Fall 1999 Newsletter

As it turns out, we have been very fortunate. The YMCA has shown its commitment to Biathlon by hiring a new Nordic Director (previously from Devil's Thumb) who will work with CBC to continue Biathlon events. Snow Mountain Ranch has also agreed to purchase three winter targets as in-kind sponsorship of the club's purchase of three new targets. In addition, club member Bill Hay will make a personal target purchase and allow us to use them at Snow Mountain Ranch. As the dust settles, it appears the club will have full facilities again at Snow Mountain and Frisco this season. Our sincere thanks and gratitude goes to Snow Mountain, and to Bill for helping us continue our growth!

Last October, 15 CBC members received their USBA Level 1 Officials certification. This was especially timely because the club will now be handling the entire race day organization for all of our races. It will be up to these people to carry the weight of producing races and organizing volunteers. We've arranged our schedule and are asking the Officials to sign up for the dates they're available to work. Consider it a non-racing day to begin with. It may become possible to share positions with another Official in the other race, but it'll take some coordination to get it working smoothly.

In a way as a club we've been bumped out of the nest, and need to fly on our own. We have some very capable and motivated people on the Board and in the Officials, and have developed the club gradually as we've gone along. We always need help from the body of members to volunteer for scoring, penalty lap counting and course work. Now I think we're up to the task of putting it all together just when it's needed.

Our schedule is a little smaller this year to get our sea-legs under us, and hopefully increase the size of the fields. We're also tentatively planning a two day pursuit format race at the end of the schedule. It should be a fun season!

Think Snow,
David Wells

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• Board of Directors: We filled a couple of Board positions. The Current Board of Directors is:
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• Guard representative status: Our previous National Guard representative plans to dramatically reduce his involvement in biathlon. Given that CBC is only loosely associated with Guard activities here in Colorado, the members in attendance recommended that we pursue a change in the bylaws to recommend (not require) a Guard representative on our Board of Directors. We do, however, view a working relationship with the National Guard as important to the workings and development of CBC. Guard members Doug Bernard and Rich Piltingsrud have been affiliated with CBC in the past, and are currently our link to Guard biathlon activities.

• Junior development: We discussed adding a "Junior Development" Board position. Since we have our hands full with changes in nordic center personnel and race support, we decided to hold off on establishing this new board position.

• Treasury: At the time of the meeting, the club treasury stood at $2638. The group voted to recommend (for this fiscal year) that we keep at least $500 in the treasury. Upcoming expenses included newsletter reimbursements, range maintenance supplies, paper targets, possible rifle repairs, and possible target purchases.

• Targets: At this point we do not have access to the National Guard-owned targets that have been at Snow Mountain Ranch in the past. Various target acquisition plans were discussed, with a final plan consisting of CBC purchasing three targets, submitting a proposal to SMR to match our purchase of those three targets, and several club members considering personal target purchases. (Note that between the club meeting and now, target suppliers have been evaluated and we have placed an order for locally fabricated targets supplied by Marc Sheppard in West Yellowstone, MT. SMR management also agreed to our "matching target purchase" proposal, and Bill Hay will be making a personal purchase of two targets. This should allow us to support the ranges at both Frisco and SMR by the time of our January races.)

• Summer race: We discussed possible timelines for setting up targets and getting the course ready for the upcoming summer races. The SMR vice-presidents (Dave, Jeff) will contact Bill Hay (race director) about logistics.

• Race schedule: With much help from Jeff May's well-researched schedule of other local (and national) races, we set up our tentative race schedule for the 1999-2000 winter season. Since we need to do more race organization than in the past (especially at SMR), we decided to try to assign at least one of our Level 1 official to each particular race, and give that person responsibility for producing the race. (See the following section for the CBC race schedule.)

Thanks to all meeting participants for a productive event!

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• Membership issues: You can use a one day USBA membership for any race, but only one per season. We try to be picky about USBA membership so that there are no questions about whether we're covered by USBA insurance in the case of some unforseen event. Your CBC membership dues help us pay for range supplies and the maintenance of club equipment, as well as the costs of mailing (via U.S. mail) the newsletters.

• Nordic center politeness: Remember that rifles are NOT allowed in the nordic centers at Frisco and Eldora. The layout of the Snow Mountain Ranch nordic center has changed for this season, and we're still awaiting details as to where rifles may be carried in that building. Whenever possible, keep your rifle within sight or under your (or a training partner's) physical control. If you have to leave a rifle unattended, it's better to leave it in the car until you can start skiing out to the range. Also, use of a rifle cover may help to avoid arousing curiosity or qualms on the part of your fellow skiers.

• More nordic center politeness: Don't take loaded magazines into the nordic centers. Make it a habit to clear your magazines completely before leaving the range. Note that the "Open Bolt Rule" includes removal of the inserted magazine. In other words, any time you take the rifle off your back, open the bolt and take out the clip. The IBU rules are as follows:

  IBU Rule 8.5.2.1, Safety Check After Shooting: After each shooting bout the rifle must be unloaded - that is - no round may be left in the chamber or [remain] in the inserted magazine. However, it is permitted to leave a [spent] cartridge case in the chamber and the empty magazine in the rifle after the last bout [in a race].

