SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake hosted their first biathlon in 2008 after local skier and OSCR Race Organizer Lynn Carey suggested the idea. The goal for the biathlon has always been to offer a fun, unique experience to a broad range of people by hosting a family-friendly, quality event. This year’s biathlon scheduled for March 4 was cancelled due to lack of insurance.
The sport of biathlon combines the aerobic rigors of cross-country skiing in the winter or running in the summer with the steady hands and sharp eyes of marksmanship. While Seeley Lake residents and German skiers Werner Probst and his wife Meke Endler-Probst promoted the Seeley Creek Trails for a biathlon arena for world-class training and competition in 1993, their idea never came to fruition.
The first summer biathlon was held at Lubrecht Forest in July 2001. It wasn’t until January 2008 that the first winter biathlon was held in the area.
The Seeley Lake Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored the first biathlon as part of Winterfest. The event was made possible by support from the Montana National Guard, the Wilderness Sportsman’s Club (WSC), Seeley Lake Driftriders Snowmobile Club and the Seeley Lake Nordic Ski Club.
While all other biathlons in the United States are helped by biathlon clubs or organizations, the Seeley Lake Biathlon is the only citizens’ biathlon race.
“Club races bring other clubs,” said Race Organizer Cheri Thompson. “For our biathlon you don’t have to belong to anything, you just come and race.”
The racecourse was located near the WSC shooting range at the north end of the Seeley Lake Airport runway. Twenty-four racers skied three, two-kilometer (K) loops shooting five targets in the prone and standing position between loops. Every missed target resulted in a competitor having to ski one penalty lap.
“We could see that this [location] wasn’t a good choice so we asked the U.S. Forest Service if we could hold it at the [Seeley Creek] ski trails and they were in agreement,” wrote Race Organizer Cheri Thompson in an email. “We have held it there ever since.”
After transitioning to the Seeley Creek Nordic Trails, the race offered a 10K sprint course for the men, a 7.5K sprint course for women and a 3K children’s race.
Carey, who is one of the groomers for the Seeley Lake Nordic Club, managed the snow preparation. Solutions by Cheri, owned by Thompson and her husband Steve, managed the equipment and the race. The WSC managed the shooting portion of the race.
After expenses, Thompson wrote the profits were split equally between the Seeley Lake Nordic Club, WSC and Solutions by Cheri.
Thompson said every year they increased the quality of the race and the diversity of racers continued to expand. Thompson said participants ranged from age five to in their 80s and estimated that 40 percent of the participants had never shot a gun.
“It was an entry-level event that welcomed experienced racers,” said Thompson. “Racers can come at any level and feel welcome.”
The Seeley Swan Pathfinder reported that 2015 had just fewer than 100 participants topping 2011’s largest turnout of 90 participants.
In 2015, the WSC agreed to provide the insurance if the event paid for it. Chris Lorentz agreed to run the shooting range. They rotated the shooting range perpendicular to the ski trails (instead of parallel). This was an effort to increase safety and allow more room for spectators at the range.
Members of the WSC board said that after the 2015 biathlon they unanimously voted to no longer run the insurance through the club. They agreed that it was too much of a safety and liability risk for the club.
After postponing the 2016 race due to lack of snow and then trying to reschedule only to meet scheduling conflict with other similar races, Thompson collaborated with the regional biathlon organizers and agreed on a regional calendar for 2017. This year they met another hurdle, insurance.
“Since WSC had always been generous in letting us buy insurance through them, I didn’t approach them early enough and when they denied my request, we found it was too late to get insurance through other ways,” wrote Thompson.
The current WSC board thought that the 2015 decision was communicated to Thompson after it was made.
While the biathlon has been cancelled this year, Thompson will pursue insurance through the biathlon insurance system that will be a flat fee per racer.
“We would really like to partner with another group to support them as they would support us,” wrote Thompson. “Although it is not a huge fundraiser, it would be consistent and support the community. As with the triathlon partnership with Youth for Christ, it helps support youth programs.”
If interested in becoming a partner for the 2018 biathlon, email solutions@blackfoot.net or call Cheri at 677-2309.
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