25.0°
The target holes at a biathlon range change size based on the shooting stance. In the standing position the target is 4.5 inches wide but when prone the target is only 1.8 inches wide. Shots are taken from 50 meters away. Photo By Seth Lightcap |
CommentsGood Times with Guns: Biathlon Returns to Tahoe
Published: January 16, 2010by Seth Lightcap
Sports Spotlight
Though most folks might trumpet figure skating or hockey, my vote for the “world’s toughest winter sport” just got a serious bid from an unlikely contender — biathlon.
A rarefied blend of cross-country skiing and target shooting, a biathlon race involves skiing a 10- to 20-kilometer course with a rifle on your back and stopping to shoot at five targets every 2.5 to 5 kilometer. The stances for the four shooting stops flip-flop from a standing position to a prone position (lying down). Depending on the competition, missed shots either tax the racer with a short additional penalty lap or seconds are added to their overall time.
Up until a month ago, biathlon had never really crossed my radar. It might have only made my list of “world’s toughest sports to find a place to play” anytime previous. But all that changed when I skied up to Northstar-at-Tahoe’s new Biathlon Ski Training Center, peered down the barrel of a rifle, and attempted to put a .22 caliber bullet in a five-inch hole 50 meters away. You would have thought I was sea sick.
While my lousy aim probably echoed my lifetime shooting experience — none — it was blatantly obvious that the calm finesse required of target shooting, combined with the ridiculous cardiovascular strength necessary of Nordic skiing, forces biathletes to be virtually super human. When I shot, I had been resting for nearly a half hour. Had I just sprinted up to the shooting line, out of breath and heart racing, I would have surely shot like I was maced in the face.
The Biathlon Ski Training Center at Northstar is a partnership between Northstar and the Auburn Ski Club and is the only permanent biathlon facility on the West Coast. Its installation is not the first Tahoe biathlon milestone, however. The sport was first introduced as an Olympic discipline at the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley. The biathlon range used for those games was in Sugar Pine Point State Park just past Homewood.
Tahoe’s Olympic ties to biathlon are still alive and well at the new Northstar facility through the enthusiasm and direction of Glenn Jobe, a former US Biathlon Olympic Team member and Sierraville resident. Jobe and officers from the Auburn Ski Club negotiated with Northstar for several years to make the course a reality. Now completed, Jobe is the head instructor, offering three-hour private clinics by reservation.
Animated and still super fit, Jobe led the clinic I attended and deftly conveyed a full spectrum of biathlon insights to us. He started with the basic handling of the rifle and the rules of competition before delving into tales of those super human techniques I was mentioning — android-like skills such as dropping your pulse by 25 beats in the last 50 yards of skiing before the shooting line.
Another consistent thread of Jobe’s lesson was gun safety precautions. Having seen or witnessed just about every mistake you could make with a sporting but serious weapon, Jobe pounded home reminders of the common gun handling mistakes and instantly called you out if your rifle barrel wandered astray of the safe zone before or after shooting.
Listening to Jobe’s empassioned lessons I couldn’t help but ponder what effect this new training facility would have on our region’s fledgling Nordic skiing superstars. Adding such a unique twist to an already popular youth sports discipline made me think a lot more local kids may become motivated to learn to Nordic ski. Might we be celebrating another Truckee/Tahoe Olympic biathlete in the near future?
You’ll surely hear about the United States’ top biathlete at the Vancouver games next month. As of press time U.S. Biathlon Team member Tim Burke, a New York native, is the number one biathlete on the World Cup and the first American ever to have held the top rank. If Burke can live up to this ranking in Vancouver, the United States has a good chance at our first-ever medal in a biathlon event.
After tasting the thrill of target shooting and being well versed in the bliss of Nordic skiing, I’m not surprised that biathlon is wildly popular in Europe and supposedly even the top-rated winter sport on television. Skating, shooting, and watching others hit and miss was indeed extremely fun.
If you’re interested in checking out such competitive biathlon action, the first public biathlon race at the Northstar course will be held on March 21. You won’t be able to compete without experience however, so if you’ve never raced and shot before you’ll need to attend the Intro to Biathlon clinic on February 12 or sign up for a private lesson.
The three-hour biathlon lessons at the Northstar center are offered Monday to Friday, excluding holidays, for participants ages 13 and up. Reservations must be made 48 hours in advance with a maximum group size of four.
For more information about the Biathlon Ski Training Center, call (530) 562-3720 visit northstarattahoe.com.
0 Reader Comments so far ...
Be the first to comment on this article!