The young shooters are trying the winter sport at at the Snow Farm this week, as some get their first taste of cross-country skiing.
Biathlon is a Winter Olympic discipline combining Nordic ski racing and target shooting.
The sport, from the Norwegian military, was first contested at the Olympics in 1924.
Queenstown-based tourism hospitality student Sarah Murphy became the first New Zealander to compete in the sport at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February after converting to the silver fern from Canada in 2009.
A group of 19 hopefuls are taking part in the first New Zealand biathlon training camp until Sunday, with cross-country skiing tutelage from ex-Russian team coach Alexei Sotskov.
Biathlon NZ administrator John Burridge said those with a background in target shooting or hunting were identified for the camp, although converting to biathlon from their usual sports background had been a challenge.
The fledgling Wanaka Biathlon Club was also involved in the training camp, while Target Shooting New Zealand had provided a coach "galloping round on snowshoes" to help the aspiring biathletes, Mr Burridge said.
NZ target shooting representative Ashleigh Trainor (17), of Motueka, recently won a gold medal in the air rifle competition at the Oceania Championships and was considering crossing over to biathlon.
Hitting targets after a strenuous cross-country ski across the snow was very different from her usual shooting regime, she said.
"The shooting needs to be done in much less time and your heart rate is pounding in your ears ... [The] accuracy is not quite as tough, but shooting without the supportive jackets I'm used to is demanding," she said.
Joining Ashleigh are an Alexandra rabbit-shooter and an Ashburton deer-stalker.
Cam Day, of Alexandra, and Joseph McAdam, of Ashburton - a top-ranked national junior prone shooter - came to biathlon via their interest in outdoor pursuits and alpine skiing.
"Skiing uphill has been a bit of a challenge, but apart from that it's great fun," Joseph said.
The biathlon training camp continues at the Snow Farm until Sunday.
