FIS Congress Officially Underway--Exhibition Booth Opening And Presentation Rehearsals Highlight First Day

The 2010 FIS Congress is officially underway and for the Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 delegation, the day was highlighted by the opening of the exhibition booths and the final rehearsal for Tuesday's presentation to the FIS Council.

Lamb chops and warm potato salad were the order of the day in the Beaver Creek/Vail booth, courtesy of Chef Tim McCaw, with strawberry/banana smoothies to start the morning. The FIS Council also paid their "official" visits to all the booths at 10 a.m.

The afternoon marked the final candidates' technical and full rehearsals for tomorrow's presentation to the Council. Beaver Creek/Vail will be the next-to-last presentation of the afternoon, scheduled for 4:35-4:50 p.m. Turkey time.

Traditionally, the Council presentations have been made just prior to the vote for the Championships, but the FIS Council had asked for the presentations to be made earlier in the week to allow them to have several days to ask any questions that arose from the presentation.

Following Tuesday's presentations and the operation of the booth for the coming two days, only a short presentation to the Alpine Committee stands between the candidates and Thursday's vote.

T -3 and counting.

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Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 Booth Brigade--Building the Perfect Beast

Day two of the Beaver Creek/Vail quest to capture the 2015 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships featured an inspired performance from the Beaver Creek/Vail Booth Brigade, as the quartet hammered out the construction of their 2015 exhibition booth, despite sweltering heat, power outages and a few misplaced pieces here and there.

Comprised of Greg Johnson, Steve Folz, Mark Fenstermacher and John Dakin, the four powered through the setup of the stainless steel and acrylic booth in a record three hours, literally building the perfect beast, as the booth features walls and cabinet that change colors utilizing LED lights and a computerized timing system.

The World Championships exhibition area officially opens on Monday morning at 9:30 a.m., with the official visit by the FIS Council members slated for around 10 a.m. Chef Tim McCaw will be blending up fresh fruit smoothies for the morning break, with lamb and warm potato salad on tap for the lunch break.

Monday also marks the technical and full rehearsals for the Council presentation, which is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. Bill Marolt, John Garnsey and Ceil Folz will represent the Bid Committee for the presentation, along with Bjorn Erik Borgen and Dexter Paine.

The vote for the host site of the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships will take place on Thursday, with the announcement expected around 10:30 a.m. in Colorado.

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First Wave Of Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 Delegation Lands In Turkey

The first wave of the Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 World Championships bid delegation arrived in Antalya, Turkey Friday evening and spent the better part of Saturday collecting their pre-shipped containers, not to mention lost luggage, in anticipation of Sunday's build out of the exhibition booths.

With the possible exception of Chef Tim McCaw's cloths, everything else has arrived safely in Turkey, with the remainder of the Beaver Creek/Vail delegation due in Saturday evening, bringing the final total to 18 people.

In addition to building the exhibition booth on Sunday, the bid committee will also resume their focus on the official presentation, which is made to the FIS Council on Tuesday afternoon, with a technical and full rehearsal on tap for Monday.

The vote for the 2015 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships will take place on Thursday, June 3, with the announcement expected around 10:30 a.m. Colorado time.

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Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 Booth Hoping To "Light Up" The Competition

The first piece of the Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 FIS World Championships bid has arrived in Turkey in anticipation of the start of the FIS Congress as the exhibition booth landed in Istanbul this morning.

Retro-fitted to reflect the Vail Valley's 2015 campaign, the main core of the booth will remain similar to that created for the 2008 FIS Congress in Cape Town, South Africa, with an acrylic and stainless steel look, featuring walls that change color with banks of LED lights. The display and cabinet unit has been redesigned to incorporate the flat screen television, maximizing space in the 9' x 9' booth. The unit also features an acrylic "nosecone" that also changes color with the walls.

The booth was designed by Dave Dute of Neuron Strategy & Creative in Denver and built by Bill Osswald of Creative Productions in Boulder. The LED lighting package is provided by John Fuller of Mountain Lighting Company in Denver.

The Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 booth will be built on Sunday, May 30, and open to the approximately 1,200 FIS Congress delegates from Monday, May 31, through Wednesday, June 2. The vote for the 2015 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships will take place on Thursday, June 3.

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Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 Delegation Make Final Plans For June 3 World Championships Vote At FIS Congress In Turkey

That loud ticking sound you hear is coming from the World Championships clock that is counting down the final days to the vote that will determine whether the Vail Valley will play host to the biggest event in skiing in 2015.

