Snowshoe biathlon to aid fort

MASSENA - Deep snow will be ideal, but if the ground is bare on March 3 and 4 at the Massena Rod and Gun Club, the first-ever St. Lawrence Valley Primitive Biathlon will nevertheless go on.

Co-organizer and avid snowshoe biathlon enthusiast Frederick J. Hanss admitted Tuesday that an absence of snow does stand to take a key element out of the event’s authenticity.

“It’s been a weird winter,” he said, hastening to add that no snow doesn’t necessarily mean no biathlon.

The event is being held to benefit the Fort La Presentation Association and Forsyth’s Rifles, both of Ogdensburg. It calls for contestants to walk or run a measured course, load and fire two shots from a muzzle-loading firearm at five targets and throw an ax at a sixth.

The biathlon, Mr. Hanss said, is a way to educate people about life in colonial America and the St. Lawrence Valley. There are three classes in the biathlon. In the first two, competitors will use smooth-bore muskets or rifles and will be required to wear - or carry - wooden snowshoes.

In the third category, contestants will need wooden or modern snowshoes to get around.

Participants are encouraged to wear period garb from 1750 to 1812.

There will be door prizes on both days, and awards to the top three participants will be presented on March 4.

Registration forms and rules for the biathlon are available online at www.fort1749.org.

The cost to register is $20 per person in advance of the biathlon, or $25 on the day it is held. Mr. Hanss said that youths between 12 and 16 may participate, but only if accompanied by a parent.

The proceeds from the biathlon will go to the Fort Association’s campaign to raise funds to build an interpretive center and a replica of the historic fort, both at Lighthouse Point in Ogdensburg.