Some of the country’s top biathletes will compete at Soldier Hollow Oct. 9-11 for the annual Schutzenski Festival.
The biathlon races feature youth, open and elite divisions from 12-year-old athletes to masters, combining roller skiing and rifle shooting.
Soldier Hollow Events Manager Josh Korn said the Wasatch County event is free for spectators.
“There'll be races out here starting at 9 [a.m.] all the way until about noon,” he said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Oct. 9. “So a pretty tight window, about three hours of action-packed competition out here for these athletes.”
The first weekend, Oct. 9-11, also includes the annual SOHO Biathlon Shoot-Out at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
U.S. Biathlon Director of Operations Sara Studebaker-Hall said organizers revived the program about six years ago, and changed some of its traditions.
“We used to bring people out to Soldier Hollow up on the train, the Heber Creeper,” she said. “They would dress up and come out and shoot, and there would be beer and food and other activities, and we kind of changed that up, and there's no longer any beer and shooting at the same time, so that's much safer and better I think.”
The festival returns Oct. 15-17 for trail and cross country runners.
