Crystal Mountain Resort wins a lot of awards. And this winter they deserve a ton of credit for helping to get more individuals out cross country skiing.
On Saturday, Jan. 16th Crystal Mountain's Nordic Center hosted their first ever Cross Country Ski and Paintball Biathlon. Over 100 skiers participated - a pretty impressive first year turn out. Kathy had the trails groomed perfectly and the Crystal Mountain staff put on a great event.
Crystal Mountain has some fantastic twisty, turny and hilly trails, but the Biathlon Course was flat, fast and user friendly. The start and finish lines were about a 100 yards from the Nordic Center. Skiers of all ages and all abilities participated.
Glen Lake - Sleeping Bear Dunes Ski Club at the Crystal Mountain Paintball Biathlon. Pictured from left to right are some of the GL xc skiers: Ian Hood, Annabel Skrocki, Jane Lively, Emma Hawley, Keefer Edwards, Evan Scheiern, Jack Hawley
Participants received free coaching and safety glasses from TC Paintball staff. Interval start times eliminated the potential for traffic jams at the shooting stations. There were two shooting stations out on the course. Participants received time reductions for every target hit.
Glen Lake High School Student "Ian Hood" was the Overall Champion Saturday at the Crystal Mtn. Biathlon. Other top Glen Lakes.Sleeping Bear Dunes Ski club performances:
- 1st Ian Hood - Overall winner
- 2nd Keefer Edwards - 1st male, middle school + fastest time of the day
- 5th Evan Scheiern - 1 male, grade school
- 6th Dale Scheiern - 1st Leelanau County adult (Dad to Evan!)
- 13th Jane Lively - 1st female, middle school, 2nd women overall, fastest female time of the day
- 37th Annabel Skrocki - 1st grade school female
The members of the Glen Lake/Sleeping Bear Dunes Cross Country Ski Club gave Crystal Mountain and this fun event two thumbs up!
Paintball Biathlon Results (PDF):
- Overalll results:
http://www.crystalmountain.com/events/PantballBiathlonOverallResultsWeb_2010.pdf - Ski time results:
http://www.crystalmountain.com/events/PantballBiathlonFinalResultsTime_2010.pdf
Be sure to mark your calendars for these upcoming Winter 2010 FUN for families events:
- Saturday, Feb. 13th: The North American VASA + Junior VASA (for kids 15 and under - entry fee is only $5.00 and ALL participants are awarded cool medals at the finish line)! For more info: http://nordicskiracer.com/cgi-bin/Calendar/viewevent.asp?id=2107
- Friday night, Feb. 19th: Cote Dame Marie Loppet kids race in Grayling. For more info: http://nordicskiracer.com/cgi-bin/Calendar/viewevent.asp?id=2112
- Saturday, Feb. 28th: 18th Annual Junior Muffin Races - at Big Bob's place - Cross Country SKi Headquarters. For more info: http://nordicskiracer.com/cgi-bin/Calendar/viewevent.asp?id=2120
Lets get more kids out skiing! PLEASE encourage participation in these healthy and fun events!
