Thin air/altitude dominated early summer training camps. The Italian Women’s Team of World Cup Total Score winner Lisa Vittozzi, Samuela Comola, Michela Carrara, Beatrice Trabucchi and Hanna Auchentaller got on board the train with a recent camp in Livigno.

Livigno

Livigno is at the top of the high altitude biathlon training sites list: the resort town sits at 1808 meters and up the valley, the Livigno Biathlon Arena at 1920 meters. The sun was just peeking over the mountains above the shooting range as the five women and Lukas Hofer arrived at 8:30 on a 7C morning in early July. A challenging very different 3-hour session awaited the group. The coaches attached three brand-new Ercolina double-pull machines to the side of the range building, a key element of the day’s programme and set up the range.

Drills with a Twist

Every team in biathlon does similar things every day to prepare for training, but at the same time, each team adds their own twists. Zeroing is standard and no exception this day. Drills are a different breed. Instead of the standard one-shot drills, coach Jonne Kähkönen had his charges doing full-magazine drills: rollerski 80-100 meters, fire five shots, and repeat until all magazines empty, focusing on the process and of course, hitting the targets.

Two Groups; Two Different Sessions

Rifles zeroed on the breezy range; drills done; time for work. Two groups of three completed different sessions, then switched to complete their day. First group: rollerski a long loop sans poles; grab poles, rollerski the same loop; into the range, grab rifle, shoot prone, run range loop, shoot standing and repeat three times. The second group rollerskied three minutes, grabbed rifles, shot prone and standing with a range loop. Then the fun started: four minutes of double-pulling which sounds easy but that is a lot of pulling at a high tempo. Stop, walk to the range, fire five prone and five standing shots, grab a drink, put on the rollerskis and repeat this process two more times.

Over the course of three hours, every athlete completed six of these blocks. The third round on the Ercolina left no one gasping, but tiring as the tempo dropped and the following shots not as crisp as earlier. Kähkönen, analyzing almost every bout consoled an athlete, distraught after a three-miss standing stage, “It is a process, not every round is perfect. Everyone battled fatigue at some point and the wind was a challenge. You have to try to stay focused.” When the same athlete cleaned the next bout next bout, a smile returned.

Italian style lunch with three huge courses perfectly restored the calories burned on the range and provided fuel for the day’s second training session.

2.5 Hours; Two 2300-meter Passes

After a brief rest, it was suddenly 4 pm, time for a rescheduled cycling tour. With wet weather looming in the coming days, the coaches wanted to get this session in, under favorable conditions. Vittozzi described their afternoon of cycling as, “Easy.” Over the course of the 2.5 hours, the group topped two passes over 2300 meters, arriving back at the hotel around 6:30 pm, in time for dinner. “Easy is obviously a matter of perspective!

Just another day in the classic summer training cycle of eat, sleep, train, repeat! Biathletes are made in the summer.

Photos: IBU/ Jerry Kokesh, Mirco Romanin