Rankin Inlet (Mar 08/06) - The opportunity to compete in a Yellowknife biathlon is something eight Kivalliq cadets won't soon forget - nor will the civilian instructors who were with him.

Dorothy Tootoo went with the four Rankin cadets.

She was so impressed by what she saw, she hopes to start a cadet skiing program to train for future events.

"Our cadets will be seeking donors because none of them have any type of skiing equipment," said Tootoo. "Hopefully, someone will feel sorry enough for us to donate skis and equipment. Our headquarters in Yellowknife will be shipping us at least six pairs of skis, boots and other equipment, but not until the end of March when they're done competing. That works out perfectly because it's the best time for us to start."

Tootoo would like to see a mini-biathlon in Rankin to help the cadets get started. She said they could ski around the FOL and then shoot on the range to get a feel for the event.

"We had a lot of fun at the biathlon and there were a few laughs while the cadets learned to ski for the first time, but we left with two medals. That's quite a start for a group of kids who were never on skis before."

Jennifer Perry took the Repulse cadets to Yellowknife and shares Tootoo's thoughts on a bright future for the biathlon. She said everyone was excited when they first received the invitation, but the cadets were nervous because they'd never skied before.

In fact, two of them had never skated before, let alone ski. "I couldn't believe how quickly they caught on," said Perry.

"At first they spent as much time on their rear-ends as they did on their skis, and they also had trouble getting back up when they fell. But the girl teaching them had only learned to ski the previous year and she's going to the nationals. So that shows you how quickly the cadets learn."

Repulse also took home a medal, but there were some quirky moments as they were learning.

Perry said the strangeness of it all provided a few hilarious moments. "One cadet likes wearing sealskin mitts outside, but they wouldn't fit through the straps on the ski poles no matter how hard we tried.

"Another forgot his glasses during the shooting competition, so I put mine on his rifle and ran out to pick them up when he left. Then he forgets and takes them with him on the course, leaving me behind not able to see a thing. He only missed two targets though, so at least one of us was seeing well."