Mt Itasca Fires Up Snow Guns

November 14, 2009
Coleraine, MN

Mt. Itasca Nordic Ski Association ran all 4 snow guns last night in preparation for the upcoming ski season. Mt Itasca is hosting the World Team Biathlon Trials Dec 12-22 and a Midwest Junior Olympic Qualifier in January. The World Team Trials are the first part of the Olympic selection process and Mt Itasca is looking to have the venue open for preliminary training and racing on Dec 5-6. With the early start on snowmaking, Mt Itasca may be open for training by Thanksgiving. Look for reports on Skinnyski.com.

Three biathletes from Mt Itasca are looking to qualify for this year's Olympic Team. Kevin Patzoldt qualified for the December World Cup team after surprising the field at the October World Cup qualification races in Soldier Hollow. Mark Johnson, also of Grand Rapids, is a National "B" Team member and has been training hard after a very successful 2008-2009 season of training and racing in Norway. Addie Byrne, just 7 months out of high school, will also be pursuing a top finish at the World Team Trials in December. Addie is coming off a 6th place at the World Junior Championships last year, and is looking to surprise the senior field.

Keeping the local Olympic hopefuls on snow will be an additional motivating factor in getting the snow down early this year. Mt Itasca has made some modifications to the holding pond which will cool the water faster as the pond is replenished during prolonged use.

Piotr Bednarski
Director of Athlete Development
US Biathlon Association
mnbiathlon@aol.com