They came armed with rifles, wearing balaclavas to hide their faces.
But this was no bank heist, and they weren't worried about being identified as culprits in a crime.
The only thing criminal about Saturday's sprint races at the Western Canadian biathlon championships was the delinquent thermometers at Otway Nordic Centre, which refused to co-operate with 133 athletes and dozens of shivering course officials.
After a half-hour delay waiting for the heavy morning air to rise above the -20 C cancellation cutoff,the races were on, and with the exception of a few frostbitten faces, there were no serious casualties.
Emily Dickson and Claire Lapointe of the host Caledonia Nordic Ski Club didn't mind adding a few layers to their race suits. They generated enough heat with their skis to climb the medal podium.
Racing up an age class to youth women (17- and 18-year-olds) the 16-year-old Dickson earned a silver medal, finishing the six-kilometre course in 21 minutes 12 seconds. She was 32 seconds off the winning pace set by 18-year-old Daniellle Vrielink of the Rocky Mountain Racers of Calgary, who won gold with just one missed target, finishing in 20:39. Megan Bankes of Biathlon Alberta won bronze in 23:14.
"It's really cool to be able to do it at home, I've won medals here at B.C. Cups, but this is Westerns and there's a lot of people here," said Dickson, who hit eight of 10 targets.
"It was a really cold day, I just had to dress warm and play it smart. Unfortunately the colder it gets, the slower it gets. I went out pretty hard and came in and shot clean in my prone (round) and went out again and got a little chilly and came back and hit three in my standing. I did my penalty loops and I'm happy with how it went. I pushed it as hard as I could."
Dickson is a virtual shoo-in to qualify for her third national championships, set for March 11-16 in Charlo, N.B. Last year in four races at nationals at Callaghan Valley she claimed gold, silver and bronze.
Dickson is in her second season working with Caledonia club head coach Andrew Casey, who focuses on teaching ski technique and off-hill training, and she's been learning how to master the rifle range from Caledonia biathlon coaches Erica Erasmus and Allie Dickson (her sister). The younger Dickson's results over the past couple seasons have her on track for a spot on Team B.C. at the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
'Andrew's a great coach and he's been able to really push me and I've seen some great improvements over the last couple years he's been in Prince George," said Dickson.
"I've got a huge support base here and it really helps. My sister knows exactly what it's like to be the athlete, it's still fresh on her mind because she just finished racing."
Lapointe, 15, was a silver medalist in the six-kilometre senior girls sprint, finishing 2:11 behind 14-year-old India McIsaac of Calgary, who won gold in 22:41 with two misses on the range Lapointe missed two targets in each shooting round and the four penalty loops kept her on the course for 24:53. Tekarra Banser of Telemark Ski Club of Kelowna was third in 25:10.
"The snow was a little slower because of the cold temperatures but definitely the worst part was the frozen fingers and toes, I tried my best to cover my face while I was racing," said Lapointe.
"It was harder to shoot with cold hands so I didn't shoot as well as I'd liked to. The course was really tough, lots of steep uphills, steep downhills and tight corners. It's really nice to have gotten to see the trails so much before this race, I know where the hard parts are."
Other sprint winners were: Senior boys 6 km -- Ben Churchill (Calgary Biathlon Racers), 19:05; Youth men 7.5 km -- Aidan Millar (Biathlon Alberta), 22:46; Junior men 10 km -- Menno Arendz (Rocky Mountain Racers), 29:51; Men 10 km -- William Poffenroth (Rocky Mountain Racers), 30:27.
