Boy Scout Troop 236 participated in the Klondike Derby

Boy Scout Troop 236 of Long Valley participated in the annual three-day Black River District Klondike Derby on January, 24th to the 26th.

The Boy Scout Klondike derby is a winter event based on the heritage of the Klondike Gold Rush which was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon, in north-western Canada, between 1896 and 1899. Gold was discovered there by local miners on August 16, 1896, and, when news reached Seattle and San Francisco the following year, it triggered a stampede of prospectors.

Boy Scout troops have been running Klondike derbies since 1949. The Black River District Klondike Derby event consisted of 12 “towns” (stations) spread over 4 miles. “Town Mayors” (adult scout leaders) at each “town” tested scout craft skills like fire building, shelter building, orienteering, first aid, etc. Each patrol transported their gear on homemade sleds. The sled patrols gain points for testing skills, showing leadership, and team spirit.

Every year the scouts wish for low temperatures and snow for their sleds. However, this year the weather provided the worst possible conditions at 37 degrees with driving rain and sleet. Friday night the scouts set up their tents and canopies to keep dry and for making warm meals before settling in for the night.

Saturday morning the scouts woke to pouring rain and 32 degrees. After a hearty breakfast, Troop 236 put on their cold weather gear and loaded-up their four sleds for the official (weather delayed)10:00am start time. It was cold, wet, muddy, and pretty tough to keep themselves and their gear dry. After a while their gloves were soaked tough and hands became cold and hard to use. This proved to be difficult to perform skills like fire building and tying to tie knots in soggy, cold and ice covered ropes. It was fun but physically and mentally challenging to complete every station by the 4:00pm end time. The weather was harsh. And while many trained adult scout leaders provided safe refuge, warm food and support during the entire derby, the majority of the teams dropped out of the event. Troop 236 tried hard to be prepared for the challenge mentally and with the right clothing and equipment to avoid the dreaded “Brain Lock” where you panic, give up, and do nothing.

At the end of the event, only 11 out of the 45 entered sleds completed the course in the time allowed. Boy Scout troop 236 won first place (for the 7th time in 12 years) and second place for the event.

At the end of the day, it stopped raining in time to go for a nice warm indoor dinner following by the Star Wars movie “Solo”. Everyone was tired and happy to go to sleep in their tents that night.

The members of Boy Scout Troop 236 are incredibly proud of their hearty and steadfast Scouts and adult leaders for participating in this event. The event tests the scouts skill sets and perseverance in challenging conditions while they earn internal gratification for following through and completing the task on hand, and in this case, with the additional honor of achieving first and second place recognition’s. There is always something to be said for the “fine and pleasant misery” an event might have which cements the memories of that that day for a lifetime.

Scouts: Hudson McFarland, Jake Gattone, Anthony Rocco, Daniel Franz, Scott Mitchell, James Moore, Tyler Gatone, Nico D'Amico, Kurt Dechiaro, Sean Carpenter, AJ Spangher, Jonathan Moore, Brodie Fritsch, Nicholas Franz, Ryan Kennedy, Reid Nitzsche, Marcello D'Amico, Ryan Arrambide, Ricci Granberg, Noah Lopez, Lucas Rowland, Ben Johnston, Gianluca Morello.

Adult Leaders: Jim Maguire, Rick DeChiaro, Scott Mitchell, Ricci Granberg, Scott Carpenter, Steve Fritsch, Pete Nitsche, Alberto Garza, John Rowland, Rob Maier, Chris Maier, Rick Johnston.

For more information about Troop 236 please visit: http://troop236bsa.org/