Highs and Lows at Vail’s World Alpine Ski Championships

By Heather Burke, Boston.com Correspondent

While we were shoveling here in the North East, all ski racing eyes were on Vail Feb 3-15 as Beaver Creek hosted the World Alpine Ski Championships.

Despite no new snow, the US made a big show, with 5 overall medals including Gold by Ted Ligety in GS (pictured celebrating above) and Mikaela Shiffrin in Slalom. The US Ski Team finishing just behind the Austrian power house of ski racers is certainly a high. So was the weather at Vail – with balmy 50-degree temps and sunny skies through the majority of the two week event. Bode Miller’s Super G crash was a high and low, as he severed a tendon – his ski slicing through his speed suit and leaving a gnarly visible gash. Travis Ganong took Silver in Downhill for the US, and Lindsey Vonn got Bronze in Super G – the first US medal at the Beaver Creek hosted champions. Vonn did not podium following that race – sighting her knee as not completely recovered to full strength, but was happy with her performance in front of her home town crowd.

Ted Ligety said of skiing at Vail Beaver Creek, “We’re always competing in Europe, so it is great to be racing at home in front of friends and family.” Ligety led the US Team at Beaver Creek, winning the most technical of alpine disciplines, the GS, and securing Bronze in the Combined. The slopes at Beaver Creek are favorable to Ligety, this is his 7th World Championship title, his 5th at Vail Beaver Creek. Mickaela Shiffrin also won on her home turf — the 19-year-old earned her 2nd consecutive World Slalom Title.

Vail has hosted World Cups since 1967, including these Championships in 1989 and 1999, and the World Cup Finals in 1994 and 1997. Alpine ski racing is a huge spectator event in Europe – like our Super Bowl. Hosting a world ski event at Vail, considered the ski racing capital of North America, brings international media and skier visits. During the 1989-90 season, Vail’s international skier visits jumped from 3-4 percent to 12 percent.

This season at Vail there was no copious fresh snow to show the film crews that flocked to the Colorado Mountains – the races went on in 50 degree temperatures with spring-like ski conditions, only turning to snow on the final day, Sunday, Feb. 15, for the men’s slalom. The après ski in Vail Village each afternoon following the races heated up too. Top bands like Blues Traveler and CeeLo Green entertained the crowds during each Medal Ceremony and the next day’s bib-toss.

As for Bode’s big crash, in an NBC interview, 37-year-old Bode Miller spoke of being sidelined for the season and whether he would return to race in the future. Miller said, “I’m leaning pretty heavy towards not—not going out there anymore. I hope people see the truth when I ski. I don’t have an agenda when I’m out there. I don’t try to cover things up or look cool. Skiing is such a raw sport and people pick out what they want to see. Something I would hope would stand out – the honesty of my skiing.”

I love Bode’s brutal honesty, his skiing and his interviews, even when he says “I have no use for the media.”

Bode Miller’s Super G crash at Vail Beaver Creek World Alpine Ski Championships 2015.

Heather Burke, Boston.com Correspondent