Biathlon becomes Three Big Events

There's the biathlon -- that was great. The participants all enjoyed themselves, all went home with good memories (and mostly t-shirts, for warmer weather!)   Hilda was our youngest participant - 8 years old! Dad skied along behind her, for moral support, but she just plain rocked it. She could shoot well too!

 The volunteers, as volunteers are, were the rocks on which the event was built.  And then there was the weather.

Brian had the course looking absolutely fantastic the day prior.  It was beautifully marked, impeccably groomed, and there was a fighting chance that the big hill out the back would be a breeze.




Came the wind. Came the storm. Came the snow. And came, and came and came.

Brian groomed the track again early in the morning, but by about 10 a.m. you could hardly see it. That didn't stop the people here from getting out there, checking out the technique and feel of the paintball marker guns, skiing round the course (leaving tracks for the rest to follow)

Brian took the snowmobile around again before the races started, to be sure the tracks were clearly to be seen.





The crew from Back Country Paintball made sure everyone got lots of chances to practice with the markers.  The biathletes got 8 shots, on 4 targets -- twice.

The skied a loop that was about 1 km. long -- twice.

Algonquin Outfitters had skiis and snowshoes here, at no charge, so there were really no excuses.  Several people who had come "just to watch"  relented, and had a go.

It was great to see families out, with such a wide range of ages taking part.


The volunteers were amazing. That snow was wet, and they had to stand around in it for a long time.  Nancy went through two sets of mitts, and Taffy wisely decided to spend part of the day watching from the car while she dried out!


Adding the element of the paintball markers to the sport of cross country skiing turned out to be a great idea.

While time was added to the younger divisions, the 'big kids' had to ski a penalty loop if they missed a target. That was good incentive to take care shooting.

 It was nice to have an event like this in the Lake of Bays, too -- we had lots of our neighbours come over to watch or take part.  Sue planned to just watch her boys race, but couldn't resist putting on skiis and getting a medal of her very own. Peter often comes to ski our trails.

 Kathy from the Dwight Lion's Club staffed the BBQ and made sure everyone had plenty of hot chocolate and coffee, as well as a good hot lunch. 

Snowmen sprang up along the course as if by magic.

Despite the rather wet snow and the wild winds (David reported that coming out of the gully on the back of the course he was almost blown over!) people hung out to watch and cheer. Always a sign they're having a good time.

Unfortunately, the two events were joined by a third, not of our planning, making or desire. That was the roads. Not nice, those roads, especially in the morning. The result was a lower turnout that we would have had if the driving was good.  So the turnout was not huge.

Never mind, this was the first one, it was all about feeling it out, figuring out what worked, what didn't, and -- especially for the participants -- what it felt like out there.  From that perspective, the numbers were just about right.