While so much of daily life is still in disarray due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Scouts BSA — formerly Boy Scouts of America — winter challenge event, the Klondike Derby, went on more or less as normal Saturday, Jan. 22.
The outdoor event is a decadeslong tradition for the Voyageur Trace and Twin Lakes Districts of the Pathway to Adventure Council Boy Scouts of America. As the event is outdoors, the event is relatively safe for participants who also wore masks.
While in recent years, several amenities, like the communal stew pot and the in-person awards ceremony after the competition, have been put on hold, Mike Mikulski, Portage Creek District Klondike Derby Coordinator, said this year’s event was closest to the pre-pandemic courses since the first outbreak of COVID-19. Even the soup returned.
“This year was back to normal,” Mikulski said. “Masks were required and we screened everyone to make sure they were in good health. But it was an outdoor event and we took precautions.”
This is good news for the boys — and the girls, who have been competing for the last two years now. For some troops, even finding a space for indoor meetings has proved a challenge as some local hosts — typically churches or other community spaces — have closed their doors to indoor meetings out of a surfeit of caution against COVID-19 spread.
“I think it’s good to get outside, there’s a lot of enthusiasm,” Mikulski said. “I’ve been talking to a lot of scoutmasters and a lot of them can’t meet inside.”
It’s one of the more popular local scouting traditions and it’s the only midwinter outdoor competition. The Klondike Derby gives members a chance to show off knots, first aid, fire starting skills and other merit-badge related knowledge in a friendly, competitive spirit.
Between events, troops race from challenge to challenge 50-pound homemade sleds loaded down with gear. The sleds are intended to mimic the Iditarod sleds — the famous sleds used in the Alaskan dog race — though these sleds are hauled by the scouts, through mud, dry land and snow.
The troops can win through speed and skill, and the whole event is capped off with bowls of hot soup at Soupy Smith’s Klondike Kitchen.
“It went well,” said Mikulski. “It was a great event, we had 128 scouts, boys and girls out there competing in the Klondike Derby. There were 17 patrols pulling sleds competing in various events.”
Mikulski has been overseeing the event for years, and he said this year’s participation was higher than in the years prior to COVID-19, though it included some longtime favorite challenges, like hatchet throwing and fire building as well as some new challenges like a ropes maze through the trees and a snow snake game — which involved sliding through the snow.
“I think this was one of our better years,” Mikulski said. “We were just under 100 last year and in past years, I don’t remember having this many patrols in a while.”
The big winner Saturday was Troop 117, who won the overall competition. Troop 117 is out of Western Springs, and Troop 216, a mixed boys and girls troop out of LaGrange Highlands, earned second place.
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Mikulski said that ever since the girls began competing, they’ve been as tough and as eager as the boys, and he’s glad to see the added participation.
“One thing that’s changed, we’re getting quite a few girl patrols and it’s fun to see girls and boys competing together,” he said. “Five years ago, it was only boys competing so it’s fun to see them embracing this and competing.”
The next winter competition — an annual first aid meet — is tentatively scheduled for March. It’s also a competition wherein troops compete for speed and accuracy in treating various medical emergencies with first aid, though it’s trickier to plan as it’s an indoor competition, so extra safety measures will likely be required though Mikulski isn’t sure what those will look like.
“We’re working out what we have to do for Covid safety,” Mikulski said.