  In Training and Zeroing: the competitor must perform a Safety Check on the shooting range after his last shooting by opening the bolt and removing the inserted magazine, with the barrel pointed toward the target.

  Loaded magazines should exist only on the range. Following these guidelines will help to prevent dry-firing disasters, too!

• Using the Ranges at Frisco and Eldora:
  • There is a mailbox at the Eldora range which should contain paper and pencil for sign-in purposes. Please record your name, date and general time that you were using the target.
  • There is a sign-in sheet at the desk at the Frisco nordic center. Please record your name, date and the approximate time that you were using the range. (We may go to a mailbox-at-the-range setup at Frisco, too. Stay tuned...)
  • At both ranges, clean up all brass, remove paper and wind up the pull cord before leaving. Let the respective nordic area VP know if you see anything out of the ordinary. Your vice presidents for each area are:
    • Snow Mountain Ranch: Jeff May (970.887.2272) or Dave Cleveland (970.726.9514)
    • Frisco: Elizabeth Pike (303.449.9303)
    • Eldora: Chip Schrader (303.449.3745)
  • Carry your "red book" with you so that if they ask, you can assure nordic center personnel that you are allowed to use the training facilities. If you see someone at the range that you don't recognize or aren't sure they've gone through the safety certification, introduce yourself and gently ask them about their certification experience. Although we've grown in the last few years, we're still a small community and it's up to us to police ourselves.
  • Remember that we have targets at Eldora and Frisco because those nordic centers have generously allowed us to use their space. Please remember that we are their guests and it's up to all of us to maintain the good relationships we have with the nordic center personnel.

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Key: Pen = penalties

Rank Name Pen/Race ( ) = long race Total Pen Total Shots Hit % MEN 1. Dave Martinez 2, 3, -, -, -, -, - 5 20 75 % 2. David Wells 2, -, -, 2, (10), 2, - 16 50 68 % 3. Dave Shoulders 1, 3, -, 5, -, 4, - 13 40 67.5 % 4. Chip Schrader 5, 4, 2, 5, (7), -, - 23 60 61.6 % 5. Andy Hay 3, 6, -, 3, -, -, -, 12 30 60 % 6. Dave Cleveland 6, 5, 3, 3, -, -, 4 21 50 58 % 7. Jeff May 5, -, -, -, -, -, 4 9 20 55 % 8. Ben Harding 6, 3, -, -, -, 4, 6 19 40 52.5 % 9. Fred Call 5, 8, 5, -, (6), -, 5 29 60 51.6 % 10. George Tapley -, -, -, 7, -, 3, - 10 20 50 % 11. Bill Hay 7, 2, -, 5, -, 5, 7 26 50 48 % 12. Joe Airey -, -, -, -, -, 8, 3 11 20 45 % 13. Scott Copeland 8, -, -, 6, (8), 6, - 28 50 44 % 14. Robert Rittner -, -, 6, -, (12), -, 6 24 40 40 % 15. Jeremy Randle 6, 9, 6, 5, -, 5, 6 37 60 39 % 16. Josh Walton 7, -, -, 8, (12), 6, 9 42 60 30 %

Rank Name Pen/Race ( ) = long race Total Pen Total Shots Hit % MEN, continued 17 Nick Waldow 9, 8, -, -, -, 5, 6 28 40 30 % 18 Mike Lohman 7, -, -, 8, -, 6, - 21 30 30 % 19. Kory Kipferl -, -, -, 10, -, 6, - 16 20 20 % 20. Greg Molenaar -, -, -, 9, -, 10, -, 19 20 5 % 21. Paul Hohbach -, -, -, -, (19), -, 10 29 30 4 % WOMEN 1. Julia Collins -, 3, 2, -, (6), -, 2 13 50 74 % 2. Ramona May 3, -, -, -, -, -, 4 7 20 65 % 3. Elizabeth Pike -, 4, 3, 3, (11), -, - 21 50 58 % 4. Holly Copeland 6, -, -,7, (13), 8, - 34 50 42 % 5. Jennifer Downey 8, 6, 4, 7, (11), 5, - 41 70 41.5 % 6. Weatherly Stroh 8, 10, 6, -, -, -, - 24 30 20 % 7. Jennifer Sherry -, 8, -, -, (19), -, - 27 30 10 % YOUTH 1. Seth Kienzle 2, 2, -, - 4 20 80 % 2. Brad Ready -, -, 4, 1 5 20 75 % 3. Sam Hoidal -, 1, 7, - 8 20 60 % 4. Luke Harding 4, -, 5, - 9 20 55 %

Note: Youth Results from 3/27/99 not submitted to CBC

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