2015 World Championships Newsletter Volume 1
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Transcript of 2015 World Championships Newsletter Volume 1
VAILBEAVERCREEK2015.COM
ON BEHALF OF EVERYONE in the Vail Valley, Vail Resorts and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association, we would like to extend our greetings and best wishes to you as we travel the road to the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek.
This newsletter represents the first of five updates that will come to you on a regular basis in an effort to keep you abreast of the news surrounding the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.
The following pages will provide you with key information regarding the planning and preparation that is fully underway from one end of the valley to the other. We are extremely excited with the progress on the new Ladies’ speed and technical courses in Beaver Creek and the anticipation throughout the community for the Championships continues to grow with each passing day.
It is truly an honor for us to represent our valley, our state, our country and our sport through the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, knowing that the eyes of the world are now turned to Vail and Beaver Creek in just two short years.
Sincerely,
Ceil Folz Bill Marolt John Garnsey
2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS NEWSLETTER VOLUME 1
The World Championships Torch is Passed to Vail and Beaver Creek as 2013 Championships End in SchladmingThe 2013 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships are now history and the torch has been
passed to the Vail Valley as the FIS flag was transferred from Schladming to Vail Beaver
Creek during the Closing Ceremonies of the 2013 event February 17.
Vail Valley Foundation President and 2015 Organizing Committee president Ceil Folz, accepted
the flag and the responsibility of hosting the next World Championships from FIS president Gian
Franco Kasper, marking the third time that the Vail Valley will host the World Championships.
“Congratulations to the members of the organizing committee and of this community for hosting
a fantastic FIS Alpine Ski World Championships,” offered Folz, during her remarks. “On behalf of
the Organizing Committee of the 2015 Vail Beaver Creek Championships, we thank you for your
warmth and hospitality these last past two weeks and we look forward to welcoming you to our
community in two years so we can repay your kindness. I invite you to join me as we bring Vail
Beaver Creek to the world and the world to Vail Beaver Creek”.
Although the 2015 Championships are a little less than two years away, the U.S. Ski Team has
already realized some initial benefits from their record five-medal performance in Schladming. By
virtue of Ted Ligety’s trio of gold medals and Mikaela Shiffrin’s slalom win, the Americans will enjoy
an additional race quota spot in each of the four individual disciplines in 2015, bringing their total
entry in each event to five, rather than the normal four.
IN THE GATE
Audi Signs as Vail/Beaver Creek 2015 Presenting SponsorFive Major International Partners now on Board for Championships
German automobile manufacturer Audi recently enhanced their
worldwide presence through the sport of alpine skiing by agreeing
to serve as the presenting sponsor for Vail and Beaver Creek’s
2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. The announcement
was made by Florian Zitzlsperger, head of Brand Partnership and
Sports Marketing for Audi, on Friday, October 26, at the 2012-13
World Cup openers in Soelden, Austria.
Audi becomes the fifth major international partner to sign on for the
2015 Championships, joining Swedish energy company Vattenfall,
Swedish sport apparel manufacturer J. Lindeberg, German shoe retailer
Deichmann and Swiss timekeeper Longines.
The overall presenting sponsor for the men’s and women’s FIS Alpine
Ski World Cup race circuits since 2002 and the automobile sponsor for
the U.S. Ski Team since 2007, Audi’s role with the FIS Alpine World Ski
Championships dates back to 2003 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Theme Unveiled for 2015 FIS World ChampionshipsThe 2015 Organizing
Committee has
provided the Vail
Valley community
with its charge. The
State of Colorado, the
United States and the
world also have their
directive: “Dream It.
Live It. Share It”.
“It” refers to the 2015
World Championships and Vail and Beaver Creek organizers want the
world to know that this will be much more than just two weeks of ski
racing. These Championships will be a many-faceted celebration of not
only skiing, but an event and a feeling that can and will mean a world of
different things on different levels to everyone that is touched by “It”.
“If you stop to think about it,” explained Ceil Folz, president of the Vail
Valley Foundation and the 2015 World Championships Organizing
Committee, “Dream, Live and Share can take on a myriad of different
meanings when it comes to the World Championships. A young skier in
Nepal can dream about having the chance to race in the Championships,
just as Lindsey Vonn can dream about winning a medal here.”
While the members of the Organizing Committee will obviously live
these Championships for the coming years leading up to 2015, the
international skiing community will also participate in the buildup to the
World Championships, watching it grow and evolve in both scope and
scale. As for the sharing piece of the equation, that too will come in
many shapes and forms.
So, as the clock continues its relentless march toward February 2,
2015…”Let the “Dream” begin.
Faces of the ChampionshipsMichael Imhof, Director of the 2015
FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
and Senior Vice President of Sales and
Operations for The Vail Valley Foundation
Widely recognized and respected for his
major event expertise, Imhof directs the
day to day operations for all aspects of the
2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships,
while also serving as Senior Vice President
of Sales and Operations for the Vail Valley Foundation. He joined the
Foundation in 2007, following a short tenure as Vice President of New
Business Development for Brand Connections, LLC. Prior to joining
Brand Connections, Imhof was employed by Vail Resorts, where he
spent six years as the industry’s leading expert in corporate partner
marketing, strategic alliances and licensing and sales.
