There was much to be learned from a recent trip taken to Hochfilzen, Austria, by North American Biathlon World Cup organizing committee members, who all said the knowledge they gained will be invaluable as they continue to prepare for the events taking place in Aroostook County in February.
The sport of biathlon combines the precision of rifle marksmanship with the athletic requirements of cross-country skiing.
Jane Towle represented the Presque Isle Nordic Heritage Sport Club, which will be host to the World Cup Feb. 4-6, and was joined by two members of the Fort Kent organizing committee, Dana Saucier and Gary Daigle, along with Max Saenger, who is serving as a consultant for both events. They journeyed to Europe Dec. 7-13 for the second of the nine-part 2010-11 World Cup series, held in Austria.
“It was important for a member of the organizing committee to see a World Cup in action in order to better understand what is in store for us in February,” said Towle, who is serving as chief of media and promotion for the Presque Isle event, the seventh on the World Cup slate. “It was my job to report back to the organization leadership and, hopefully, provide some of the information and answers to the outstanding questions that we still have.”
Towle said having Saenger on the trip was helpful in opening communication with some instrumental people.
“It was an amazingly informative trip, and the fact that we were with Max allowed us to view the Austrian World Cup from an organizer’s point of view rather than just an observer. Max has tremendous connections within the biathlon world due to his leadership years with the Vancouver Olympics, and his relationships with the organization leaders in Europe opened doors for us. It allowed us to talk with everyone from the competition chiefs and coaches, media and television personnel, to the major IBU sponsors.”
She added that individuals in Austria were intrigued by the logistics involved in holding back-to-back World Cups within 60 miles of each other.
“They are especially intrigued that the Presque Isle venue was given only seven months to plan this enormous event,” Towle said. “Typically, venues are awarded World Cups over two years in advance of the event because of the complex and logistical planning involved. We continually let our organization committee counterparts in Austria know that we have an excellent and hardworking volunteer base committed to making these USA World Cups a great success.”
Saucier is one of the executive members of the organizing committee for the Fort Kent venue, which will hold its World Cup, the eighth of the winter, Feb. 10-13. He was impressed by the efficiency and organization displayed by workers at the Austrian venue.
“It was a wonder to behold. The venue ran like clockwork; everyone knew their jobs and executed expertly,” Saucier said. “With 17 World Cup events under their belt, one each year with one World Championship thrown in to boot, their venue ran like a well-oiled machine.”
Saucier said an example of this was seen shortly after his contingent’s arrival on the site.
“We saw the sun, blue sky and the beautiful Tyrolean Alps surrounding us. However, that was short-lived, for that evening it began to snow and continued for the three following days dropping approximately 3½ feet of snow onto the venue site,” he said. “The crews cleared, packed and groomed trails and the range site so efficiently that the following morning, the venue started on time without a hitch. The amount of work they did was remarkable, but the event never faltered.”
Gary Daigle, vice president of logistics for the Fort Kent World Cup, said being in Austria provided valuable information.
“It gave us the opportunity to put faces and jobs together and experience a World Cup in all it has to offer,” Daigle said. “All things can be read about, but experiencing it improves your understanding. With each office visited, we brought back the expectations from the athlete, team support, spectator and IBU side, and our job is now to provide the same standards and surpass their expectations where we can.”
Daigle said they were able to visit the media room and witness the setup, watch winners interviewed and experience the technology required to make the event successful.
“Small things were important to see and bring home — electrical and data hookups, the process to retrieve data before and after races, the security to enter the media area and food and beverages offered for the media,” Daigle added.
Towle said the trip also gave her perspective into the financial portion of the event.
“I was able to view this World Cup as a way to help determine some of the ‘must haves’ and ‘nice to haves’ in helping to work within our budget,” she said. “It was interesting to see what the expectations of the biathletes, coaches, sponsors, IBU and VIPs are when they attend a World Cup.”
She said, for example, in Presque Isle, plans were in place to provide two separate evening meals to recognize the media and the VIPs, but through the Austria trip they learned that the meals can be combined into one evening celebration, “saving our organization committee a considerable amount of money.”
Towle said she also learned more about the importance of television coverage in a World Cup.
“All timing, awards, crowd control and stadium production decisions are made with the TV-viewing audience in mind, and high ratings are the only goal,” she said.
“Biathlon continues to be the highest-rated TV sporting event in Europe, and the television production crew will be arriving early in the United States to begin the daunting job of setting up the almost 30 strategically placed cameras throughout the course and stadium. The television crews are looking forward to broadcasting from our venues here in northern Maine.”
Fort Kent’s 10th Mountain Ski Club held the first Biathlon World Cup in Maine in March 2004 and drew favorable reviews from the athletes, European television and the International Biathlon Union. That event created $5.2 million in economic impact for the St. John Valley and was seen by 50 million viewers in Europe. It had 17 hours of broadcast time in the United States on the Outdoor Life Network, now Versus.
Presque Isle’s emergence onto the international biathlon scene came in 2006 when the Nordic Heritage Sport Club held the Biathlon Junior World Championships. The IBU considered that the best-ever World Junior Championships event and is supporting the Nordic Heritage Center’s bid for that event again in 2014. Presque Isle’s hosting of Junior Olympics last winter brought superlative reviews from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, which awards the event.
“After seeing a World Cup in action, it will surprise me if there is a citizen in central Aroostook County who chooses to stay at home Feb. 4-6 when they could witness this monumental event taking place just down the road,” Towle said. “I know I didn’t understand the magnitude of what is coming until I went to Austria, and now I do.”