The Mountain Survivalist championship was hosted at the Greenwood Campground on Monday, Feb. 17, with two teams coming out ahead of the rest. The R&R Dream Team, Robb Brouwer with Bearspaw Bushcraft and Robert Edwards with the Alberta Primitive Skills Society handily won the competition, earning the prize of two forged axes, with a wide lead.
But not far behind were the SAR Sisters, Amber Neudorf and Megan Neudorf, who are also members of the Sundre Search and Rescue Society. The two teams were the only ones to successfully start a fire, hard boil eggs and make tea.
Teams raced against time to build a rudimentary shelter and not only start a fire but also boil water, cook eggs and make tea.
David Borys, the competition’s organizer and one of three judges, said the teams performed admirably in the face of adverse weather conditions. The other two judges were Dave and Brenda Holder.
“Honestly, I think that Mother Nature was a bit brutal,” said Borys, referring to temperatures that ranged around -14 C to -17 C combined with interspersed bouts of borderline blizzards.
But undaunted, the contestants came out, brought their tools as well as resolve, and did well, he said.
“The winners demonstrated an excellent amount of knowledge and confidence,” he said.
In an effort to save precious time, they “did a very delectable combination of making the tea and the eggs together,” he said with a laugh, describing as rather unique the experience of sampling “good ol’ fashioned egg-flavoured English tea!”
Overall, Borys said he heard plenty of positive feedback not only about the survivalist competition, which he hopes to help organize again next year, but also the whole of WinterFest activities, generally speaking.
“Everyone seemed happy,” he said, adding many people from the community dropped by to watch portions of the competition as they made their rounds.
He expressed appreciation for the members of the organizing committee as well as all of the helping hands who got involved in preparing the wide variety of events. There were free wagon rides courtesy of Darryl and Donna McGregor, ice sculptures, the farmers market at the Elks Hall, crafts at the museum, and a woodcarver ongoing between the Sundre and District Museum and Greenwood Community Campground.
“Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to make this as great a community event as we did,” he said, also sending a shout-out to Bruce Temple, Darlene Temple, Deb Ellithorpe and Annette Rose, who kept everything running smoothly at the museum.
Additionally, Borys was grateful to see all of the visitors and residents who came out to enjoy the event.
“It was great to see such an excellent turnout.”
Although numbers were not officially tracked, Jon Allan, another member of the organizing committee, said that judging by how many vehicles packed the parking lot and streets near the museum and Elks hall, plenty of people came out.
“It was really well attended,” Allan said, adding that finding a spot to park on Sunday, Feb. 16 was difficult.
“Anyone who came out on Sunday will know what I’m talking about! It was probably one of the busiest WinterFests ever,” he said.
“It was nice to see so many people out.”
The ice sculptures, also a new element to this year’s traditional WinterFest activities, seemed to have successfully drawn in not only residents but also visitors who came from as far away as Red Deer and Airdrie to see them. Others came from Didsbury, Carstairs and Olds, he said.
“People had heard about it and wanted to come out.”
There was a limited range of Family Day events happening in the region, and “Sundre was the prime location,” he said.
Organizers look forward to taking Sundre WinterFest to the next level every year from now on, and Allan was also grateful for everyone who was involved in the effort to make plans.
“The way the weekend unfolded with such success was a testament to the hard work of everyone who was involved,” he said.
With a last-minute rush of contestants who ended up on a waiting list after expressing interest in joining the survivalist competition, Allan is confident about the possibility of making the contest a permanent part of WinterFest, or even possibly branching off as a stand-alone event.
Next year, he also hopes to make arrangements to feature even more ice sculptures. There were four this time around, and he would like to have as many as a dozen. After exhausting local options, Bergen-area sculptor Morton Burke got Allan in contact with Less Ross, from Rocky View County, who provided this year’s pieces.