Re: High Powered Biathlon
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Buck Rogers</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This is my first post on this forum, and I registered just to say that I would be SOOOOO into this if we could put it together.
I really don't think the logistics would be all that hard. There really aren't all that many people using the backcountry in CO during the winter. A few skiers and bilers but it would not be hard at all to set up a fun course that didn't get in the way of any great skiing spots.
What we need.
- Public land. Yea, no fees, no hassle. We'd just need to be careful to set it up right. I know of a few spots around Aspen that would work great. The thing is, if you're firing into S facing slopes that have no snow on them, you can be pretty damn sure there won't be any skiers on them.
- A few snowmobiles for access.
- Steel.
I think thats really about it.
One thing to think about. Biathalons are usually cross country skiing, which is well, sort of, uh, boring, and maybe a little on the light in the loafers side. Instead, we should set it up so that we can do "real" skiing, with alpine touring bindings. Those are basically alpine bindings that can unlock in the heel so the toe pivots freely like a xcountry binding, so you can hike around easily. We should have to ski both up and down steep hills. Mandatory cliff jumps with a rifle on your back would possible one of the more awesome things ever.
Oh, and gunshots aren't going to set off any avalanches. Ski patrol uses bombs that are a lot louder than any man portable rifle to set off slides. The concussion of the explosive will trigger a slide in the immediate area, but secondary releases nearby caused by the sound are extremely rare, and if the snowpack is that touchy, well we shouldn't be out there in the first place.
There are some issues that would make this more difficult. I wouldn't be involved unless everyone had an avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe, and knew how to use them. I think a mandatory group practice session on rescue techniques would be a good idea. Also, we would need to make sure that if we are crossing avy slide paths, only one person is exposed to that danger at a time, and when ever someone is in a spot that could slide, there are at least 3-4 people in a safe zone nearby watching and ready to rescue them in case any thing goes wrong.
I've been dreaming about this for a long long time. I'd love to see a strictly downhill skiing event with pistol targets as you're skiing down, along with another even where you hike all over the place with skis on and shoot with rifles.
However, I'm not sure there are enough people who are both good enough shooters to make this fun and challenging, and who are also good skiers with avalanche safety gear and who know how to use it. Still though, it would be SO fun.
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Buck,
I've participated in biathlon events as you desicribe many times in the Norwegian National Guard. I served many years in a ski patrol unit with elite skiers, biathlon stars and arctic mainiacs. Eirik Kvalfoss '84 olympic biathlon champ, Ketil Andre Aamodt alpine star(I tought him to shoot), Erling Kagge ( he has cross country skied to the north pole, south pole alone and climbed Everest..) to name a few. A typical competition are shot with HK G3's or sniperrifles. Skies are military telemark skies with steel edge, not as specialized as you describe. Otherwise full military equipment. The track is usually more rugged than the typical biathlon track. In other words, a fall can be hard. I once bent a G3 so hard the bolt would not move in the receiver. The G3 hit a tree, I missed..

. The length of the track varies from 10km to 20km and there are 2 - 4 shooting stages with 5 shots each. Targets usually are steel self marking targets like these in different configurations:
http://www.folldalmek.no/selvanviser.htm Hits are shown very positive and there are a judge behind each shooter counting hits. No need to mark targets. It's a lot of fun and with all the winning egoes in my old unit there are a lot of prestige in winning
One thing is for sure. In a competition like this using sniperrifles the scope has to be carried in a protective case. Any scope mounted on the rifle going downhill skiing is crushed sooner or later. An old style Mauser M98 comp.rifle with a qd siderail mounted scope is suddenly a very competitive rifle
Just for fun. Kagge on wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erling_Kagge