February 13, 2011 in Outdoors

Skiers take a shot at biathlon

Sport of exertion and calmness taught at Methow Winter Fest

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The Methow Valley Biathlon Team offers clinics teaching the sport that combines cross-country skiing and marksmanship during the Methow Valley Winter Festival in late February based in Winthrop, Wash.
(Full-size photo)

Biathlon ranks among the most frustrating sports on the planet, which is exactly why it’s fun.

The idea is that you do a sport, nordic ski racing, which requires living near your maximum heart rate, then you stop periodically to do a sport, precision rifle shooting, which requires a calm attained only by focused relaxation and meditation to attain freakishly slow heart rates.

The two sports are incompatible, and balancing the two demands is the art of biathlon. It will make you crazy and happy at the same time (which is kind of what being Scandinavian is like for some of us even when we’re not skiing biathlon).

If you want to do biathlon, you could go to a place where it’s wildly popular, like Germany or Ukraine or any of the Scandinavian countries, where at least you’ll be frustrated among the frustrated.

Alternatively, you could go to northcentral Washington’s Methow Valley, which has one of a handful of biathlon ranges in the United States.

The sport requires no special ski equipment beyond skate skis, poles, and boots. But the rifles are light, target .22 caliber fitted with backpack-style harnesses.

Two “Try Biathlon” events are scheduled near Winthrop, Wash., during the Methow Valley Winter Festival, ( mvsta.com/winter/) which has numerous events including races, doggie dashes, kids ski rodeos and more, scheduled from Friday-Feb. 27.

The valley’s biathlon team coaches will put on the events Feb. 23 and Feb. 26 to assure that everyone has fun and that safety is a priority.

If you decide to try this sport, you’re likely to have something resembling fun.

One comment on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  Kivaari on February 13 at 10:06 a.m.

  This sport started in the Scandinavian countries as training and competition between soldiers. In the early days the rifles were standard military rifles or carbines. Early Olympic shooters were using military caliber rifles, much truer to the origins. Cost of ammunition was excessive and civilians could not usually afford to participate. Then due to gun control issues in Europe most shooters went to rim fire rifles and the Olympics went along. When the author describes them as light .22 rifles, I’d say they are light caliber, but the guns have enough weight, at least to me, to be considered heavy.
  Very specialized with sight guards to keep snow out and the special sling. Many rifles are specifically designed just for this demanding sport. Fun and challenging if you are young, fit and can shoot. I am none of the above.