TV crew tells Europe of biathlon, Maine German network impressed with venue

FORT KENT – Rainer Rosenbaum and Thomas Muller were fascinated this week with their first look at northern Maine and surprised by the number of people attending Biathlon World Cup competitions at the 10th Mountain Division site.

Rosenbaum, 44, is director of the ARD Television crew, and Muller is the main editor for the 30-person effort by the German public television broadcaster. It’s a smaller crew than what they would work with in Europe, but they said the number is adequate.

The crew coordinates the operation of 15 cameras scattered about the trails, the range and the facilities at the 10th Mountain Division Center off Route 11.

The ARD coverage also includes three other cameras that roam the St. John Valley, and a bit beyond, wherever the German biathlon team meanders.

“We’ve transmitted all of the world cup competitions from all over the world since December,” Muller said. “We have been living out of suitcases ever since.”

They’ve covered competitions in Finland, Austria, Slovakia, Germany, Italy, Lake Placid, N.Y., and now Fort Kent.

They have with them 23 of their own cameras and three “unrelated cameras” for other broadcasters, and have laid an estimated 10,000 feet of cable throughout the biathlon venue.

The camera that is farthest away is 500 meters [about 1,600 feet] from the shooting range at the lodge.

European television is very important to biathlon. It brings in huge amounts of money, allowing the International Biathlon Union to pay the sport’s expenses. Whatever the European television crews need at the world cup, they get.

Organizers met a myriad of needs for the crews, including installations throughout the trail system, platforms in the range shooting area, and broadcasting facilities inside the lodge.

Many in the ARD crew, according to the two men, have been in Fort Kent since last Saturday, setting up equipment. The lines through the woods were installed before their arrival. Other network staff were on location here last summer to make arrangements.

“We were very surprised to find this beautiful facility here,” Rosenbaum said. “For the first time holding the competitions, the organization is very good.

“There was a very good number of spectators,” he said. “We were surprised by the number of people here.”

Muller said that last week in Lake Placid, N.Y., the number of spectators was 100 to 200 per day.

“For the first time, this is very good here,” Muller said.

While in the area, television camera crews have been roaming around. They’ve filmed bingo halls in Fort Kent and Madawaska, flown over the woods and forests in helicopters, and followed the German biathlon team wherever it went during the afternoons, after competitions.

Besides live broadcasting of the competitions each day, the crews produced two or three special story segments per day about life in northern Maine to show their European viewers.

“We take the time to tell Europeans how life is, how life is in Fort Kent, each day,” Rosenbaum said. “We tell them this is a very nice place for holidays, and hopefully many will come.”

In Germany alone, Rosenbaum said, 2.5 million to 5 million people a day watch what the crews film in northern Maine.

German time is six hours ahead of Maine’s. The competitions, filmed between 9 a.m. and noon, are viewed between 3 and 6 p.m. the same day in Germany.

The competitions are broadcast live. The specials are usually viewed by Europeans during the morning.