You could call it reconnaissance mission.
For biathlete Mark Arendz, the chance to test out the trails at Otway Nordic Centre and learn the lay of the land two weekends ago in a BC Cup race proved irresistible, knowing what's store for him when in Prince George next month.
As one of the world's best combined biathlon/cross-country skiing athletes, Canada's flagbearer at the 2018 Paralympics in South Korea is a legitimate threat to dominate the medal podium when he returns to Otway to race in the 2019 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Para Nordic championships, Feb. 15-24.
Already a multi-medalist in IPC world championships and two Paralympic Games competitions, the Prince Edward Island native will soon have a rare opportunity to compete for more international hardware on Canadian soil.
At the BC Cup at Otway, Arendz was the only one in his category in the men's 12.5-kilometre individual race. He covered the course in 47:09, missing five of 20 targets in four shooting bouts. He didn't enter the sprint race the following day, electing instead to ski the race courses at his leisure.
"That's always key going into a world championships is getting a look at how everything's going to fit before the actual event just for mental ease so you know where everything is," said Arendz, who made the trek from his home in Canmore, Alta.
"You want to know the physical part, how long it will take me to warm up and where's the best place to warm up and the competition side, knowing where the course is, where can I make time, what parts of the course will feel slow and how to take corners."
The snow came just in time to make for ideal conditions for his test run and he predicts the 140 athletes from 20 countries coming for the World Para Nordic championships will like the Race Maze course developed by the host Caledonia Nordic Ski Club. Arendz plans to enter biathlon and cross-country events.
"I think it's going to be a really good course to test the athletes, there's a nice mix of sections where you have to work, uphill climbs that are sustained, not just short or really long, kind of a mix of everything and a little bit of the technical on some of the descents that will keep everybody on their toes," he said. "I think it's going to be a fair course for everyone and you will get the best athletes taking the day."
In December, Arendz kicked off the season in Vuokatti, Finland, where he won his first ever IPC World Cup cross-country gold medal in the 10 km classic event and also claimed silver in biathlon.
For people not sure what to expect when the eyes of the para nordic world on on Prince George, he says it will bring unforgettable memories of athletes overcoming adversity while performing at the highest level of their chosen sport. For 10 days, male and female athletes will compete in three classes (sitting, standing and visually impaired) in four cross-country skiing and four biathlon medal events.
"It's an amazing week," he said. "Just watching some of the athletes and you see what their disabilities are and you just wonder how they can even ski and they become some of the fastest skiers you'll ever see.
"In the visually-impaired category the trust you have between the guides and the athletes is just phenomenal. When you can't see a thing, everything is black, and you're going down these descents and making these corners that's an amazing feat of trust and teamwork working with that guide. Some of the sit-skiers do the entire course just with their upper body, it will be an amazing and inspiring week for sure."
Arendz was seven years old when he lost his left arm below the elbow after losing his balance while putting corn into a grain auger on the family farm. He started ski racing racing as a biathlete when he was 13 and branched into cross-country a few years later. He's never let his disability slow him down, becoming a competitive athlete in soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross-country running, athletics and cycling. His love for biathlon started when he was 11 after he saw it on TV at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
"I always enjoyed sport beforehand," he said. "Afterward, sport became kind of a way to show my abilities and not my disability.
"It was biathlon first. It was frustrating enough that I wasn't enjoying cross-country but I started to focus on it and now it's as strong as my biathlon. I'm actually better in classic than I am in freestyle in cross-country races. I just have to use my legs as efficiently as I can."
At the 2017 World Para Nordic championships in Finsterau, Germany, Arendz won five medals - two gold and a silver in biathlon, bronze in the cross-country freestyle race and bronze in the relay.
The Hartsville, P.E.I. native is an eight-time world para nordic medalist and was a record-setter at the Paralympics last February in Pyeongchang, winning six medals in the six events he entered.
Arendz competed at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver-Whistler but didn't win his first medal until four years later in Sochi, where he captured silver and bronze in biathlon, becoming the first Canadian to win two Paralympic biathlon medals.
In Pyeongchang, he earned five individual biathlon medals (gold in 15 km, silver in 7.5 km, bronze in 12.5 km. In cross-country skiing he reeled in two individual bronze medals 1.5 km sprint and 10 km classic - and helped Canada claim silver in the 4X2.5 km mixed team relay.
In 2012-13, he won the IPC Biathlon Crystal Globe as overall champion, a season that brought three world para nordic medals and his first world championship victory. He was the IPC World Cup biathlon runner-up in 2011 and 2012.
Arendz's cross-country coach is Robin McKeever, the brother of cross-country skier Brian McKeever, Canada's most decorated Winter Paralympian with 14 medals. Brian will be competing in the World Para Nordic events.
Arendz uses a prosthetic when competing against able-bodied athletes. The blade-like apparatus, which takes the place of his missing forearm, fits on the end of his arm and he uses it to support his rifle when he's aiming at the targets. He's not allowed to use the prosthetic during a para nordic event. In para biathlon, athletes use air rifles and targets are placed at 10 metre distances rather than the conventional 50m range.
Arendz is in Osrtersund, Sweden, this week competing in the second of three IPC World Cup events and he'll have one other competition the week before the Prince George competition. The season wraps up March 12-17 in Sapporo, Japan.
Since the first Winter Paralympics in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, the exposure of para sports at the Paralympic and world championship levels the past two decades has raised the worldwide profile of sports like biathlon and cross-country skiing to unprecedented levels and Arendz, a role model for young Canadians, predicts that growth will continue.
"Kids are curious about it and you just tell them they have that opportunity to compete at world championships and games - the word is starting to spread and we've seen that a lot in the last couple Paralympics and world championships," he said. "There's bigger acknowledgment and awareness of what we do and the possibilities."
