The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Shooting guns is a draw…”
One way to attract teenagers to a new sport is to include guns—so the Crested Butte Town Council Monday jumped on the bandwagon of supporting a new Nordic biathlon team, geared to the local middle school athletes. Biathlon combines Nordic skiing and marksmanship.
The race team will start up this winter under the auspices of the Crested Butte Nordic Center and will be coached by parents Randy and Joan Swift.
The Swifts approached the Town Council on Tuesday, September 7, along with parents of other interested biathletes, Joe and Chris Matyk and Roger and Sue Sherman. “We think this will increase the interest from kids in Nordic skiing,” Randy Swift explained. “Finding a shooting range has been the hardest part of doing this but we are looking at the 30-foot area directly west of the Nordic Center.”
Swift said the kids would be shooting with pellet guns against the hillside below the Bench. Chief marshal Tom Martin wrote a memo to the council saying his department supported the program, “and if requested would provide an officer for firearms training to the participants.”
The immediate neighbors have been contacted and have no qualms about the proposal, according to Swift. The kids would practice two afternoons per week from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Randy and Joan Swift have attended a biathlon training camp in Minnesota and are pursuing further coaching training.
There would be only about 10 participants in this initial year. “Safety is of utmost priority,” emphasized Randy Swift. He said gun safety procedures would be included at the start of the season. He said the athletes would not be skiing with the rifles but would ski various loops on the Bench before returning to the shooting range to secure a rifle and shoot at targets.
Crested Butte Parks and Recreation director Jake Jones said the town could create its own safety class. “We could have the town marshals perform the firearms class and issue a certificate,” he said. “Big Mine Park is a real amenity and this is a unique program. It will help highlight the synergy of winter sports in Big Mine Park. We are all very supportive of it. It’s an ideal location and feels very appropriate to me.”
Councilmembers Dan Escalante and Jim Schmidt asked if the pellets could be collected so they wouldn’t harm the environment or wildlife. Randy Swift said he had learned that, with a backdrop behind the targets and a tarp beneath them, virtually all the lead pellets can be collected.
Roger Sherman emphasized the attraction of biathlon as a sport. “Nordic skiing is very aerobic and a lot of kids are choosing to play hockey at that age, which is a great sport, but this will attract some athletes to the program,” he said. “This is a good hook to boost the Nordic race program. Shooting guns is a draw. The U.S. biathlon program is very well defined and we can model our program after other places.”
The Town Council’s gun guy, John Wirsing, was excited about the idea of incorporating rifle safety into the program. “It is a fantastic idea,” he said.
Nordic Center director Keith Bauer said his board was fully behind the program and expressed support for the parents starting the program. “We think it will be a good way to keep kids coming into the sport,” he said.
