Polar Bear Biathlon Club

We are sorry to say that Mother Nature has wiped out both of our biathlons this season.  The decision was made on Wednesday, January 25th, that there was not enough snow in the shooting area of the range as well as no snow to push across the road to host a race.  The penalty area was icy and very thin as well.

Lay on adequate seating for people to rest and relax when they are not walking, dancing or mingling. If you are planning entertainment, make sure your seats are positioned so that people can watch it without having to move around too much. Place seats under cover in case it rains if possible and have waterproof cushions or covers in case of rain, look at seating options at https://tiered-seating.uk/. Have an indoor space with seating too, so that people can move and get warm if they find the outdoor temperatures too cold.

At this point in time the Empire State Winter Games for biathlon are in question for next weekend.  The cross country events for next weekend have been moved to the ski jump area.  They will make snow to cover a 1.5 to 2.o km course.  The final decision will be made on Wednesday, February 1st, as to whether the cross country races will definitely be held.   More as we learn what is happening

Hopefully you will join us in our Summer Biathlon events beginning in June!  See you then!

Due to poor snow conditions we have canceled our January 1st biathlon.  We hope that you will come and join us on January 29th of our next biathlon event.  For the Polar Bear Biathletes we will schedule a shooting sesson at 1:30 p.m. January 1st to bring in the new year with a bang, so to speak!  Hope that you will be able to join us!

For those of you interested in receiving your Level I Biathlon Officials certification, we are planning a clinic for December 3rd, a Saturday.  It will be an all day event with classroom material and an open book test at the end of the morning.  After lunch we will move to the range to go through life-like situations and some practice shooting.  If you are interested in attending please let me know, c_klossner@hotmail.com, so that we can include you in this event.  We need to have a list of those individuals by Friday morning, 11/18/11, so that we be sure that we have enough interest from the area.  I look forward to hearing from you!  If you are going to email me my address is c underscore klossner at hotmail dot com.  Sometimes the blus address you see above hides the underscore.

As the weather changes from the nice warm sun, lots of leaves and summer chores to frosty mornings, shorter days and cooler temperatures it is time to begin preparation for your upcoming racing season.  For all of our Polar Bear Biathletes you need to get your paperwork done.  For you to race this season make sure that you have joined all the necessary organizations.  First of all you must join the Polar Bear Ski Club!  Make sure that you are a member.  Secondly, you must join New York State Ski Racing, NYSSRA, Nordic.  You can do this online.  Then you will also have to be a member of USBA, United States Biathlon Association.  This will set you back somewhere around $200, possibly more depending if you take out family memberships!  Once you have all of these things taken care of start looking over the racing schedule.  Remember, for many you are racing on the high school nordic team first and fore most.  That is where you are getting your basic training and conditioning.  Then you need to decide what weekends you are going to double, or in some cases triple, up your racing.  Make a list of those races and mark your calendar.  Then plan your training to meet that schedule.  Keep in mind that the Empire State Games are not going to be end of year races this year.  They have been moved to February 2nd through 5th.  The biathlon race will be on February 5th, one race this year.  Our end of year championships will be the New York State Championships.

The race schedule for the Polar Bear Biathlon Club starts with a race on January 1st.  It will be a 7.5 km sprint for all participants.  We are going to try for one or two more dates, but at this point we have not settle on those dates.  More will come as decisions are made.  Our final calendar will be in place by the end of October!  Get out and get shooting.  Our calendar has our fall shooting dates listed.  The racing schedule will be posted soon.

The fall New York Biathlon meeting to plan the upcoming 2011/12 racing season will take place on September 25th at the College of Technology campus in Utica.   This year there will be changes to the biathlon schedule.  The biggest change will be that the Empire State Games have been moved from the end of February, i.e., the last weekend of President’s week, to the first weekend of February.  The dates as we know them at this time will be February 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th.  With this change the qualifying rules will also have to change.  The meeting on the 25th will address what qualifying rules will apply for the ESGs and also for the end of year New York State Championships.

Other topics for the upcoming meeting will be the development of a racing schedule for the season, a discussion of Junior Development activities and possible revisions to the guidelines for NYB.  If you have suggestions for the above mentioned or have questions that should be brought before the biathlon committee feel free to email them to me, c_klossner@hotmail.com or come to the meeting to voice your opinion.

The updated practice schedule has been posted on the Events Calendar for the fall.  The first date will be on Patriots Day, September 11th at 3:00 p.m.  All club biathletes are invited to attend and work on their skills and techniques for the upcoming racing season.  Futures dates have been posted through November, 2011.  Please click the calendar at the top of the webpage and then scroll through the events listed.  All sessions throughout the fall will be at 3:00 p.m.  Hopefully we will be racing by December.  See you at the practices!

The modified pursuit biathlon race scheduled for Sunday, August 14th has been cancelled due to technical difficulties.  Our next race will be January 1, 2012!  We hope that everyone will come out for our New Year’s Resolution Day Race!

August 14th will be the first non-sprint biathlon race ever hosted at McCauley Mountain.  This event will be a modified pursuit race, which means that there will be four shooting stops with five running bouts.  The course will travel over McCauley’s nordic trails.  As always all participants should be aware that these are not paved or graveled trails.  You should expect that there will be uneven ground with possible stones/rocks and roots on the course.  The race will start and finish in the parking lot opposite the range at McCauley Mountain.  There will be a walk zone at the range.  Prizes will be awarded to the first three finishers in each class with all competitors receiving a finisher ribbon.  No written results will be available at the race site, but will be posted on NY Biathlon and Polar Bear Biathlon websites that afternoon or evening.  Race time will be at 11 a.m. with registration at 9 and zero at 10.  A safety clinic will be offered before the race to any first time competitors.

Race entry fees will be $15 if pre-registered by August 13th with race day registration set at $25.  If you do not belong to a registered biathlon club there is a one day club membership fee of $5.  All competitors must be members of USBA for insurance purposes.  If you are not a member of USBA a one day membership is available for $10.