At -30, Arctic Winter Games trials move indoors

Athletes compete in the snowshoe biathlon in the 2008 Arctic Winter Games. Trials for the sport will be held indoors this weekend, as temperatures drop to -30. (CBC.ca)
Athletes compete in the snowshoe biathlon in the 2008 Arctic Winter Games. Trials for the sport will be held indoors this weekend, as temperatures drop to -30. (CBC.ca)
Thirty-five biathlon athletes are arriving in Hay River today to compete at Arctic Winter Games trials, but the athletes won’t be skiing and shooting outside.

Competitions will instead take place inside the community’s school because it’s just too cold.

Environment Canada is forecasting a low of -30 in Hay River, a community in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT), today, dipping down to a low of -35 on Saturday. The current temperature in Yellowknife, NWT is -39, -49 with the windchill.

The president of the Northwest Territories biathlon association, Pat Bobinski, says Biathlon Canada’s policy says if it’s -20 or colder, competitions can’t be held outside.

“It’s frustrating,” Bobinski says. “It’s disappointing for some of them because you have some athletes that are really really good skiiers so we won’t be able to see their skiing ability as such, but we’re left with no choice. We have to select and name a team for this weekend so that’s what it is.”

Bobinski knows all too well the dangers of prolonged exposure to cold temperatures.

“Right now I cannot ski in anything that’s colder than -15 or I’ll freeze my feet. I froze too much doing this sport when I was younger and figured I was invincible and so now I’m paying the price.”

Bobinski says two other biathlon events have been cancelled this weekend due to weather: the Polar Cup and the NWT Championship.

This weekend, 16 athletes will be chosen to represent Team NWT, at the Arctic Winter Games in Fairbanks, Alaska in March.

Related Link:

Arctic Winter Games 

CBC News

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