Local kids take on biathlon

 Skiing & shooting, what could be better

Even in a town like Crested Butte, Nordic skiing is not necessarily the first, second or even the third thing on most kids’ minds when they think of having fun.

Let’s be honest, Nordic skiing is hard, and while it offers a dose of endorphins when one pushes the red line, how does an 11-year-old kid find the red line and get that endorphin rush?
The after-school recreational Nordic ski program is traditionally very strong, with as many as 40 kids signed up each year. The age group around middle school (ages 11-13) is when kids start looking elsewhere for winter activities—think terrain park, halfpipe and hockey.
“We identified sixth and seventh grade as the gap we needed to bridge,” says head Crested Butte junior Nordic ski coach Duncan Callahan. “We’ve fallen short for that age group.”
Last winter, Nordic parents Randy Swift and Roger Sherman discussed an idea to bridge the gap from the rec program to the junior Nordic team: biathlon. Biathlon combines marksmanship and Nordic skiing as athletes ski a certain distance prior to skiing into a shooting range to fire off five shots at targets while on their skis in one of two positions, standing and prone, or lying down.
“Roger did some work trying to get it going a couple years ago,” explains Randy, “and we were out skiing and got to talking about it. We saw a need for more use of Nordic skiing in our valley and to make it more fun for the kids.”
As word spread, more parents, including Joe and Chris Matyk, stepped in to help out, both physically and financially, resulting in the formation of a biathlon program this winter.
Organizers decided to cap the team at 10 athletes in the first year and it immediately filled up. While typical biathletes shoot .22 caliber rifles at targets 50 meters away, the Crested Butte team is using five brand-new air rifles this first year that mimic the weight of a .22 rifle. In addition, they have a makeshift shooting range by the Nordic center with official biathlon targets. The kids are stationed 10 yards from the targets.
The kids get a mix of training with both shooting and skiing as other parents have jumped in to help out on both ends. In addition, the kids get additional Nordic workouts with Callahan.
“They’re learning to ski relaxed so they can come into the range ready to shoot,” says Duncan. “They’re skiing better and faster because of that.”
Enthusiasm is high among the athletes, and Swift sees the kids skiing harder during workouts to get back to the shooting end of things.
“Bringing the shooting into it makes them try harder and ski harder,” says Randy. “They’re finding out that they like to push themselves.”
On one particular evening, five kids were out on the track skiing with Joan Swift while Randy and Jess Rose worked the range to help the other five kids with their shooting.
“It’s hard to shoot standing, “ said one athlete.
“That’s why you’ve got to work on your breathing,” responded Jess.
“Take two breaths, exhale and shoot,” adds Randy.
Fledgling biathlete Liam Rose followed a similar strategy that worked for him this past fall during elk season, when he shot his first bull.
“I’ll just do like I did with my elk,” said Liam.
Both Liam and teammate Benjamin Swift agree the hardest part is the breathing.
“Breathing hard and shooting is the hardest,” said Benjamin.
The team had its first trial run at an intrasquad competition a couple of weeks into the season, and Benjamin explained the pressures of biathlon racing.
“It’s pretty hard,” admitted Benjamin. “The pressure was on and you want to finish first but you miss more.”
“I only thought of one thing at a time,” said Liam. “If I think about the shooting while I’m skiing, I might crash. I just held my breath and made sure I squeezed the trigger when I shot.”
Where the program goes from here is anyone’s guess, but Randy expects it to grow.
“We’d like to get some girls into it,” says Randy. “If we’re having fun with it maybe we’ll do it in the summer on bicycles or running—create some endorphin-loving boys and girls out of it.”
Duncan sees the biathlon program as a major asset to his Nordic team program down the line.
“Biathlon helps keeps kids in the sport,” says Duncan. “It’s good to offer an alternative that keeps that age group on their skis.”