The Talon Crew is an intensely dedicated and experienced group of volunteers who strive to produce the best Audi FIS Ski Men’s World Cup race course. Partnering with the Vail Valley Foundation, U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Vail Resorts and Beaver Creek Resort (home of the 1989, 1999, and 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships), the Talon Crew finds itself on the icy slopes of the Birds of Prey building fence and installing safety devices, watering, preparing a race-ready surface, and providing course maintenance every winter. Ranked as the number one overall stop by the athletes and coaches who participate, the Xfinity Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup has become legendary in the ski world.
The VHQ is located at Ford Hall in Beaver Creek Village. You will need to stop by VHQ prior to your first shift in order to pick up your uniform and credential with lift access. Ford Hall is conveniently located on the back side of the building where the ticket windows are located. Go up the first escalator and walk through the hallway to the left of the ticket window.
Beaver Creek is very accessible either by car or air. Most people arrive by car, that way you have more flexibility once you are here.
Talon Crew volunteers will receive an official sponsored winter ski jacket and hat with the Birds of Prey logo as part of your 4 day minimum requirement. There are both men’s and women’s sizing and styles. The jackets are usually ordered in February, so in terms of sizing, what we have is what we have. The earlier you are able to pick up your jacket, the better your chances of getting the size you desire. You will be able to try the jackets on for sizing when you pick your up.
The Food Services Crew works diligently to provide our volunteers with plenty of good quality food and hydration. Each day that you volunteer to be on course, you will receive breakfast and lunch.
BUILDING NORTH AMERICA’S DOWNHILL
The Talon Crew is part of the highly talented Event Staff course crew that is tasked with building “North America’s Downhill”. This team is comprised of the VAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION, BEAVER CREEK MOUNTAIN OPERATIONS, the U.S. SKI TEAM, SKI & SNOWBOARD CLUB VAIL and the TALON CREW.
When you register online using the Volgistics system, we will use that email address to send you confirmations, schedules, and newsletter updates. We will use your cell phone number if we need to reach you by phone. We also have a good text messaging system and we strongly encourage you to opt-in for this service. As weather and course conditions can often dictate schedule changes, we will first use text messaging to communicate this. We also use text messaging to send you a reminder the day before your are scheduled for a shift.
Email is our primary form of communicating to you with confirmations and newsletters. You need to have a valid email address in order to participate in Talon Crew. We also send daily schedule reminders via email, the day before your next scheduled shift.
During registration, please opt in to receive text messages. You may also opt in through your VicNet account.
Like Birds of Prey World Cup and the Talon Crew on Facebook to share photos, keep up to date with the social schedule and stay in touch with your fellow crew members.
Follow Birds of Prey World Cup on Twitter for official event announcements.
Follow Birds of Prey World Cup and Talon Crew on Instagram to see photo highlights from the event
We will have the Official Talon Crew Photographer, Curtis Ghent, on the hill to capture shots of you, our hard working volunteers, in action. Our goal is to make high quality portraits and group photos available to you, for free, so that you can easily access and download them and either print or share them on your social media. You can check out the daily photographs at Flickr
The nonprofit Vail Valley Foundation, Local Organizing Committee for the Xfinity Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup, would like to sincerely thank all of its volunteers especially the Talon Crew for their countless hours of service to help make this event a success. We could not do this without YOU.
