Photo by Kevin Krill

The countdown is on: Thousands of ski racing fans are set to descend on Colorado for the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, which take place in Vail and Beaver Creek from February 2-15. For the unintiated, this is a pretty big deal in the ski community. The competition is second only to the Olympics in size, with more than 600 athletes from 72 countries making the pilgrimage to battle it out on our snowy slopes.

Learn more in my insider’s spectator guide to the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships on RootsRated.