Ariens Nordic Center aims to create opportunities for Midwest athletes — and Brillion

BRILLION – This winter, Brillion is preparing to turn into a hotspot for Midwestern athletes with the opening of the Ariens Nordic Center.

The skiing complex, which began construction in November, is set to open this December. A crowd of athletes, coaches, Ariens staff and community members gathered at the site of the under-construction complex Wednesday for a kickoff event.

"This venue is going to change the lives of countless young kids, families, athletes, and you are going to, with this venue, inspire a lot of big dreams and Paralympic dreams going forward," Max Cobb, president and CEO of the U.S. Biathlon Association, said. "It is going to be a jewel for this region."

Located at 1111 Round Lake Rd., the Ariens Nordic Center will sit on 200 acres of land with natural rolling hills, and will include a network of trails open to the public year-round for recreation, training and competition for cross-country skiing, biathlon, roller-skiing, running, hiking and more. The center will make its own snow and include a paved roller-skiing loop for off-season training and a biathlon shooting range.

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Biathlon incorporates cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. The sport brought a spotlight to Wisconsin at this year's Winter Olympics, as the two best athletes on the U.S. Olympic biathlon team, Deedra Irwin and Paul Schommer, were both born and raised in the state. Both were in attendance at the kickoff event.

At the Olympics, Irwin, who grew up just outside Pulaski, placed seventh in the women’s 15-kilometer individual event, Team USA's best performance ever in biathlon.

Appleton native Schommer anchored the mixed relay team that also placed seventh. Schommer also had a personal best right before the Olympics, finishing ninth in the men's 20-kilometer individual race at a World Cup competition in Italy.

The only winter Olympic sport in which no U.S. athlete has ever received a medal, biathlon has historically been dominated by European athletes. Those who do take up the sport in the United States typically train in mountainous regions along the east and west coast, Irwin said.

Irwin and Schommer, both 29, didn't pick up biathlon until their 20s. At the kickoff event, both noted the significance that Brillion's new facility will have in introducing young athletes from the area to the sport at an earlier age.

"I didn't even start Nordic skiing or know that it was a sport until I was 16 years old," Irwin said. "So it's pretty crazy to think that, in high school, something like this would have presented itself to me, what we would have been able to accomplish."

Schommer said he always thought Wisconsin had the potential for talented cross-country skiers, but there weren't many resources in the state.

"To now see the Ariens family producing and creating a venue that will not only introduce kids to the sport of biathlon and cross country skiing, but to also have an opportunity to train at a really high level, it's really, really cool," Schommer said. "I think we're hopefully seeing a lot more Olympians come from this part of the country in years to come."

Ariens Company, a Brillion-based company that produces snow blowers and lawn mowers, stepped into the world of Nordic skiing in 2019 when the company became the main sponsor for the U.S. biathlon team. The sponsorship came about after Schommer spotted an Ariens snow blower in the Alps while in Europe for a competition and contacted to the company about a possible sponsorship.

Dan Ariens, chairman and CEO of the Ariens Company, said part of the motivation to build the Nordic Ski Center is to help the Brillion community.

"We have a business plan to grow this community of Brillion, Wisconsin, which is about the same population at the day when I graduated from high school — I will not tell you how long ago that was," Ariens said.

While the Ariens Nordic Center will host national competitions for Nordic skiing and biathlon and provide a space for professional training, it'll also be a site for recreational skiers of all levels.

"You're going to have a four-season trail that works for everybody, from Olympians like Deedra and Paul, to athletes who are just starting their first day on skis, to folks in their 70s who have a passion for the sport and want to keep out there," Cobb said.

The trail was designed by John Morton, the founder of Morton Trails and former Olympic athlete and coach. He has designed Nordic ski trails across the United States.

"I've done about 12 of these kinds of venues," Morton said. "And I think this facility is probably going to have the most significant positive impact on the community and the region of any of the projects that I've done."

Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Ariens Nordic Center creates opportunities for athletes, Brillion