The Great White Mountains Klondike Derby
Saturday, February 14th – 9 AM-4PM – Palmer Brook Scout Reservation – 911 Broomstick Hill Road – Littleton, NH – Boy Scouts & Webelos
These here are the jobs that’ll need doin’! If ya got any questions, send a telegram to [email protected], and we’ll try ta help ya.
Lafayette Map & Orienteering: Sometimes an adventurer’s best friend is his map and compass. Using
only yer compass, yer skills, and yer ingenuity (that means yer smarts!), orient yerself and whether that
tall tree will be big enough to make a bridge for that river crossing up ahead. Then figure out the best
route using a topographic map. That’s a special kind’a map that shows you how high them mountains
are!
Mt. Flume First Aid: Fer this here job, men will need to use a bit’a their imaginations (that means when
ya dream stuff up!) There’s a man down, see, in a real bad snowstorm, on account a’ he got lost and
couldn’t find his way back to his tent. So he ended up kinda frozen outside, and he’s a’needin’ yer help to
be moved back to someplace warm and then to get warmed up. Just remember to be careful a’movin’
him, ‘cause when someone’s froze like that, ya gotta move ‘em careful like, so as not to upset their hearts.
Mt. Liberty Log Carry: Yer gonna find that havin’ enuf wood on the trail is pretty darn important. So we
worked out this here training exercise for all yer men to learn how to pick up and carry a nice big log.
They’re gonna have to know the ol’ Timber Hitch & Sheet Bend knots, and they’ll prob’ly want to make a
few butterfly loops too, so as they can all work together to carry this big log ‘round the place.
Carter Dome Constellations: This here job’ll probly take place inside our camp hut, so as to make it a
bit more dark-like. The idea here is fer yer men to learn what they’re lookin’ at, when they are out and
about in the night, ‘specially in the wintertime. Might make it easier to navigate and ye might lose less
men this way.
Lincoln Snowblind: Funny, not everyone knows that our President Mr. Abe Lincoln, God rest his soul,
had some kind a’problem with his eyes, but it’s true. So, in honor a’Mr. Lincoln, we named this here job
after his mountain. Here yer men are gonna pretend they’ve been a-blinded by the snow, but they still got
to get their tent up, so as they don’t freeze to death. So they’re gonna have to go and do it blind-folded,
see, just to get this important practice.
Mt. Jefferson Pioneering: This here mountain’s named for our former President, Mr. Thomas Jefferson,
who was a pioneer after a fashion. After all, it was him who sent Lewis and Clark out explorin’, and went
and got us a whole lot more land with the Louisiana Purchase. So, we named a mountain fer him. We like
ta think this training fer yer men might have come in handy on one o’those expeditions, way back. The
men’ll make some kinda fancy tripod thing with wood and the all-important half-hitch and bowline knots.
They’ll need to do some lashing, too. They’ll need to start a fire, and with the fancy buckets we provide,
they’ll need to melt enough snow to make two cups of water. Mind, we’ll be keepin’ track o’ their times.
Cannon Snowshoe Biathalon: That’s one fancy word for some pretty basic survival skills. See, biathalon is one o’them Greek words, meanin’ “a contest” – and ye may be thinking that Cannon Mountain
would be a right good place ta train fer one o’them Olimpic things that the Greeks are just now startin’ to
do again. Our men are gonna train on snowshoes and with BB-guns. We’ll have some snowshoes there
fer yer men, but if they’ve got their own gear, they should bring it along. Ye’ll use our guns, tho, just so
we can be sure a’ what yer practicin’ with.
Starr King Kim’s Game: This job fer yer men is ta work their memories, so as they remember important
details when it counts. We like ta remember Mr. Starr King, ‘cause it was him who kept the great state
o’California in the Union. That seems ‘specially important to all us prospectors. Anyway, in this game,
yer men’ll have a chance to test their memories and earn val-yoo-able jewels. They should like that.
Warm ‘em up for the Yukon, we figure.
Mount Washington Sled Race: Well, this is our biggest mountain, and ye’ll be knowin’ it’s named for
General George Washington. So we thought we’d do him one more honor, and name our biggest and
wildest trainin’ for him, too. If yer troop ain’t got a Klondike sled yet, ya better get started. We’re
waitin’ on ya.