For the better part of the past two years, the Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 Bid Committee, comprised of key officials of the Vail Valley Foundation, Vail Resorts and the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association, have been lobbying international skiing representatives in an effort to return the FIS World Alpine Ski Championships to the United States.

Now, with a little under two weeks remaining until the final vote, which is scheduled for Thursday, June 3, at the FIS Congress in Antalya, Turkey, the Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 delegation is making final preparations that they hope will result in victory.

The Vail Valley is vying for the right to host the Alpine World Championships with St. Moritz, Switzerland and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. All three sites were candidates for the 2013 Championships that were awarded to Schladming, Austria at the 2008 FIS Congress. The Alpine Championships have not revisited the U.S. since Vail and Beaver Creek played host to the 1999 event.

The first piece of the Beaver Creek/Vail contingent is scheduled to land in Turkey on Monday morning as the exhibition booth is already in route. The human element of the Congress presence is slated to begin departing on May 27.

In addition to the three days of operating the booth, the Beaver Creek/Vail Bid Committee will also make official presentations to the FIS Council and the Alpine Committee.

The June 3 vote will be taken by the 16 members of the FIS Council, with an absolute majority required to win the Championships. The announcement of the results of the voting will come around 7:30 p.m. in Turkey, 11:30 a.m. in the Vail Valley.

Beaver Creek/Vail 2015 fans can follow the action from Turkey by checking out the daily blogs, photos and videos on the Vail Valley Foundation website, http://www.vvf.org/. The website will also feature video of the Thursday announcement of the host site for the 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships.

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Tickets for Dance for $20.10 on sale TODAY!

It's the best deal of the summer season!

Tickets go on sale today for the annual Dance for $20.10 showcase on August 3 at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail. The performance, part of the 2010 Vail International Dance Festival lineup, aims to introduce new audiences to dance by offering tickets at only $10 for the lawn and $20.10 for every reserved seat in the house.

The repertoire is also designed to be accessible, featuring contemporary dance, classical ballet, live music and more. Featuring performers will include dancers from Pacific Northwest Ballet and BeijingDance / LDTX; Artist-in-Residence Larry Keigwin; and stars from the International Evenings of Dance.

The showcase sold out in 2008 and 2009, so don't wait to reserve your seats! Tickets are on sale today at 11am online here or at 888.920.ARTS.

Tickets for all other shows in the 2010 Festival season are also on sale now. A full lineup, artist bios, photos, video and more is available at http://www.vaildance.org/.

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Free Concerts at Teva Mountain Games

The 2010 Teva Mountain Games will feature two free concerts from the heart of Vail Village for Bud Light Mountains of Music. Beginning at 7pm, Checkpoint Charlie will come alive with DJs and bands, winding down from the day of outdoor sports and gearing up for a night of festivities in Vail Village.

Don't miss Julian Marley & Uprising Band and the U2 tribute band Under A Blood Red Sky at the 2010 Teva Mountain Games!

Julian “JuJu” Marley has been around Reggae music all his life. Julian’s music, a combination of hypnotic beats and soulful vocals is inspired by his life and spirituality. It incorporates the roots-Reggae sound that Julian has made his own, infused with street-energy hip hop, bubbling dancehall and a smooth combination of R&B and Reggae.

Under A Blood Red Sky (UABRS) is an acclaimed U2 tribute band that passionately recreates authentic concerts of one of the greatest bands of our time. Not only does UABRS play and sound like U2, their amazing attention to detail creates a visual experience that the most ardent U2 fan would recognize.

2010 Bud Light Mountains of Music Schedule:
Thursday, June 3 @ 7pm – Under A Blood Red Sky
Saturday, June 5 @ 7pm – Julian "JuJu" Marley & Uprising Band

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Acclaimed for VPAC Artists

Congratulations to Yuja Wang and Joyce Yang, recipients of the 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grants. These talented young pianists were awarded $25,000 prizes in a ceremony at Lincoln Center. Previous recipients of this prestigious prize include Carter Brey, James Ehnes, Leila Josefowicz, Jeffrey Kahane, and Edgar Meyer.

Both artists have performed at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in the last two years.

As with all things Vail Valley Foundation and Vilar Performing Arts Center we always strive to bring world class artists and events to the Vail Valley. These two very talented and critically acclaimed performers once again showcase the world class nature of the Vilar Performing Arts Center and the great performances that take place there.

JOYCE YANG PERFORMING AT THE VPAC:

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