Volume VI No. 1 - April, 1933

The period from February 19 to 26 in Klamath County was devoted to the various activities of the Seventh Annual Snow Carnival and Ski Tournament. The contests were held at the ski jumping grounds which are located just below the south boundary of Crater Lake National Park and about six miles north of Fort Klamath. Various service clubs, the Pelicans - a local community group of Klamath Falls, and other organizations and individuals assisted the Crater Lake Ski Club with the program.

A feature of this year's carnival was the presence and active competition of Scotty Allan of Nome and his dog team of Alaskan huskies. Scotty and his team added a touch of color to the festivities which smacked of the rigors and romances of the northland where he has won coveted riches and many honors. In the dog team race, the first ever to be included in the club's activities, Scotty Allan won first honors, followed in second place by Virgil Jones, Pocatello, Idaho, musher. The team of 15 dogs pulled the "Princess of the Snows", Miss Doris Noah, elected by Klamath County, on the sledge in a race against the several competitors in the feature event - the long thirty-two mile gruelling race to Crater Lake Lodge on the rim of Crater Lake and return. The dog team came in thirty minutes after Pete Hedburg, a blond Scandinavian from Modoc Point, winner of the race and the recipient of the large Sterling Silver loving cup named "The Shadow of the Klamath". He negotiated the distance in four hours and thirty minutes. To obtain permanent possession of the cup Hedburg must be the victor a subsequent year.

Other features of the Carnival included ski jumping, various ski races, novelty contest and dances. The event which held second interest to the long thirty-two mile feature contest was the Trail Breakers race of sixteen miles which starts from the rim of Crater Lake. Out of the field of twelve entrants Delbert Denton of Fort Klamath took first place, covering the distance in one hour and forty-two minutes.

To indicate who "ski minded" the youths of Klamath County are there is one race named "The Future Defenders of the Klamath". Contestants for this must be less than ten years of age.

Interest for years in the Crater Lake Ski Club has centered in the community of Fort Klamath, a village located near the site of the historic old fort and of that name, where Federal soldiers were stationed during the days of pioneer development in southern Oregon. It was from Fort Klamath that troops were dispatched during the time of the spectacular Modoc War.

This year the Annual Snow Carnival and Ski Tournament attracted so much interest that contestants and visitors were brought from many sections of the Pacific Northwest. In all over four thousand people attended the various features of the Carnival. The festival was probably the most successful ever held since the inauguration of the Annual Ski Tournament in 1927. The officials and personnel of Crater Lake National Park congratulate the Ski Club and assure them it was a pleasure to extend all possible cooperation.

Apparently in semi-coma, cold and groggy, a golden mantled ground squirrel arouses from his hibernation and huddles up to the stove each time a fire is built in one of the smaller warehouses. After he thaws out a feed is welcome. -- The winter crew has for pets a pine squirrel, a golden mantled ground squirrel, and a snowshoe rabbit, all of them have the freedom of the messhall.....

Bullcook Blackie's conservatory, with tin canes for flower pots includes sprouting parsnips, carrots, an onion, and a cabbage.....

Visitors acclimated to sea level atmospheric pressure seldom sleep soundly for the first night or two at the 7,000 feet elevation in the park.

Eighty tiers of twelve, sixteen and twenty inch wood stored for winter use in the messhall. The bunkhouse was rather cramped for space for a bit last fall.....there is considerably more room now......

It has been noted several times that telephone wires buried in the hard packed snow may be broken and the ends separated by several feet, yet give perfect service. Using a twenty-two mile telephone line as an aerial, our small radios have been able to pick up Atlantic Coast stations with ease.....

Wild animals get into the road cut and cannot scale the sheer bank the plow leaves.....Brown lemmings, rabbits, coyotes, marten, squirrels, porcupines, and mice are often found in that predicament.....

Snow slides catapulting down the rim wall into the lake form snowbergs, pretty against the blue waters as they float away.....

Where did the muskrat come from that was found wandering on the highway between snowbanks thirteen feet high and in the dead of winter, more than twenty miles from the nearest muskrat habitat.....who cares about all this stuff anyway?