On Saturday February 4, 2012, 18 scouts from Simsbury Boy Scout Troop 175 participated in the annual Winter Klondike event at Camp Workcoeman in New Hartford, CT. Simsbury Boy Scout Troop 76 did a great job organizing the event. Along with over 300 scouts from other troops in Connecticut, we completed 12 tests of our scouting skills.
We began our day at the Klondike with a pack check to ensure we had the required equipment for the day. Then we were off to our campsite to set up and get ready for the day. At the opening ceremony we were given our instructions and the games began. My patrol began competing at a station that tested our skills in orienteering and lashings. We had to construct two extra rungs for a ladder and then proceed up that ladder to remove the added rungs. Using compass bearings, we had to find an imaginary underground equipment stash.
One of my favorite stations of the day involved sawing a log, practicing knot tying and throwing tomahawks. We sawed through a thick log with a large two-handed saw. Two people did the sawing while the others had to brace the log to keep it from moving too much. Next up was knot tying. We had to throw a rope over a bar 6 feet off the ground and then tie that rope to an anchor on the ground using a clove hitch, tie it to a log using a timber hitch and use the sheepshank knot to shorten the rope to keep the log off the ground. Tomahawk throwing was one of the most fun activities of the day. The task was simple, throw an axe at a log, or so we thought. The six people in my group only had a total of 6 axes in the log with each of us throwing two tomahawks.
The cook-off was the next event of the day. We prepared a burrito dish with green peppers, salsa, ground beef and cheese. I cooked and seasoned the meat over an open fire in a Dutch Oven, while others prepared the green peppers. The judges loved our dish and we received a perfect score.
After the cook-off we were challenged in our first-aid skills, preparing a game bird, and fire building. For the first-aid challenge, we tended to a man lying on the ground who was mimicking the symptoms of a broken leg. We tended to his false wounds by immobilizing his legs with a wrap and two sticks. Next learning the art of preparing a game bird, we filleted it and had it cooked for us. This was an interesting experience, being my first time taking apart a pheasant. Lighting fires is the most practiced skill in my troop. We always practice with a string two feet off the ground and this made the one-foot string height an easy task. I managed to light the birch bark with two strikes of flint. We quickly burned through the rope and proceeded to our next task.
When we arrived at the next station we were confronted with the tasks of constructing a shelter, setting up a tent while all members were blind folded except myself and creating a pulley system to move an injured victim up a hill. For the shelter construction we tied a rope between two trees and staked a tarp over it, followed by piling leaves over the tarp for insulation. On the blind tent set up I had to instruct my blindfolded patrol members on how to set up the tent. It took us 10 minutes to fully construct the tent. For the pulley system we had to connect the rope to a sled and then feed it through a pulley attached to a tree using a double fisherman’s knot. The rope was then fed through a second pulley attached to the same rope using a prusik knot. We completed this task in less than three minutes.
We ended the day with a one-mile race through the woods with a 6-foot stick carried by my entire patrol. We finished in second place. After the race, we had a group dinner and award ceremony. We were happy to bring home the 2012 Grand Champion “Boot” Packing Award. All of the preparation we do in troop meetings allowed all of our scouts on the trip to perform well in this friendly competition. I enjoyed using all of the skills I learned and am looking forward to next year’s event.
To see photos from the event, visit the Troop Photo Library.
Sumitted by Karl Spooner.
