Biathlon Workshop

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that biathlon is heavily promoted in the Canadian Cadet Program.  The sport combines skiing with marksmanship, demanding strength and accuracy from participants.  I’m more familiar and experienced in marksmanship than cross country skiing.  I was an alpine skier growing up.  I tried cross country skiing maybe once or twice and all I remember is trying to stop myself from falling asleep.  I have attended cadet biathlon competitions in the past and observed what goes on, but that’s not enough to consider myself qualified.  Ski maintenance and waxing are the main areas I & the cadets struggle, but thankfully, an opportunity came up to correct that.

I communicated with biathlon & ski instructors based in Iqaluit before the end of 2023, asking them about coming up to Arctic Bay in the new year to hold a workshop for the cadets.  The focus would be maintenance, waxing, exercises, and skiing techniques.  Yes, you can download documents & watch YouTube videos on the internet, but they won’t surpass having actual instructors teaching on location & in person.  The people I spoke two agreed to send two instructors in late February.  The former commanding officer of 3045 was able to secure funding from the Arctic Bay Hamlet Office to pay for airfare, accommodations, and salary.  Thank you!

The workshop was scheduled for February 24 & 25.  The instructors arrived on the 23^rd and I drove them to their accommodations.  This was their first time in the community, and they were excited to meet & teach the cadets.  The cadets were also excited for the workshop.

The workshop began in the early morning of Saturday, February 24.  We would be busy all day, but with breaks & lunch included.  I brought the instructors & their equipment to the school gym by truck.  We setup a few tables, chairs, and brought out the equipment we would need for the day.  When the cadets arrived, I instructed them to bring out all the skis, poles, and boots, and place them in neat piles in the gym.  The instructors assisted with the organizing.

The first lesson was ski waxing.  The cadets & I watched intently as one of the instructors went over the basics of preparing and waxing cross country skis.  I won’t bore you with the exact instructions; you can find those online.  I’ll just give you a summary of what I observed and photographed.

The lead instructor started by melting a little bit of Polystick onto a ski explained how it’s used to repair deep scratches and other damages to ski bases.  Polysticks are also known as polyethylene sticks.  He then demonstrated and explained how to properly scrape skis with a scraper.  The cadets were then shown the many different types of wax that are available.  Ski wax comes in a variety of colours, and each kind is designed for a specific temperature.  The colours we had were yellow, pink, and green.  The corps tends to use green wax more often because it’s made for very low temperatures.  Pink wax is for temperatures between 20° and 0°C, and green wax is for temperatures between -12°C and -30°C.  (Temperatures in Arctic Bay regularly drop lower than that during the winter months).

The lead instructor began the waxing demonstration by evenly melting pink wax over the ski using an iron.  Once there was enough wax on the ski, he used the iron to spread it across the bottom side.  He then used a plastic scraper & brush to remove excess wax.  He said the point is to make the bottom part of the ski as smooth as possible.  He repeated the entire process using green wax on the same ski.  He said it’s okay to put pink wax on first followed by green, similar to putting two coats of polish on shoes.

The cadets spent the remainder of the morning practicing waxing their skis under the watchful eyes of the instructors.  The more they practiced, the more confident they got.  The senior cadets boiled water in a large pot using a Coleman stove, about 30 minutes before noon.

Everyone took an hour break for lunch.  The cadets set up a row of tables & chairs in the middle of the gym.  American made Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs) were distributed to everyone and the main meals took about 15 – 20 minutes to cook.

The cadets & two instructors spent most of the afternoon outside on the ice in the frozen bay practicing various skiing exercises & drills.  I tagged along to take pictures.  The weather was cold but manageable and the sky was mostly clear.  The Arctic sun shined brightly as the cadets skied back & forth between two predetermined points.  Some cadets fell, but they got back up and kept practicing.  The exercises & drills were done first without ski poles so the cadets could work on strengthening their balance and leg muscles.  The poles were then included to provide additional “push power”.

Everyone returned to the gym to watch a few instructional videos about several skiing techniques.  The final activity for the day was taking a group photo of the cadets with the two instructors.

The workshop continued in the afternoon of February 25.  The instructors took the cadets outside again to review the skiing drills & exercises they practiced the day before.  The weather was bright and sunny.  A short but fun relay race was held to finish off the lesson.  Everyone returned to the gym for a much-needed hot chocolate break.

We spent around 30 minutes putting everything away.  The cadets formed up for a final debriefing.  I thanked the cadets for attending the biathlon workshop and instructed them to remember what they learned.  The corps collectively thanked the two Iqaluit instructors for coming to the community to do the workshop.  The instructors thanked us for hosting them and encouraged us to continue practicing and maintain our equipment.  They also gave me printed and electronic resources to use for the corps biathlon program.  The cadets were dismissed for the remainder of the day.

The instructors returned to Iqaluit the following day.  Thank you once again for coming to Arctic Bay and thank you to the Hamlet Office for providing the necessary funding.