Skiing and shooting
Roosa, a biathlete, wins three silver medals

LAKE PLACID — Darwin Roosa won three silver medals at this weekend’s Empire State Winter Games. He has them displayed on a bookcase in his Bozenkill Road home along with other medals of silver, bronze, and gold.

Roosa, at 56, has participated in the winter games for half of his life. At an age when many people experience physical decline, Roosa’s goal is to do better next year.

Roosa is a biathlete. That means he skis cross-country with a rifle and, in the midst of pounding heart and pumping adrenaline, stops, stock still, to carefully aim at targets and steadily pull the trigger.

Last year, he brought home a silver medal for the biathlon in the masters division at the Empire State Games. This year, he did the same, but he added two new competitions — both in cross-country skiing.

Saturday, Roosa competed in the 8-kilometer freestyle race, coming in second in the Masters VI division, with a time of 30:06.

Adam Linick of Queensbury was just ahead of him, at 29:18, winning the gold, and Byron Dieterle of Delmar was 13 minutes behind him, at 43:58, winning the bronze.
Freestyle, Roosa explained, uses a "skating technique."
"You’re on your edges, pushing yourself along," he said. "It’s very fast."
He contrasted this with the "classic" striding style of cross-country skiing, where the skis run parallel to each other.
On Sunday, for the 8-kilometer "pursuit" race, the competitors’ order was determined by the results from the day before.

Roosa came in second again, with a time of 1:02:32. Again, he was just behind gold medalist Linick, who had a time of 1:00:40. Roy Keats of Schenectady came in third, with a time of 1:03:52.

Snow had been sparse in the Adirondacks this winter, so the cross-country races were moved from their usual site at Mount Van Hovenberg to the Intervale Ski Jump Complex, where the trails were covered with manmade snow.

Then heavy snow fell throughout Saturday, making for a slow course. Sunday, skiers battled not only heavy snow but freezing temperatures.

"The culmination"

As an athlete, Roosa’s first love is biathlon.

Raised in Northville in Fulton County, he was always avid about outdoor activities. He began cross-country and downhill skiing as a student at Oneonta State and began racing in the 1970’s.
Looking for something "new and different," he added a rifle in 1982. He practices with a .22 caliber rifle.
"In the summer, we run to bring up the heartbeat and then shoot," he said, explaining this mimics what happens in biathlon competition.

He is a member of the Helderberg Rod and Gun Club, its only biathlete, and enjoys practicing there with others who range from pistol-users to trap-shooters.
Roosa trains for the biathlon year-round, favoring workouts that are "aerobically demanding." He runs and cycles in the summer and also does roller-skiing on the roads around Settle’s Hill.

His ambitious workouts are a contrast from his day job, which involves desk work. For 25 years, he worked at the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, involving the public in environmental education; he now works for the state’s Office of Employee Relations, promoting training.

His wife used to enjoy biking and cross-country skiing with him, Roosa said, but has been busy lately as principal of an elementary school in North Colonie.

Roosa belongs to the Saratoga Biathlon Club, one of five in New York State, which has produced Olympic athletes like Joan Smith and Curtis Schreiner. The clubs compete against each other in qualifying races.
"The Empire State Games," he said, "is the culmination."
"A lot of people don’t understand biathlon," said Roosa, noting the sport is not very popular in America.
"During the Olympics," he said of the recent television coverage of the games in Italy, "biathlon was just in little pieces at odd times."

Roosa traveled to Russia and Finland in the 1980’s and marveled at the biathlon competitions there.
"In Europe, it’s a big spectator sport," he said. "People fill the stands. The leaders flip-flop based on the shooting. The competitors are national heroes."

Saratoga club members and their families formed Roosa’s cheering section this weekend; they were both participants and spectators.

The conditions were difficult this year, Roosa said. The shooting range is at Mount Van Hovenberg, but there was no snow to cover the ground there on Friday. Usually biathletes ski the course to the shooting range and then aim to knock down metal targets.
This year, the ground was bare so the shooting event was held separately from the skiing. "We had to shoot on paper," said Roosa. "It was windy; the snow had just started and you couldn’t really see the targets."

The skiing took place later at the Intervale Ski Jump Complex.

Roosa doesn’t dwell on the past, though. He’s already making plans for next year.
"My goals are to become a better shooter, a faster skier," he said.
Roosa plans to compete in all three events again next year. "The improvement is there, slow and steady," he said. "I’ll work out to make my body more efficient for next year."
Roosa concluded with a quip, "I’m not ready for the Olympics — yet."