The beginning of the July school holidays signals the beginning of Biathlon Australia and Biathlon East Australia’s on snow programs! Accompanied by some great early snow falls over the June long weekend and some light dustings to top up the trails, ski conditions are great for our high performance athletes, beginners, and for those who want to come and try biathlon!

We currently have biathlon programs being run in both Perisher and Mt Hotham. Lucy Glanville is running the Perisher program which includes high performance athletes, developing and those starting out in biathlon. Daily sessions including classic and skate with the new 50m laser system now in operation at the Perisher Range. Athletes are preparing for as they prepare for the upcoming State and National Biathlon Championship Races and a range of XC races to test the ski speed against the best XC skiers.  

Along with the weekly training sessions in Perisher, weekly waxing education clinics are being held, which includes educating athletes on understanding snow/conditions, different waxes for different conditions, preparation of race skis, adjusting bindings for different terrains, and general ski care.

The operation of the new 50m laser system at Perisher, which closely simulates a biathlon .22, athletes are practicing inserting magazines, using a harness and skiing the trails with a simulated .22 rifle on their back; if athletes can’t get to Mt Hotham, the new system at Perisher is a fantastic learning and development pathway for biathlon.

The holiday program in Mt Hotham is being run by Cameron Morton, Damon Morton, and Toscha Stopar. Many of Australia’s high-performance athletes are training at the Hotham Biathlon Arena, to practise putting together their skiing and shooting.  A Biathlon Futures Camp is being held focussing on introducing new and newly introduced athletes to more biathlon!

A little extra detail for both the on snow holiday programs is their coaches, Damon Morton and Lucy Glanville have recently returned from their first live in 5 day camp of their IBU Level 1 coaching course. Extra tips, techniques and expertise that they have learnt from other coaches around the world are being eagerly passed onto athletes to help with their progression; from beginners to high performance to masters level.

With the upcoming Festival of Biathlon Weekend in both Hotham and Perisher, the Perisher and Falls Creek Laser Biathlon Schools Event and NSWACT Laser Biathlon State Championships, it is the perfect time for athletes of all ages, levels, and abilities to put the cross country skis on, sling on their rifles and make the most of the fantastic snow for this time of the year. Fingers crossed for continued sunny conditions, and a little extra snow falling overnight to support these on snow programs!