Beaver Creek Mountain is home to the formidable Birds of Prey racecourse, one of the most technically demanding tracks in the world. The 2025 Stifel Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup is back with an exciting weekend of Ski racing.
The Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek first hosted an Alpine Ski World Cup Super-G race in December 1997. A total of 23 Super-G races have been held there since then.
The Birds of Prey racecourse was built during the summer of 1997 in preparation for the 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships. Designed by Olympic Downhill gold medalist Bernhard Russi of Switzerland, Birds of Prey starts west of the top of Chair 8 and finishes at the bottom of Red Tail at the confluence of Chairs 10 and 11.
Key Race Dates
- December 5th Downhill / Men 11:00 LOC / 19:00 CET
- December 6th Super-G / Men 10:30 LOC / 18:30 CET
- December 7th Giant Slalom / Men 10:00 LOC / 18:00 CET 1st run 13:00 LOC / 21:00 CET 2nd run
The Challenging Birds of Prey Downhill Racecourse
The challenging Birds of Prey Downhill racecourse in Beaver Creek is one of the most brilliant tracks in the World Cup in terms of topography. After a decisive flat part (the Flyway) where they must pick up speed, skiers face a technical, sharply turning, steep track with 6 jumps named after birds of prey (Peregrine, Goshawk, Screech Owl, Golden Eagle, Harrier, and Red Tail). The first section, an iciest and gnarliest plunge called "The Brink", is the most challenging part.
The Birds of Prey was the Men's racecourse for the 2015 World Championships. It is regarded as one of the most difficult Downhill courses in the world and features a vertical drop of 757 meters. With lower starting gates, it is also used for Super-G, Giant Slalom, and Slalom races.
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The first competition on Birds of Prey took place December 2-6, 1997, with a pair of men’s World Cup Downhill races and a men’s World Cup super-G. Germany’s Stefan Krauss was the first racer down Birds of Prey in the opening day of Downhill training and Italy’s Kristian Ghedina was the first race winner, capturing the opening Downhill on December 4, with a time of 1:41.16. During the 1999 Championships, Birds of Prey was the site of the first ever World Championships gold medal tie as Maier and Norway’s Lasse Kjus each mined gold for their super-G efforts, with times that were identical down to the thousandth of a second.
Beaver Creek is a traditional early December stop on the men's World Cup calendar. The first World Cup race was won by Kristian Ghedina of Italy in December 1997, but the course was then dominated by Austrians, led by the legendary Hermann Maier.
Aksel Lund Svindal | Men's SuperG | Beaver Creek | 3rd place | FIS Alpine
Birds of Prey Downhill and Super-G Winners
Here's a list of notable winners at the Birds of Prey racecourse:
| Year | Discipline | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | DH | Kristian Ghedina | ITA |
| 1997 | DH | Andreas Schifferer | AUT |
| 1997 | SG | Hermann Maier | AUT |
| 1999 | DH | Hermann Maier | AUT |
| 1999 | SG | Hermann Maier | AUT |
| 2000 | DH | Hermann Maier | AUT |
| 2000 | SG | Fredrik Nyberg | SWE |
| 2002 | DH | Stephan Eberharter | AUT |
| 2002 | SG | Didier Cuche | SUI |
| 2003 | DH | Daron Rahlves | USA |
| 2003 | DH | Hermann Maier | AUT |
| 2003 | SG | Bjarne Solbakken | NOR |
| 2004 | DH | Bode Miller | USA |
| 2004 | SG | Stephan Goergl | AUT |
| 2004 | GS | Lasse Kjus | NOR |
| 2005 | DH | Daron Rahlves | USA |
| 2005 | SG | Hannes Reichelt | AUT |
| 2006 | DH | Bode Miller | USA |
| 2007 | DH | Michael Walchhofer | AUT |
| 2007 | SG | Hannes Reichelt | AUT |
| 2008 | DH | Aksel Lund Svindal | NOR |
| 2008 | SG | Aksel Lund Svindal | NOR |
| 2009 | DH | Carlo Janka | SUI |
| 2010 | SG | Georg Streitberger | AUT |
| 2011 | DH | Bode Miller | USA |
| 2011 | SG | Sandro Viletta | SUI |
| 2012 | DH | Christof Innerhofer | ITA |
| 2012 | SG | Matteo Marsaglia | ITA |
| 2013 | DH | Aksel Lund Svindal | NOR |
| 2013 | SG | Patrick Kueng | SUI |
| 2014 | DH | Kjetil Jansrud | NOR |
| 2014 | SG | Hannes Reichelt | AUT |
| 2015 | DH | Kjetil Jansrud | NOR |
| 2015 | SG | Marcel Hirscher | AUT |
| 2017 | SG | Vincent Kriechmayr | AUT |
| 2017 | DH | Aksel Lund Svindal | NOR |
| 2018 | SG | Max Franz | AUT |
| 2018 | DH | Beat Feuz | SUI |
| 2019 | DH | Beat Feuz | SUI |
| 2019 | SG | Marco Odermatt | SUI |
| 2021 | SG | Marco Odermatt | SUI |
| 2021 | SG | Aleksander Aadmot Kilde | NOR |
| 2021 | DH | Aleksander Aadmot Kilde | NOR |
Marco Odermatt's Recent Success
Marco Odermatt. Picture: Erich Spiess / Red Bull Content Pool
Defending Super-G World Cup Champion Marco Odermatt is the man everyone aims to beat. Last season, Odermatt won his third straight Super-G Crystal Globe. Stefan Rogentin and Vincent Kriechmayr came second and third, respectively, in the discipline standings.
