Emile Vogel-Nakamura figures on a radical temperature drop by the time he returns to the biathlon range at Caledonia Nordic Centre.
It's big change from the heat of summer to the dead of winter.
Temperatures reached well beyond 30 C as he blasted off boxes of bullets as part of the provincial team summer biathlon camp and Vogel-Nakamura is just hoping it won't be -30 C next February if he's wearing Team B.C. colours at the Canada Winter Games.
The 18-year-old from Vancouver is almost a sure bet to make the team, which will include five males and five females (four of each gender per team, plus an alternate in case of sickness or injury). He jumped at the chance to travel to Prince George for the mandatory four-day summer camp, which focused on roller-ski techniques and shooting practice.
The provincial team will be picked based on results from two North American Cup races in Nov. 29-30 in Canmore, Alta., and Vogel-Nakamura, an army cadet warrant officer, says bring it on.
"I feel really confident of making the team, not just because I'm the oldest athlete but because I have experience and perform really well under stress," said Vogel-Nakamura. "The selection of the team is made on one race [weekend] and I don't know how other people are going to do but I love competition and I love stress."
He also loves the 32-lane Otway range. Saturday's drills offered his first glimpse of what he'll see if he's back for the Games in February.
"It's super-professional, super-flat and level and it looks kind of Olympic," said Vogel-Nakamura, who trains at the 2010 Olympics nordic facility at Callaghan Valley near Whistler. "The range is where the race happens, that's where you make the podium. I don't want to set unrealistic goals but I definitely want to podium on home soil in my home province."
Fifteen-year-old Kyra Teetzen, of Quesnel knows if she makes the Winter Games team she'll have an entourage from her hometown to cheer her on in Prince George.
"It's like 190 days away," Teetzen said. "If I train really hard and do well in Canmore I could make the team. The camp has been really fun, I don't roller ski much in Quesnel because there's not many places to do it."
Northern B.C. regional coach Erica Erasmus says there's no substitute for group practices for the athletes, who would have great difficulty replicating the same drills while working alone.
"Training with other athletes is huge, especially if you're from a smaller club," said Erasmus. "The drills or games we do, there's no way you can do that on your own to have that kind of pressure working with or against other people. You can be a great precision shooter and then just totally lose it in a race because you just can't handle the pressure. How do you train for that if you're not at a camp with other people?"
Sarah Beaudry of Prince George is pre-qualified for the B.C. team at Canada Games based on her international medal results last season, but won't compete at Otway because the biathlon is during the first week of the Games, which conflicts with the world junior championships in Belarus. Beaudry is training in Canmore and did not attend the camp. Neither did Emily Dickson and Arthur Roots of Prince George, who also train in Canmore and are both likely to make Team B.C.
Bobby Kreitz of Prince George turns 16 in October but he's still at the low end of the Winter Games age spectrum. The Games are open to biathletes under age 21.
"I'm not sure about Canada Games, it's bit of a step up for me, I'd have to race up two [age] categories so it's a little far off for me," said Kreitz. "I'm racing against the older guys and I don't know if I'll get a spot but if I do it will be fantastic."
If he does make the biathlon team he'll be racing on his home trails, where he first learned to ski.
"That's a huge advantage, especially the range," he said. "A lot of the clubs, especially in B.C., don't have a range like this."
Cycling training was the theme of Biathlon B.C.'s camp two weeks ago in Oliver, where the athletes rode 450 kilometres in five days. The Prince George camp featured three hours of roller skiing every morning, followed by shooting practice and combinations (running and shooting) in the afternoons. Kreitz roller skis regularly with his training partner, 17-year-old sister Erica, a strong candidate to make B.C.'s cross-country ski team.
The camp brought about dozen teenaged athletes together from the Lower Mainland, Okanagan, Quesnel, Smithers and Prince George. Other local athletes who took part were Logan Sherba, Colten McDougall, and Mark Hartley, all of Prince George, and Ryan Elden of Quesnel.
Former Olympian Glenn Rupertus, who coaches the provincial team with Rob Swan, also made the trip to Prince George. Two-time Olympian Megan Heinicke worked with the group on Monday, teaching roller ski techniques and offering tips on nutrition.
