Biathlon could be headed for TV
Eastern Sierra Nordic Skiing Association, which promotes cross-country and biathlon competitions for adults and youth, has seen rapid growth in its biathlon events.
During the past couple of years, the summer and winter competitions have gone from a modest 50-60 entrants to more than 160, attracting world-class athletes and securing Mammoth’s skiing and shooting events national and international recognition.
On Tuesday, Feb. 15, the organization’s Hank Garretson went before Mono County’s Tourism Commission with a Local Program funding request, though his came with a unique twist. Typically such requests are granted for out-of-area marketing and advertising to bring in visitors. Garretson’s request was to help defray the cost of an insurance policy to secure use of a helicopter that would be part of TV coverage of ESNSA’s upcoming Winter Biathlon, scheduled for March 25-27 at Tamarack Lodge.
According to Garretson, cable sports network Versus has expressed serious interest in recording the competition for an hour-long special that will air soon after. The shoot is, however, somewhat contingent on securing additional insurance coverage for the chopper and its camera crew. Garretson said the U.S. Forest Service requires a $5 million policy. Versus and the chopper company have $2 million in force, and Garretson asked the Commission to cover $5,000 of the additional $5,400 needed to buy the remaining $3 million.
A first of its kind in terms of the type of request, it didn’t take the commission long to reckon that the visibilty Mammoth and Mono County would receive from such TV coverage, especially on a national cable channel such as Versus can easily be counted as “out-of-area” marketing. Versus, while not quite as big as ESPN, is hardly small potatoes. In addition to numerous other sports programming, the network (which is available locally on NPG Cable) is home to the Indy Racing League race series.
Garretson thinks the sort of “sports infomercial,” which will likely re-air several times, might well be a boon for tourism. He cited previous women’s slalom TV coverage that aired in Europe, which he said “translated into a noticeable uptick in visitation” not long afterward.
Commissioner Danna Stroud said this request is more “destination” in nature, as opposed to the traditional “event” marketing requests fielded by the commission.
“It allows expansion into Film Commission types of ventures we have been unable to do until recently,” Chair Jimmy Little observed. The Commission approved Garretson’s request, deferring the reimbursement to until after the special airs, and carrying over request to the 2011-2012 fiscal year budget. (Only $3,700 remains for Local Program funding for the remainder of the current year.)
Garretson said the hope this year is to pull in up to 200 competitors. Other plans for the competition include moving the shooting range from behind the pack station to the Forest Service’s so-called “slash pit” near Horseshoe Lake. The move will allow up to 20 lanes at 50 meter lengths, longer than those used previously. “The 50-meter length is a more international range standard,” Garretson explained, adding that it would prove more conducive to attracting (and keeping) world-class elite and National Guard-level biathletes.
He added that former Olympic biathlete and coach John Morton, who designed Olympic biathlon facilities in Salt Lake City and Vancouver, consulted on making the Tamarack-area range a more permanent facility.
He envisions the Nordic scene as a significant contributor to Mono County’s tourism base. Sun Valley, he pointed out, has a robust cross-country network and consequently nordic skiing there accounts for roughly 20% of all skier visits.
