The Varsity program runs strong in Tooele County as shown by the Varsity Winter Camp Biathlon. It was already getting dark by the time I left the house. The cereal bar my wife had left in the cup holder from taking the kids to school wasn’t going to cut it for dinner and breakfast the next morning. I’d brought some cheese crackers and some chocolate milk from home, but figured I would need something more substance. I made a quick stop for a foot-long sandwich, orange scones, and some of those 10 for $10 fruit drinks. As I headed south out of town I noticed 28 degrees on a marquee. I then realized I should have put on thermal undies.

Arriving at Big Hollow I switched from two- to four-wheel drive and headed up the pair of ruts. Arriving at camp I was provided with one of those life-learning opportunities. I’ve not yet had the experience, but I understand snow caves are actually quite warm, insulated from the outside by the snow surrounding you. Some of you may wonder how snow possibly could insulate from the cold. (Here’s the lesson part.) Arriving at the camp area I pulled off the well-traveled road and into the fresh snow. I broke through the frozen crust to discover the snow had insulated the mud underneath and it had not frozen. So, there I was stuck in four-wheel drive.

This isn’t an adventure series so I’ll simply say that I was able to get out without adding a tug-of-war activity to the agenda.

Taking a walk to visit campsites, I found a variety of culinary dishes. Some kept it simple with the likes of hot dogs or Spaghettios while another team opted for deer steak, Dutch oven bread, and chili rojo (it was supposed to be chili verde, but the tomatoes overpowered the peppers). A special thanks to those teams who offered to share. As it turned out I didn’t need that foot-long. Bellies full, it was time for night games. This included rousing games of capture the flag and the downhill, backside skeleton. Capture the flag involves running around in the snow, trying not to be seen, looking for a flag. You occasionally have to delay the game to take off your shoes, dry your socks by the fire and put on snow boots. The skeleton event is much more exciting. One lies on their back and uses the slick coat material to slide down the hill head first. This is done while dodging juniper trees that nature has strategically placed in a random pattern. One camp stuck with a much safer activity of tossing around a moon pie left over from a prior camp. I can’t be certain, but I don’t think any first aid skills were required for any of these activities.

After a brief campfire program, hot scones with honey butter came out. It was dark and it took me a few scones to realize that one squeeze bottle of honey butter was cinnamon flavored and it wasn’t the scone that tasted funny. After the smorgasbord of fried dough it was back to the Suburban.

With the mud a bit frozen and a bit of strategically placed deadfall I managed to get back to the main road. Sleeping in the back of the Suburban can still get pretty cold. With my two sleeping bags, two extra wool blankets, a fresh pair of thick socks, and a stocking cap, I was more worried about my chocolate milk freezing than myself. As it turned out, the milk did just fine.

Morning crested with a bustle of camp activity. Team 7701 had potatoes chopped up the night before and was ready to add to the 3 pounds of sizzling sausage and bacon. Other teams kept breakfast as simple as oatmeal to avoid cleaning dishes and others kept it even more basic — hot chocolate and Doritos left over from the night before.

Following breakfast, Scouters began gathering around the starting line for the biathlon event. As a seasoned shoer of snow, Weston filled in the crowd on how to attach the shoes to your feet so they wouldn’t fall off. A seasoned spinner of yarn, Al filled in the crowed that they were required to snowshoe up a tree, grab a squirrel and kiss it. I had to laugh when one boy asked, “Really?”

With snowshoes on foot contestants ran up the trail about 100 yards with snow flying behind them like mud at a tractor pull, to the trap shoot. Here they took aim at clay pigeons at two different stations using 12 gauge shotguns. Then it was back down to the starting point. The event was timed with five seconds removed for each pigeon hit. Even more amazing than watching clay pigeons fly to their freedom was the intensity of the boys participating in the event.

Top finishers were Jake Howard (first, Team 7370, score 1:50), Logan Howard (second, Team 7370, score 2:01), Trevor Howard (third, Team 7370, score 2:02), and clay pigeons set free 154. This is the type of event that makes a Scout bleed orange. Next up for Varsity is the Big Event.

T.J. Wallace serves on the District Committee as publicist and he is the Scoutmaster for Troop 1109, serving boys with special needs. He has lived in Tooele for 11 years, which includes 10 in Scouting.