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Odermatt is the fifth man to win three or more Super-G season titles, joining Kjetil Jansrud, who has also three. Aksel Lund Svindal and Hermann Maier share the Men's record with five Super-G titles, while Pirmin Zurbriggen won four. The 28-year-old Swiss superstar is the first man since Svindal from 2012 to 2014 to win three Super-G World Cup titles in a row. Maier holds the Men's record with four Super-G Globes in a row from 1998-2001.
Marco Odermatt has finished in the top 10 in each of his last 25 World Cup Super-G races, reaching the podium in 19 of them and winning 12 times during this period. This is the longest streak in Super-G World Cup history.
The Swiss Ace is the third man to win at least 16 World Cup Super-G World Cup races, after Hermann Maier (24) and Aksel Lund Svindal (17).
Marco Odermatt has finished on the Super-G podium 26 times. He is now tied with Kjetil Jansrud in joint third place on the all-time men's list behind Hermann Maier (38) and Aksel Lund Svindal (30).
Marco Odermatt and Hannes Reichelt are the skiers with the most World Cup Super-G victories on US slopes, with four wins each. Reichelt's most recent victory came in Aspen during the 2016-17 season, while Odermatt won last season's event in Beaver Creek.
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Other Notable Skiers
Vincent Kriechmayr finished second in the Alpine Ski World Cup Super-G season opener in Copper Mountain. Despite not winning any races in the 2024-2025 winter season, he finished third in the Super-G standings. This was his eighth consecutive Top-three finish in the Super-G standings dating back to the 2017-2018 season. He won the Super-G Crystal Globe in the 2020-2021 season.
Vincent Kriechmayr has claimed nine World Cup victories in both the Super-G and Downhill events. If he wins one more race in each discipline, he will become the 11th man to achieve the 'double-double' of 10+ wins in two disciplines. After Hermann Maier (24 Super-G, 15 Downhill), Aksel Lund Svindal (17 Super-G, 14 Downhill), and Pirmin Zurbriggen (10 Super-G, 10 Downhill), he would become the fourth man to achieve the 'speed double-double'.
If Vincent Kriechmayr finishes in the Top-3 in Beaver Creek, he will equal Stephan Eberharter's record for the most podium finishes by an Austrian Men’s World Cup Super-G skier. Eberharter finished in the top three in a Super-G World Cup race 24 times. Hermann Maier tops the list with 38 Super-G World Cup podium finishes.
Raphael Haaser claimed his 6th career World Cup Super-G podium in Copper Mountain. He is yet to find his first win, but has four top-5 finishes, including three podiums, in his past five Super-G races.
Haaser came second in the Super-G at the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach.
Stefan Babinsky is chasing a first-ever World Cup Super-G podium finish. The Austrian finished 4th in Copper Mountain, equalling his best World Cup Super-G result. He also finished 4th in Super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Aspen in the 2022-2023 winter season.
National Success
Austria is the most successful nation in the history of the Beaver Creek Super-G, having claimed ten wins so far. They are also the only nation to have achieved a podium sweep in a World Cup Super-G race in Beaver Creek. This feat was first achieved in 1997 with Hermann Maier, Stephan Eberharter, and Hans Knauss, and then in 2007 with Hannes Reichelt, Mario Scheiber, and Christoph Gruber.
No US male skier has ever won a Super-G World Cup on home snow. The best result was achieved in Beaver Creek during the 2015-2016 winter season, when two American skiers finished in the top three: Ted Ligety came second and Andrew Weibrecht third.
Team USA has gone 34 races without a Men’s Super G World Cup win. Ryan Cochran-Siegle was the last to win a race, achieving his only World Cup victory in the 2020 Bormio Super-G. Yesterday, he finished in second place in the Downhill.