Troop 530 to host 1st annual Klondike Derby

Troop 530 is preparing for their first annual upcoming Klondike Derby at the winter lodge on Mt Hood. In a Klondike Derby, Scout patrols acting as huskies pull specially designed homemade sleds around a field course marked by stations named for towns or cities, such as Dawson or Fairbanks. At each town the Scouts tackle exercises in problem-solving, as well as contests and other activities in which the patrols or teams earn spendable "gold nuggets" and credits toward Scouting patches. 

A little history for all......Just before the turn of the last century, gold prospectors traveled the sub-zero reaches of Alaska by means of dogs and sleds. They camped out in all kinds of winter weather, and therefore needed adequate survival skills, which they learned from the native Eskimos. Scouting has incorporated this theme in the Klondike Derby. The point of a Klondike Derby, which usually is held in late January, is to make Scouts use their heads, to put their Scouting skills to work in the field, to demonstrate teamwork and Scout spirit, and to have fun outdoors on winter days.

NOTE: "The Klondike Derby plans are not—repeat—not presented here as an official BSA program or event. They are, instead, offered as a suggested activity simply for kids to enjoy. These instructions are based on original ones

published as program helps in the 1960’s; ideas from derbies staged since then have been added. —Boys’ Life