Biathlon

Saturday and there aren't a lot of readers about anyway... so I'll just scratch an itch. Not going to talk about D&D.

I married an American, Tamara, and about nine months ago found out that she'd never heard of biathlon or knew what it was. So we found a race on youtube (2010 Whistler Olympics women's relay, excellent race, won't say who won) and watched it straight through. I don't watch many sports myself, since quitting hockey around 1993, and Tamara has never watched sports of any kind her entire life. But that example sparked something.

Progressively, we began to watch all we could find. I think at this point we've watched every race — sprint, pursuit, individual, mass start, relay — since 2019. Tamara doesn't care for the men's races, so we only watch the women's... I have to admit, I think they're better also. The men shoot faster, the difference between the competitors are less nuanced and... yeah, I think it's that the men are kind of stoic and therefore boring. The women collapse into each other's arms, they rush to the aid of others not of their own teams, they laugh, they jump up and down, overall it's just a more joyous thing.

We fully caught up on the IBU World Cup 2024/2025 season by August, as we learned how to look for every last race on youtube (there are tricks to find). That last race in Oslo, and especially those last five minutes, was outstanding. Again, I'm not going to say who won, because when I go to find races on youtube, which I have to because I don't subscribe to a sports channel, I really hate it when some jackass puts the winner in the file's title! Wow, some people are just terrible.

We're up to date this year except for the sprint in Ruhpolding, which I think was yesterday, which we'll look for tonight. Then we'll watch tomorrow's pursuit on Monday. We space it out so we don't have to wait too long for the next stage. We both get really into the races. I talk almost constantly, making a point about something during the race that the commentator says literally ten to fifteen seconds after I do, which is pretty funny. Of late I've been arguing with the commentator's opinions and being proved right as the race finishes. For those who have any idea, I'm really tired of them assuming that Julia Simon is the racer she was three years ago, especially when you watch Hanna Oeberg mop the track up with her the race before, coming up from 13 seconds behind... I'm also really tired of them underestimating Kirkeide. They should have known better from the last event in Annecy — oh damn, now I've gone and given something away.

Of course, our other personal angle is the Canadian team, whom we adore and are proud if they don't get lapped or manage the top 15.  Moser managed an unprecidented 19th in Oberhof's sprint, and she's been just terrific this year. Lunder retired last year, being the lynchpin of the team, and Moser has done all she can to step up. Peiffer and Paradis are still struggling but the very young Rousseau, who got her feet wet last year, is proving to be a revelation.

We've looked into the problems with the Canadian team and it isn't the people themselves. For the most part, they have to pay their own way to the competitions out of money they themselves raise; they have nowhere to stay in Europe except in actual hotels; they don't have their own "wax cabin" at any of the events, this being the place that a team uses to prepare skis for the exact snow temperature and humidity on that course, so the athletes can start with the right glide and grip. Without a cabin of your own, you have to either rely on renting time in someone else’s, which means you’re always pressed for time and working around another team’s priorities, or do the best you can in a hotel room with limited tools, limited time and no controlled set up.

Doing this at every competition is a regular stress that undermines your performance when you actually do race. I looked into it and a wax cabin costs about $300,000, per venue... but even if two or three of them could be spaced through the tour, it would allow the Canadian team an opportunity to rest in Annecy or Lenzerheide for a change... while a little of the cost for that cabin could be returned by renting it to the Lithuanians, Kazakh or even the British and Americans, who are all in the same boat.  It's interesting to note the the Canadians don't kick ass because the European Teams are mostly playing on their home turf, where they can practice on these ranges and these tracks during their time off, when the Canadians and others can't, because they haven't the money.

I've looked into further and come to the conclusion that what the Canadians really need is a place they can live at for weeks at a time, going out at the start of the season, remaining in Europe until Christmas, then coming home for a rest and going out again as the post-Christmas season starts. What's needed is a good sized facility, comfortable, with its own shooting range, convenient tracks for personal training, and importantly access to numerous competitive ranges where day trips could be arranged for them to shoot where the Europeans practice. Said facility again could be rented to the Japanese, Chinese and other non-anglo teams who don't recognise Christmas and could have full use of the facilities for three weeks while the Canadians were actually in Canada. This would offset the cost of the facility year by year.

Using my geographical knowledge, I've chosen the right place: about an hour outside of Lienz in Austrian Tirol. It's a good place for private runs for crosscountry skiing; its got enough infrastructure to support it without it being overwhelmed by tourists. It's close to Hochfilzen (1hr40), Antholz (1hr20) and Pokljuka (2-3hrs), while weekend trips can also be managed to Oberhof (7hr), Ruhpolding (5-6hrs) and Lenzerheide (6-7hrs), all of which are hugely better than travelling by plane from Canada.

The cost for this, near as I can nail down, including space for comfort, access out of the house, the runs, the range, the staff... about 5,000,000 USD to get it set up, then hopefully rent to manage maintenance and upkeep. That's a bit tight, actually; six million would make it more comfortable, but then, it woudl probably be more practical to plan a refit only after it proves the Canadians could win with this level of support.

No, that's not all. When my imagination gets going... the competition for the World Cup starts generally in the last week of November and continues into mid-to-late March. This fits with the European climate model, but I live in Canada. We have a much longer winter and that allows everyone a month or more to train here before the season starts, and a month after for those who want to. The favourite place for this is called Frozen Thunder, it's out in Canmore, which we can drive to in about 70-75 minutes (takes 30 minutes just to get out of Calgary). It's a track with reserved times specifically for high-performance ski training. World Cup competitions have taken place in Canmore. Vittozzi secured her overall World Cup title there in 2024.

The problem is, it's deep in tourists most of the time, most of them downhill skiiers, and Canmore is a small, expensive town.  I know Alberta awfully well, having camped, fished and hunted my way through a lot of the backcountry in my youth, and I have a better idea.  'Course, it would be about two million CDN, but with these things we can't quibble.

North of Canmore there's a little burg called Sundre; not quite 3,000 people, on the edge of rough country between it an the mountains, about another 15 minutes further from Calgary than Canmore. Has no practical downhill skiing, but it would be a brilliant place for a crosscountry ski track with climbs and falls under 400 metres. The country right west of Sundre is private land but not highly expensive private land; just past that is protected forest and, unfortunately a whole lot of bears... but a little arranging could manage that.

If the town of Sundre were approached properly, and if a track of land were properly converted into trails and a modest shooting range, and IF that range were made available to Canadian youths across the country, and the people of Sundre were actually listened to regarding the bears, and given a say about where the track was laid and were given jobs by the facility, then it could be a spectacular industry for the whole of western Alberta between Cochrane to the south and Rocky Mountain House to the north. It would fill up with snow in October and would make a fantastic facility for world-class athletes and youth alike... and Sundre would be chock full of Americans in October who, like Europeans, are still waiting for snow by Halloween.

I believe that such a facility, if it had the money up front, could be self-sustainable. Its separation from tourists, the possibilities for youths from us and America... and junior world competitions take place in America and Canada while the Europeans are globetrotting their part of the world. We watched a great race with Oceane Michelon (I think) that took place in Colorado when she was still just 16. She won the blue jersey in world Biathlon last year. Chances are, the infrastructure would follow, though there are little hotels all over that part of the world that are just an hour from Sundre. And of course Calgary could handle the overflow.

Ah, but of course, this is all a dream. The lottery this month is 900 million though... or perhaps it's grown, I haven't checked. So we just never know.