Klondike Derby 2022 Camp Tahuaya (TAH)

February 26, 2022

Winter Outdoor Skills Competition!

This is a traditional Scouting Winter Camping and Outdoor Skills competition.  Each patrol/crew must build and bring a wheeled Klondike sled or a wheeled miniature Conestoga or Prairie Schooner Wagon with their trademark canvas bonnets!  Participants can serve as the draft animal of their choice: dogs, horses, oxen, or mules – depending on the vehicle they bring!  Patrols/teams will load the wagons/sleds with their personal and patrol equipment and pull them through the competition course using a map and compass to find each station.  Competition Stations will be named after famous Gold Rush towns.  Patrols/teams will receive “gold” nuggets for their score at each station.

Some events will be competitive, some will be instructional.  Each station will time and test patrols on their team work, winter camping skills, Scouting knowledge and their problem solving ability.

ALL 2022 events will be done outside and have been redesigned to follow Covid-19 protocols!

The Longhorn Council cares deeply about the health and safety of all Scouts and their families. All 2022 weekend events have been redesigned to incorporate the latest CDC, State, and BSA guidelines and make them as safe as possible during the covid-19 pandemic. The updated event plans make it possible for Scouts, adults, and families to have fun in the outdoors while safely following current social distancing and hygiene protocols. Masks are encouraged

All events have new procedures for cleaning, sanitizing, hygiene, mask wearing, and social distancing to avoid crowds and to keep our Scouts outside where it is much safer than indoors. 

Campsites are limited (13 campsites)

Competition Events will include:

Equipment inspection
Orienteering Course
Obstacle Crossing
Fire Building
Travois Races
Emergency Shelter Building
Rescue and Cold Weather First Aid
Flag Pole Raising
Blindfold Tent Setup
Sled and Wagon Slalom races
Other activities – Be Prepared!
Dutch Oven Cooking- Patrols may provide a dinner entrée cooked in a Dutch Oven with recipe to be judged. Entry must be brought to the Dining Hall by 6 PM and must be of sufficient portion for three judges to sample. This is a Troop competition – 1 entry per troop.

The Klondike Sled, Prairie Schooner, and Conestoga Wagon

Every competing patrol/team needs a wheeled Conestoga or Prairie Schooner Wagon or a Klondike Derby Sled with wheels. These should be fashioned to look somewhat like the traditional wheeled Conestoga or Prairie Schooner Wagons, with their canvas weather tarp and frame, or Klondike Sleds with wheels.

Conestoga Wagons

Conestoga Wagons were huge freight wagons with an arching weather cover or bonnet developed in Pennsylvania by descendants of German colonists and used for hauling freight throughout the East and on the Santa Fe Trail to New Mexico.

Prairie Schooners

The Conestoga wagons were too heavy for their draft animals on most rugged western trails. The much smaller Prairie Schooners were developed specifically for overland travel and saw wide use throughout many of America’s western migrations to the latest Gold Rush fields. Many travelers simply retrofitted their standard farm wagons with a canvas bonnet. The popular  Trek Carts from the early days of Scouting were a single-axle adaptation of the famous frontier wagons and their trademark canvas bonnets.

Klondike Sleds

In the winter in the far north frontier, their only means of travel was by dog team. During the Klondike Gold Rush dog sleds were used for transport, freight and mail delivery. Winter travel in the North Country without a dog sled was almost impossible.

Registrations received before 2/7/22 will be guaranteed a T-shirt at the event.

Registrations received before 1/24/22 will be guaranteed a patch at the event.

Registration cut off for this event is 2/16/22