World Ski Championships Crowds Are Huge, And Very Diverse
VAIL, Colo. (CBS4) - Final preparations are underway for yet another medal ceremony in Vail for the Alpine World Ski Championships.
Friday was a disappointing day for the American women, but that didn't stop a massive crowd from coming out to watch. There are 70 countries represented with skiers at the event, and the stands are just as diverse.
"I was just commenting to some friends here about the colors of everyone in the audience," Steve Fisher with Maui Ski Bus said.
People have come from all over, gathering at the Red Tail Finish Stadium at Beaver Creek.
"World Cup, races, skiing, partying," a spectator said.
Frank Fu made the trip from Detroit.
"Just for this, took the whole weekend. Took a day off from school just to come here, just wanted to experience this first hand," Fu said.
Fisher is from the United States -- Hawaii -- but had to cross an ocean to get here.
"I'm out here for the World Championships and Maui Ski Bus is going to push on Julia Mancuso because she lives on Maui part time," Fisher said.
"Coming close to the bottom you can hear them, it's really awesome and I'm so happy to be racing at home, everyone is so supportive and it's really cool," Mancuso said.
"I wanted to come down in the lead, or at least in the top three, and you know give the crowd something to cheer about," Lindsey Vonn said.
They still had plenty.
"We came around 7:30-ish," Yu said. "Been rocking all day, it's great."
"The atmosphere is amazing, the sun is shining and it was a good day," Vonn said.
And that was just on a Friday. An even bigger crowd is expected for the men's downhill on Saturday.
The Colorado Department of Transportation says they're expecting Interstate 70 to be a very difficult drive this weekend with so many people expected to attend the event. But it's not over -- the World Championships run through Feb. 15.