Mountainwatch.com's Steve Lee went behind the scenes of the USA ski team's Kitzbuhel preparation with US coach Mick Branch to see what it takes to prepare athletes for this most demanding of races.

Australian Branch, who is the brother of 2010 Australian Olympic team member Craig Branch coaches some of the world's best alpine racers, including popular favourite Bode Miller. Spending the week with him, Lee uncovers the combination of on and off snow training and technology that goes into a successful Kitzbuhel performance.

Lee, a former alpine racer himself, explains the unique challenges of the Kitzbuhel course, from its infamous 's' bends to the rollers that launch skiers into the air at 130km per hour.

This fascinating behind the scenes tour shows what alpine skiing is all about, the only event more famous than Kitzbuhel is the Olympic Games and all the effort seen here will be going on double time to prepare the athletes for the moment of their lives.

The Olympic downhill is one of the first events on the schedule, taking place at 11:45am on 13 February, day two of the Games.

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tags: olympic, feature, features, video, kitzbuhel, bode, miller, alpine, skiing, downhill, craig, branch, mick, usa, ski, team

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