Only 1 year old, the Bridger Biathlon Club in Bozeman has made a bold bid to purchase two Nordic ski areas in the Bridger Mountains. The club has an option to buy the 249-acre Crosscut Ranch and the 276-acre Bohart Ranch Cross-Country Ski Center for $10 million. The club has three years to raise the money. If it works, the club is hoping to also turn the acreage into a summertime play area, as well. Hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding trails along with disc golf are some of the considerations. The club plans to hold a meeting with the community early next year to hear suggestions. Biathlon is the popular European sport that combines cross country skate skiing with shooting at targets with specialized .22 rifles. This summer the club installed a new $40,000 state-of-the-art Finnish-made shooting range at Bohart, replacing an existing range that was built in the 1980s.

To read more about the sport and the proposed land purchase, log on to http://billingsgazette.com/ lifestyles/recreation/

(Written by Brett French-Outdoors Editor for the Billings Gazette)