on the Warm Springs side of Bald Mountain.
The past two years Sun Valley has hosted the U.S. National Championships, but in order to add the Downhill and Super G, 30 workers have been clearing trees, widening the trails, and building the course since July.
"As you leave the downhill start, it is a nice mellow bending back and forth and then you go over the Sawtooth jump which is a pretty dramatic feature right at the top of the ridge line," said Riley Berman, Chief of Course for the World Cup Finals.
Berman took a group of us down the course for a preview before it is closed off until the event. After skiers catch around 30 meters of air they will have to speed through Durrance Dive, which is named after Dick Durrance who won the Harriman Cup in Sun Valley in 1937, 1938 and 1940.
"He was so concerned about winning," said Berman. "The folklore is somewhere down here, he cut a tree and stuck it back in the snow. Everybody else had to go around it, but his buddy went right before him and pulled the tree out of the ground so Dick could go straight through here."
Next comes the start of the Super G course followed by the legends section named after the women throughout Sun Valley history, including Gretchen Frasier, the first American skier to win a gold medal in 1948.
The run also honors Christin Cooper, Muffy Davis, Kaitlyn Farrington and Picabo Street. Picabo will have her statue unveiled during the World Cup Finals.
"We were the Mecca for the Europeans to come here for a long time and that kind of disappeared in 1977," said Mike McKenna of the Chamber of Hailey and the Wood River Valley. "That is the last year we hosted a real World Cup race, and so for us from a community perspective it is awesome to get back into what we were as a ski destination."
I dropped by the chamber to learn more about the economic impact. McKenna told me this event will bring an estimated $15 million to the area, but we honestly talked more about the history and the future that lies ahead.
"It’s just an exciting time to be here, and the future is looking really bright," said McKenna. "Because they put millions of dollars into Baldy and because we are going to get millions of eyes on us for free, the thing we are saying is we are back on the ski racing map."
The course continues into Carol's Wagon Wheel, where skiers will yo-yo through a gully, and then they have to navigate Steihlan Traverse.
"It's a really steep side hill that they will climb up and fade back down the cat track as they go off the Frontier Jump," said Berman. "The Frontier Jump is probably one of the more dramatic features on the World Cup venue, and they will catch some pretty big hang time."
Skiers will then bounce over Rudy's Roll and take a big left through the Cowboy's Corner, and that's where the course opens up and the skiers will be able to increase their speed as they make their way onto Hemingway and towards the finish line.
Near the end, skiers will be traveling faster than any other point of the race. Berman told us they will be going upwards of 80, perhaps even 90 miles-per-hour before cruising into the finish in front of a crowd. The stands are currently being constructed.
"It's been a really short build period. We started on July 1 and hit the ground running with dirt work and tree removal, and it is really fun as a local guy to see it all come together," said Berman.
For more information on the event, click here. I will also say this gave me a lot of respect for ski racers because I know it would be really hard for me to stay in control if I tried to go fast down this course.
