Some of the best biathletes from across the West will take their best shots at success this weekend at Otway Nordic Centre.
The Western Canadian Biathlon championships features a field of 132 athletes, including 20 from the local Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, as well as competitors from Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., the Yukon and Washington.
"This is the biggest event we've ever put on," said John Neumann, chief of competition. "[Having] 60 athletes was the largest competition we've ever hosted before [at Otway] so this is significantly larger. And it's definitely larger than what we can expect for the 2015 Canada Winter Games."
The Westerns are also doubling as a test event for the 2015 Games.
That meant a $1.7 million facelift at Otway to improve what already ranks as one of the province's best cross-country/biathlon facilities.
A new 30-lane shooting range, built to International Biathlon Union standards was completed last fall, and gives the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club the ability to host national and international events. The range is within walking distance of the parking lot.
Biathletes will aim their rifles in the direction of Otway Road, just north of the biathlon firing line, but the eight-metre high berm is 12 metres thick and consists of about 12,000 square metres of gravel. It has been built well beyond the minimum standards of the RCMP's Canadian Firearms Program.
"The new range is ready to go," Neumann said. "We feel as well-prepared as we'll ever be.
"There will be athletes here that could be here next year for the 2015 Games. They'll be scouting it out."
Racing begins Saturday morning with the men, women, junior men and women, youth men and women, and senior boys and girls sprints at 10 a.m. after the opening ceremonies.
The second set of sprints for the younger categories (midget - 10 and under, juveniles), masters and recreation skiers follows at 1 p.m. The midget biathletes will only shoot from the prone position while the remainder will shoot from both prone and standing positions.
Depending on the category, athletes will ski distances that range from 2.25 km (midget) to 10 km (men) and shoot at a series of five targets before going back out on to the course.
The pursuit events begin Sunday morning at 10 a.m. for the men, women, junior men and women, youth men and women and senior boys and girls. A flower and medal ceremony follows.
The younger categories, recreation and master skiers' pursuits start at 1 p.m. Pursuit distances range from 5 km in the midget categories to 12.5 km in the men.
Twenty athletes from the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club will compete in a variety of categories from the youngest (midget) all the way to the master's level.
The event is also doubling as the BC Cup No. 2 race.
Because of the large field, that's also meant more volunteers are needed. More than 100 volunteers will be available to lend a helping hand.
Wednesday's fresh snow should make for excellent trail conditions, with mostly sunny skies and cool temperatures predicted over the next four days. Saturday's high is expected to reach -11 C after an overnight low of -19 C.
"Our grooming equipment is top-notch and the snow conditions are good," Neumann said. "It's not icy."
Changing weather temperatures and snow conditions will create high traffic this weekend around the seven Atco trailers set up in the parking lot as ski waxing trailers. Some teams will wax their skis outside.
Spectators are more than welcome to check out the action. They can park in the expanded parking lot on the west side of Rotary Lodge.
Most of the trails to be used for biathlon events were built in 2012, part of a 10-kilometre expansion to the Otway trail network on what was formerly private land within the Northern Lights trail loop. Those new trails were refined in 2013 to install culverts, smooth out some rocky areas, widen tight corners and reduce a few steep pitches that made them difficult to ski and maintain.
In addition to the new range, the facelift also included the construction of two 2.5-metre high wooden fences atop a small berm on either side of the range; a high chain-link fence behind the large berm to keep people from climbing on the back side of the shooting range; a raised platform of interlocking blocks for the firing line retaining wall where biathletes will shoot from; two timing buildings, one for biathlon and one for cross-country races; and completion of grading and packing of the 150-metre penalty loop trail and connecting trail from the cross-country stadium.