Here’s some more fer ye to know – directions & stuff:
Where Our Camp’s At: That’ll be the Palmer Brook Scout Reservation, see, at 911 Broomstick Road in
Littleton, New Hampshire. Now, if yer plannin’ ta use one o’them G-P-S things, ya should know that it’s
likely ta dump ya past our camp. So when it announces, all important-like, that “ye’ve arrived”, well, it’s
wrong, and ye’ll have gone right past us. So keep yer eyes open, and when ya see our camp entrance,
don’t be waitin’ on yer fancy thing to tell ya ye’ve arrived. If yer bringin’ lots o’horses and troops, ya
should know we ain’t got much room fer ‘em, so we’d prefer ya tie ‘em up in Littleton and maybe combine
yer troops into one or two wagons to drive up. Best place fer that in Littleton is a public horse lot, right
behind the Jax Jr. Movie Theatre, at the corner o’Main Street and Pleasant Streets. Ye’ll turn up
Pleasant Street and the horse lot’ll be on yer left.
As fer getting’ to Littleton, well, comin’ up from the South, take that big road, I-93, and be getting’ off at
a sign that says “Exit 41, fer Littleton & Whitefield.” Ye’ll go right and stay straight ‘till ya get to a
traffic light – hold your horse there ‘till it’s green. Then turn left, and make yer first right at the movie
theater. Big fancy sign there says “Jax Jr.” That there’s the road to the horse lot AND to our camp. To
get to our camp, go all the way up that road, ‘bout 2.1 miles. Ye’ll notice the name o’the road changes
part-ways up, from Pleasant to Manns Hill, and that’s okay, yer goin’ the right way. Ye’ll turn left on
Broomstick Hill and go just about 2 miles to our camp, on your left. Park where the rest o’the horses are
and walk or sled down the hill. But be hearin’ us now – we ain’t got much room for horses, so ye’ll
really want to share some rides.
If yer comin’ from the North, like Colebrook-way, ye’ll most likely head down Route 3, until ya get ta the
town o’Whitefield. Right there, ye’ll make a right onto a Road called “116.” That there road’ll get ya to
Littleton. Keep on ‘till ya see the fancy Jax Jr movie theater ahead on yer right side. Turn yer horse right
there onto Pleasant Street, and then the instructions are the same as fer the folks comin’ from the south.
Take ya all a bit longer, we reckon, and we’re sorry fer that. Kind a’why we also named one o’the
mountains as bein’ from Coos.
Registration: Be sure ye’ve signed yer men up ahead o’time, and bring us the gold, $5 fer each one, plus
$5 if ye want a fancy patch. Ye can hand over the gold when ye’ve arrived at the Camp – we’ll be right
glad to take it off ya, straight away. We’ll take gold or them fancy checks, made out to Troop 209. Sign
yer men up before the 7th of February, so as to give us time to gather provisions.
Opening & Closing Ceremonies: Both’ll take place ‘round our flag pole (well, it’s a tree trunk, but we
use it as a flag pole, see?). We’d like fer the opening to be right about 9 AM and fer the closing to
START at 3:30, so we can be sure to get rid a ya before it’s dark. That means mustering yer men to get to
us right prompt, like, and spendin’ no more than 30 minutes at each o’our training sites. And be
expectin’ fer one o’yer leaders or other old folk to get assigned to help out. We ain’t got enough of our
own men, so we’ll be needin’ some o’yours. Women-folk too.
Lunch: Our troop’ll be feedin’ ya hot soup and them fancy German sausage things – some folks call ‘em
hot dogs. Prob’ly be some other tasty stuff too. Hot cocoa will be on all day, and we’re guessing some
o’our training site folk might have their own hot coffee to share with their helpers. If this don’t sound
tasty, well, then, maybe the Yukon ain’t really where ya should be headin’.
Here’s the list o’ supplies ye and yer men need to be bringin’!
For each scout:
2 liters water
1 can condensed soup (no cream-based soups requiring milk, please)
Scout neckerchief (they’ll get used at the First Aid station)
Personal mess kits
For each patrol:
2 compasses, notebook & pen or pencil
Scout Handbook for reference
Minimum 3 staves for a tripod
Rope for lashing & hanging bucket to melt snow
Metal plate for fire building (i.e., metal trash can lid, pizza pan)
Matches
Bowsaw
Patrol Flag
2 GALLONS of water per patrol – this is in addition to the personal 2L of water.
And don’t forget:
Your sled!
Boots, hat, warm clothes, etc. NO SNEAKERS!