Biathlon Competition – Part 2

I was up and about in the early morning of Saturday, February 9.  I was a little anxious but excited to see how these cadet biathlon competitions work.  The collected pictures & videos will be used for training purposes back at the corps.  I got dressed in my military gear and walked over to the mess hall for breakfast.  A few of my cadets were already there.  Breakfast consisted of: pancakes, hash browns, ham, scrambled eggs, fruits, and muffins.  My cadets were feeling fine & ready.  I instructed my senior cadets to check our equipment after breakfast. 

            

My cadets playing foosball.

The participating teams are from all three territories.  The teams are divided into two groups: the first-time cadets stay at Boyle Barracks and learn how to ski and compete at a biathlon competition.  The more experienced cadets go to Grey Mountain and do the actual competition.  Four of my cadets would be staying behind while I went with my seniors to Grey Mountain.  (Boyle Barracks has plenty of adult supervision).  Three school buses came to pick up the Grey Mountain cadets and their equipment.  We left the camp at 9am.

            

The school bus drove past the SS Klondike National Historic Site.  The historic site contains the second SS Klondike, a sternwheeler, built in 1937 to transport freight between Whitehorse & Dawson City along the Yukon River.  The second ship was decommissioned in 1950 and now functions as a museum.  I vaguely remember visiting the large ship in 1997.  Driving by it 22 years later, I could see that it hadn’t moved and looked the same.

            

A very large skidoo for grooming.

We arrived at Grey Mountain at 9:30am.  The place is owned by Biathlon Yukon but is also home to the Whitehorse Archery Club.  The site hosted the biathlon portion of the 2012 Arctic Winter Games.  Everyone disembarked and walked towards the main buildings.  The venue slowly came into view.  The venue boasts 24 outdoor shooting lanes and buildings for admin, competitors, volunteers, and equipment.  A military ground crew was sent ahead of us to set everything up.  A team of senior cadets would be assisting the officers with judging. 

            

Senior cadets being briefed on judging protocols.

Boxes of .22 bullets.

The morning consisted of all Grey Mountain cadets getting used to the skiing equipment and the .22 rifles.  They were allowed to practice shooting at their assigned lanes and “zero-in” their rifles before the start of the competition.  My cadets were assigned Lanes 13, 14, & 15.  I supervised my cadets, watching them shoot and ski.  I even acted as a spotter and told them where their bullets were hitting.  I thought I would need earplugs but the .22 rifles aren’t loud.

            

Lunch was catered by Home Sweet Home Baking, a local Whitehorse business.  The lunches came in brown paper bags.

Bagged lunches.

The timed competition officially began with the junior male cadets.  I stood on the sidelines, watched, and took some pictures.  I didn’t have any junior male cadets competing this year.

Junior cadets.

3045 Junior Female Cadet at Grey Mountain.

3045 Junior Female Cadet crossing
the Finish line.

Next up were the junior female cadets.  I did have one junior female cadet competing this year.  She was given a number 31 scrimmage vest to wear over her clothing.  The number just meant she would be the 31^st cadet in line.  The other three cadets & I stood by the Start line to cheer for her.  Right after she left, I walked over to the Lane 14 and waited for her to appear.  Competitors have to ski a loop and then shoot before repeating the two more times.  All I can do as coach is place the rifle on the mat and make sure there are five bullets in the bowl.  My junior cadet looked tired but relieved when she crossed the Finish line. 

#40 from Arctic Bay begins his relay.

#50 from Arctic Bay begins his relay.

The senior cadets, male & female, would compete in a combined race.  The separate male & female races would be held on Sunday.  Since I had three senior cadets, I had to be ready to look after them all at the same time, should the moment arise.  That didn’t seem likely since they would be starting at different times, but anything can happen in a race.  My cadets came and went at random intervals.  The most I had was two at a time.  They all looked tired at the end of the race.

3045 First-Time cadets at Boyle Barracks.

The competition was done for the day.  There would be more races on Sunday.  We all packed up our gear and boarded the school buses back to Boyle Barracks.  I checked on my four first-time cadets after disembarking from the school bus.  They had just finished their training for the day.  They told me they had their own mini skiing competition.  I was glad to see them in good spirits. 

The temperature at Grey Mountain.
February 9, 2019.

Cadets who travel from a small town to a big city centre like Whitehorse always hope for a chance to go shopping.  There are just so many more things to buy and usually the cadets are given a shopping list from their parents, relatives, and friends on what to buy.  After dinner, the cadets were taken to a large WalMart store.  (I can’t recall if Whitehorse had a WalMart in 1997.  Probably not.)  The cadets were given 90 minutes to buy what they wanted and to be back on the bus.  WalMart may not sound like much but to these cadets, it’s a treat.         

              

We returned to Boyle Barracks and went to bed an hour later. 

Me at Grey Mountain.

To Be Continued . . .