Klondike Derby 2022

My youngest son went to the Klondike Derby hosted by the local Scouting BSA district. At this derby, the scouts reenact some of the many challenges faced by those who went north back in the 1890s to search for gold in the Yukon Territory.

One of the challenges faced by the young scouts was crossing the icy waters of a bay. Each scout was given two small ice bergs (carpet squares) to leap frog their way to shore.

Ready to go forward

Grabbing the 'berg to move it in front

Another challenge for the intrepid explorers was the ever-popular team-cross-country skiing. Our pack had been put with another cub pack and my son worked with total strangers! They had a great time practicing. To provide extra motivation, they had a second go where they had to cross a field. But now it was 2145 and an evil doctor turned all the earth's water into lava! The only way to shut off his water-transforming machine was to cross a pool of lava on lava-proof skis and push the self-destruct button. My son liked that a lot.

It's hard enough being coordinated by yourself, now with others?

The next station had the cubs practice their hunting skills. They were given long poles with ropes tied to them, the way they spear-hunted back in the day. The cub had to stand on the rope, throw the spear at the target, and pull the spear back with the rope.

Thar she hangs!

Another hardship was climbing over hills.

Waiting for his turn

Going up

In search of more nutrition, the scouts had to capture salmon in a net. In this case, the salmon were balls thrown downhill by older scouts. The nets were tarps. The scouts held one edge of the tarp/net to create a barrier. Once all the salmon/balls were on the tarp, the scouts picked up the other edge of the tarp, capturing the balls inside. Then they had to pour them into a bucket, which was less fun than catching the balls.

Ready for action

An even bigger challenge was following a rope while snow-blind (or with a blindfold for the snow- and wind-deprived). The rope course turned a few times, went over obstacles like tires and through some blue tubes (seen in the picture below). The challenge was tough but enjoyable.

Snow blind trail

The next station had scouts saving drowning scouts with a rope tossed from the shoreline. This was a bit trickier than anticipated. 

Getting the lasso ready

Throwing the rope

One of the final obstacles was crossing rivers using nothing other than rope bridges. These bridges show up in lots of scout events and are fun to cross. Too bad they don't make them big enough for adults!

Carefully crossing creek

Why couldn't the second bridge be for adults?

My son had a great time at the Klondike Derby. We'll probably go again next year!

See his older brother at a previous Klondike Derby here.