On Jan. 3 – 4, the Cariboo Ski Touring Club (CSTC) hosted the first Biathlon BC Cup Competition of the season, at Hallis Lake.
On all accounts the event was a huge success, with more than 70 athletes participating from Smithers, Burns Lake, Vanderhoof, Prince George, Whistler, Vancouver and Kelowna.
On Thursday evening and Friday morning, parents and coaches endured severe road conditions, due to freezing rain, to get their athletes to Quesnel in time for the competition.
There was also concern about what the rain would do to the ski trails at Hallis Lake.
But thanks to the CSTC groomers, they had the course ready and in excellent shape by Friday morning.
Colder temperatures settled in over the weekend and the athletes had to ski and shoot in temperatures of -15 to -20, plus a wind chill.
Despite the harsh weather conditions, Quesnel athletes did very well and earned several medals.
Biathlon is the combination of two conflicting disciplines – physically demanding skate skiing and focused precision shooting, with a .22 calibre rifle.
The athletes competed in two competitions: Sprint and Individual.
The Individual format places the onus on shooting with a one minute penalty for each missed target, while the “Sprint format features three laps of skiing and two bouts of shooting.
CSTC wish to extend our thanks to the many volunteers, who put in numerous hours to make this a very successful and memorable event.
We are fortunate to have such a wonderful ski facility at Hallis Lake and the club look forward to hosting future biathlon competitions.
For information, please visit the CSTC website www.caribooski.ca, or send an e-mail to biathlon@caribooski.ca.