SCOTT BLUHM, Vice-Chairman if
the 2015 Facilities Committee and Senior
Director of Event Operations for The Vail
Valley Foundation
With major international event experience
including the 2002 Olympic Winter Games
in Salt Lake, numerous Super Bowls and the
1999 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships,
Bluhm is once again responsible for
spearheading the facilities and municipal services components of the
2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. Bluhm rejoined the Vail
Valley Foundation in 2007, following a four-year stint with the Town of
Vail as the Streetscape Project Manager. On a day-to-day basis, he is
responsible for coordinating all operational aspects of the Vail Valley
Foundation’s annual athletic events.
Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa to Serve as Media HotelMembers of the print, photo and broadcast media will find
themselves in the center of the action during the 2015 FIS Alpine
World Ski Championships as the Westin Riverfront Resort &
Spa in Avon has signed on as the official media hotel of the Vail
Beaver Creek Championships.
With all individual World Championships medal events contested in
Beaver Creek, The Westin will not only serve as lodging, but will also
play host to a satellite media center and Press Operations spaces for
the 2015 organizers.
From a lodging perspective, The Westin Riverfront Resort & Spa will
feature four different levels and sizes of accommodations for media,
including traditional hotel rooms, studio suites, one-bedroom suites
and two-bedroom suites.
Two-Year Countdown to World Championships
2015 Gondola Car Dedicated & Vail and Beaver Creek Skies Erupt with ColorVail’s Eagle Bahn gondola car #15
sports a new 2015 logo and the
skies over Vail and Beaver Creek
Mountains erupted in color February 2 as the two resorts marked the two-year
countdown to the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.
More precisely, the 7 p.m. start of the fireworks coincided with the scheduled start time of
the event’s Opening Ceremony as Vail and Beaver Creek officially welcome the world back
to the Vail Valley for the third time.
The 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships will mark the third time that Vail and Beaver
Creek have played host to the prestigious international event, combining with the 1989
and 1999 World Championships.
Vail/Beaver Creek World Championships Organizing Committee is Proud to Introduce the 2015 Dream It Team Twenty-one young aspiring local ski racers will help promote the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in
Vail and Beaver Creek as the Vail/Beaver Creek World Championships organizing committee introduced its 2015
Dream It Team between runs of the Men’s Giant Slalom during the Audi FIS Birds of Prey World Cup Race Week.
Based on the “Dream It. Live It. Share It.” theme of the Championships, the Dream It Team will consist of the current members of Ski & Snowboard
Club Vail’s Podium Team, representing all athletes that claimed a spot on the podium during the 2011-12 season. The 2015 Dream It Team will serve
as ambassadors for the Championships, while also representing the Vail Valley community, as they travel, train and compete this coming winter.
The 2012-13 Dream It Team girls will include Meriel Upton, Allie Resnick, Caroline Jones, Cleo Braun, Samantha Trudeau, Haley Frischholz, Elise Viola,
Sylka Snyder, Kendra Hoyt, Nellie Talbot, Jennie Symons, Paula Cooper and Brianna Trudeau.
Boys on the inaugural Dream It Team will include Preston O’Brien, Henry Heaydon, Fletcher Holm, Colby Lange, Brendan Keane, Bridger Gile,
Gus Leblanc and Max Bervy.
Vail Hosts “Celebration of Champions” for Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin Over 750 residents and guests of the Vail
Valley turned out for a unique opportunity to
honor two great champions March 29 as the
2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships
organizing committee hosted the
“Celebration of Champions” event to honor
Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin. The free
public event took place at Mountain Plaza at
the base of Vail Mountain.
Despite missing the final three downhill races
of the season due to an injury she suffered
during the World Championships in Schladming,
Austria, Vonn still managed to claim the World
Cup Downhill discipline title by virtue of her trio
of early-season victories. That crystal globe
brings her career total to four overall crowns
and 13 discipline titles.
At just 18, Shiffrin firmly laid claim to her star
status with four World Cup slalom wins en route
to capturing the World Cup Slalom title this
past winter. On the way, she also picked up the
Slalom gold medal at the Schladming World
Championships.
At the conclusion of the event, all participants
were invited to join Vonn and Shiffrin on and
around the stage for a group photo that will be
utilized to promote the 2015 FIS Alpine World
Ski Championships.
FIS Professionals, Eurovision And U.S. Ski Team Descend on Beaver Creek for Initial On-Snow Test of New Ladies’ DownhillBEAVER CREEK, Colorado—Despite the fact that the 2012-13 World
Cup competition season has been in the books for only one month ,
attention in Colorado is already focused on next winter as FIS race
professionals, a Eurovision production team and members of the U.S.
Ski Team’s women’s speed group descended on Beaver Creek April
2-5 for the initial on-snow section test of the new ladies’ downhill
racecourse, built for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.
While FIS Ladies’ Race Director Atle Skaardal and Speed Events Race Director Jan Tischhauser have both walked the course this past fall, the
inspection marked the first time that the two have been able to see the track with snow and racers on it. The test will enable the FIS professionals to
have a better idea of how courses should be set, best utilizing the terrain in the hill.
“This is going to be an exceptional course for the ladies,” offered Skaardal. “It has all the characteristics of a great downhill and I am confident that the
ladies are going to love it.”
Television, headed by host broadcaster lead Michael Koegler of ORF-TV, and the quartet of U.S. Ski Team athletes, including Mikaela Shiffrin, Leanne
Smith, Laurenne Ross and Stacey Cook, were experiencing the course for the first time. Over the course of the four-day camp, Shiffrin, Smith, Ross
and Cook ran sectional testing for both Downhill and Super-G on the track.
World Cup Slalom champ Mikaela Shiffrin helps
test the new ladies’ 2015 World Championships
Downhill course in Beaver Creek. The test event
marked the first time on Downhill skis for Shiffrin.