The Fort La Présentation Association will hold its 9th annual St. Lawrence Valley Primitive Snowshoe Biathlon on Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5, 2023 at the St. Lawrence Valley Sportsman’s Club located off State Highway 37 in Lisbon. The event will kick-off at 10 a.m. and close at 2:30 p.m. each day.
Sponsors for the popular event include The St. Lawrence Valley Sportsman’s Club, La Bella Associates, T.J. Fiacco, and Gray’s Gun Shop.
Event Coordinator Fred Hanss said the event requires participants to traverse a race course through the woods on snowshoes and fire a muzzle loading rifle or smoothbore twice at each of five targets placed in the woods. At the final station, participants may toss a tomahawk at a block of wood for extra points.
Participants are timed as they run or walk the course and each time they hit a target, 5 minutes is deducted from their running time. If there is insufficient snow to use snowshoes, the organizers may permit participants to carry their snowshoes on the course.
The biathlon is a local version of a winter sport that is very popular in New England said, Barbara O’Keefe, president of the Fort La Présentation Association. The original snowshoe biathlon took place at Smuggler’s Notch, VT and there are now several events in Vermont and New York that take place annually.
There are three divisions: traditional muzzle loading rifle; flintlock or percussion cap lock, traditional smoothbore and modern in-line muzzleloader. Those running in the traditional class must wear wooden snowshoes while in-line shooters can wear modern snowshoes. Each division is scored separately. There are classes for seniors, men, women and youth (12-16).
Funds raised by the event will be utilized to advance improvement on Fort Association’s property located on Van Rensselaer Point in Ogdensburg.
The registration fee is $18 in advance of the event or $20 at the door. Once registered, runners can run the course a second or third time for an additional $5 fee. For more information on the St. Lawrence Valley Snowshoe Biathlon, contact the event organizer, Fred Hanss at (315) 212-6213.
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