Southern Maine Biathlon Club wins Skaði Nordic contest

Mon, Sep  13, 2010 - By Laura Valaas

Skaði Nordic is proud to be a supporter of the Southern Maine Biathlon Club (“SMBC”). Skaði Nordic will be providing a set of the Skaði Nordic product line to each athlete on the team as a reminder that those who are passionate about and committed to what they do will succeed.

Despite its inauguration only three short years ago, SMBC has drawn on the existing infrastructure and support of Maine Winter Sports Center (“MWSC”), the passion of local skiers and community involvement to develop into a large club, able to offer athletes a variety of support and opportunities. Encompassing the towns of Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, North Yarmouth and Freeport, this coastal area of Southern Maine gets overlooked as a ski location by most skiers. Despite that, Nordic sports are thriving in this area with SMBC being only one of several programs available including the Coastal Nordic Ski Club and school teams.

One of the challenges to setting up a biathlon club is finding a place to hone the athletes’ marksmanship. SMBC has reached out to community members to accomplish this. A resident in the surrounding area invited the team to set up a shooting range on his farm. There are running trails in the vicinity for summer dryland workouts. When it comes to skiing onto a range the team has to take a weekend trip or training camp… at least for this year. As with the inception of many other ski areas, there is talk of adding a couple of ski trails to the range out at The Farm. There is also a push to revive a nearby range with the Bethel Outing Club. It will certainly be exciting to watch how SMBC, with a healthy dose of family and community support, grows the program and the biathlon infrastructure in their region.

SMBC has already grown from a local group to a team with a national and international presence. With several trips up to Quebec to race, the team is learning that there is a bigger world out there. Molly Montgomery, mother of two boys on the team, described the benefits of international experience, “It is a wonderful way for them to connect with athletes in other countries who have similar interests […] and provides them an opportunity to see what possibilities there are in this sport.” One of her sons, 16 year old Jackson Hall, sees it more definitively, “The athletes on the team are getting older, we’re moving up to bigger and better races, challenging ourselves a lot more. We’re starting to talk about qualifying for Biathlon Jr. Worlds.”

MWSC has been invaluable in providing a support structure for the SMBC to grow as rapidly as it has. In addition to spreading a philosophy encouraging an active, skiing lifestyle, MWSC provides very concrete support to local programs such as SMBC through additional coaching, guidance, and a rifle leasing program. Many of the SMBC highlights for athletes are attending camps and events hosted by MWSC. SMBC athlete Jackson Hall appreciates the opportunity to train alongside elite level athletes at training camps, “They help out with our shooting, with our skiing, with technique coaching. They’re a great influence.”

Skaði Nordic is a Nordic skiing accessories manufacturer in Wenatchee, WA.