Biathlon variants

Two common variations on traditional winter biathlon are summer biathlon, where skiing is replaced by a cross country run, and archery biathlon (ski archery), where the rifle is replaced by a recurve bow.There have also been summer competitions in roller ski biathlon, mountain bike biathlon, orienteering biathlon, and run archery. Primitive Biathlon uses snowshoes and muzzleloaders.The Boy Scouts of America offers a Bikeathlon variant at their national Scout jamboree that mixes BMX biking with air rifle shooting at biathlon type targets.Cadets Canada also offers biathlon to cadets across Canada, with three stages: zones, provincial, and national. Zone competitions are occasionally, due to lack of snow in some southern areas, held as summer biathlon. A .22LR caliber rifle is used at all levels. Races are shorter than world class events.The World Police and Fire Games offer a summer variant which combines cross country running with service pistol shooting.The Russian Military runs tank biathlon competitions.