New 30 point biathlon range

New Biathlon/Nordic Venue Opens at Mt. Itasca -- Mt Itasca Biathlon Association Completes Project in Record Time

The bulldozers were just finishing up as the first snowflakes began to fall at the new Mt Itasca Biathlon Range in Coleraine, Minnesota. The new venue has a 30 point biathlon range adjacent to a 4 acre stadium area. An elevated spectator area sits directly behind the range, for excellent viewing. Spectators just need to turn around to view the start/finish area. The competition trail is currently 2.5km long, is 6 meters wide, has plenty of vertical, with roller coaster down hills, and long sweeping turns. The ski trail loops in and out of the stadium area three times during the 2.5km, so spectators can view both the skiing and shooting from the stadium area. Snowmaking will be installed by next year for the stadium and range area- and by piecing together lower parts of the alpine area, this will allow for 2.5km of nordic trail with man made snow.

Mt Itasca has been a major ski jumping venue for over a hundred years- currently there is a 70m and 40m jump, and the 70m is equipped with plastic for summer jumping. Mt Itasca is regularly visited by the U.S. National Team for jumping training camps during the summer and fall, as well as numerous competitions during the winter. There are also approximately 10km of existing nordic trails, which are quite challenging. There is a community alpine area there as well, with one lift. An attractive ski chalet was built by the Itasca Ski and Outing Club a few years ago, with funding through the Blandin Foundation.

This winter the Biathlon Junior World Championship Trials will be held at the new biathlon facility January 10-13. The organizing committee has been hard at work building rifle racks, stadium fencing, and miles of "V" board. The U.S. Junior National Championships for Ski Jumping/Nordic Combined will be held at Mt Itasca in February using the ski jumps and new competition trails and stadium.

The truly fascinating thing about this venue is the speed in which it came about. The Mt Itasca Biathlon Venue was the brainchild of Gene Eklin of Bovey and Jim MacNeil, of Coleraine. Along with Piotr Bednarski of Minnesota Biathlon, they approached the City of Coleraine in May 2000. The city council gave permission for the project to move forward, as well as initial funding for design work. The stadium/range and trail design was done by Kris Seymour- a biathlon coach and architect from Lake Placid, NY.

Construction on pond for new snowmaking capabilities.

Mt Itasca Biathlon Association went about promoting the project to local community and business leaders. In December 2000, a delegation from the U.S. Biathlon Association- Lyle Nelson, Max Cobb, and Andy Sheppard, visited Mt Itasca to show their support and to speak to local government, business and ski community leaders. By the early 2001 the Mt Itasca Biathlon association had raised $45,000 in grants to pay for trail construction and a portion of the range construction. Initial funding came from grants written by Gene Eklin to the Itasca Trails Task Force and from a Department of Natural Resources LCMR grant. The big break came when Itasca Ski and Outing Club and Mt Itasca Biathlon submitted a grant proposal for snowmaking, ski jump improvements, and biathlon range construction to the Blandin Foundation. The grant award of $327,000 has funded the completion of the biathlon stadium, renovation of the ski jumps, and installation of snow making on the ski jump outruns, alpine area, and biathlon stadium.

Construction of the biathlon venue has moved quickly. The ski trails and stadium were logged in June, and the ski trails were constructed by August. Craig Stertz, a mathematics professor at Itasca Community College and volunteer biathlon coach, supervised the ski trail construction. Stadium bulldozing began in October, under the supervision of Bill Meyer, biathlon coach and civil engineer from Brainerd. The stadium was a major project with erosion, top soil conservation, and range safety all complicating the project. As winter approached, the targets arrived in a shipping container from Finland. Installing 30 Kurvinen Targets was no small matter- all the athletes, moms and dads, and siblings were recruited for assembling the targets. Everything was completed by November 15, just in time for the 8 day training camp over Thanksgiving. Twenty junior biathletes from all over Minnesota joined coaches Vladimir Cervenka, Grant Ernhart, and Mark Miner for a rigorous training camp of rollerskiing, bounding, and "combo training".

Vladimir Cervenka, new coach Mt. Itasca Biathlon Association.

If all the construction was not enough, the Mt Itasca Biathlon Association has hired a full time biathlon coach, Vladimir Cervenka, to run the Coleraine/Grand Rapids biathlon program. Vladimir is from Prague, Czech Republic, but has spent the last few years coaching nordic skiing at the NCAA champs C.U. Boulder and coaching biathlon at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Ft. Kent, Maine. Vladimir's wife Petra is an 8 year veteran of the Czech World Cup team, and is also a fantastic coach. Vladimir will be assisted by ski coach Craig Stertz and rifle coach Mark Miner. This coming spring, the Mt Itasca Biathlon program will be expanded to include air rifle biathlon for aspiring biathletes ages 9-13.

Mt Itasca Biathlon Venue will undergo further expansion next year: lights will be installed in the stadium and range, and the competition loop will be extended from 2.5k to 4km. Also, there will be several kilometers of recreational ski trails added to the venue so that it will be better suited to skiers of all abilities. Mt Itasca hopes to host a number of nordic events during the coming years- citizen races, as well as major high school events.

Inquiries regarding biathlon programs can be made to Vladimir Cervenka [email protected]. For those interested in volunteering as a race official for the 2002 Junior World Championships Trials at Mt Itasca, Jan 10-13, please contact Mt Itasca Biathlon president, Don Erlandson at [email protected]. Mt Itasca Biathlon Association is always looking for volunteer help in maintaining and expanding the venue, as well as donations to make it all happen.