FORT KENT – Freezing rain was crusted on their jackets and caps.

Plastic sheets covered their clipboards.

More than 100 volunteers shoveled, cleaned and groomed the site of the U.S. biathlon trials Thursday despite a serious round of winter weather.

Shooting mats were continually cleaned off, and targets were quickly reset during the two hours of competition by 36 athletes seeking nine remaining slots on the U.S. Biathlon Team.

The team will compete in the Winter Olympics in Italy in February. The trials are being held at the 10th Mountain Lodge at Fort Kent.

Volunteers under the watchful eye of Chief of Range Glenn Saucier were a key reason the trials actually occurred. Four days of competition started Thursday and will end Tuesday.

Like many of the 100 or more volunteers at the 10th Mountain Lodge on Thursday, Saucier has been at it all week.

He started last Saturday.

The area was hit with 42 inches of snow from Sunday through Tuesday, so a huge effort was launched to make sure the facility was ready for the competitions.

“We shoveled, we groomed, and we got the infield ready,” he said.

They had 20 shooting areas open in the 30-lane range Thursday. The volunteers had to prepare the range, set up lines for each target area, and keep the areas clean and, on Thursday morning, free of ice.

Saucier became chief of range through experience and training.

He has worked all three of the main competitions at the 10th Mountain Division venue of the Maine Winter Sports Center since it opened: the World Cup in 2004, the International Paralympic World Championship in 2005, and the U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team trials.

He has received training for the job, locally and at Lake Placid, N.Y. He was assistant chief of range before this week’s competitions.

The Fort Kent native, 51, now lives in Eagle Lake. He is manager of human resources for Katahdin Paper LLC in Millinocket, and he took vacation this week to assist in the competitions.

“It’s stressful, but the stress is different than in my business life,” he said. “It’s a change in my mode of operations.”

He said his crew members knew what they were doing and knew what had to be done. Most were experienced.

“I enjoy it, and it’s fun,” he said Thursday, taking off his jacket in the lodge’s training room. “It’s about community spirit and typical Fort Kent. I just want to help, do something different. It’s great seeing these national and international athletes competing.”

Thursday morning’s rain made it difficult, but no one complained, Saucier said. He said a major task was keeping the paperwork under cover and dry.

The ice made it harder for athletes, too, but Saucier’s workers kept shooting mats as clear as possible.

“We were able to maintain them,” he said. “I hope we can dry them well for Friday.”

Nancy Thibodeau, who chairs the festival in Fort Kent, described the volunteers simply: “They’re just all great.”