Part of the Spring Festival is the Whaling Crew Sled Race. The different whaling crews line up with their sleds at one end of the race area, and when the gun goes off they have to push their sled down to the other end, load up their gear and tie it on the sled, then turn around and run back to the starting line. Where did this game come from, you might ask? Well, we learned that when the whalers are out on the ice pack, if they hear the ice start to crack they have to quickly run and load up their gear, tie it on, and get the heck off the ice pack as quickly as possible. So, as part of the Spring Festival they have this race to mimic the skills needed out on the ice. Pretty interesting!
The whaling crews approaching their gear...oh, and the other cool part is that this is all done on the frozen lagoon. And we all drive our cars out on the lagoon to watch (you can see them in the background). I don't know how thick the frozen ice is, but it's enough to hold at least a hundred cars!
Me and Wayne at the races...cold, cold, COLD!!!
They also had snow-machine races as part of the festival. The racers had to start about 20 feet behind their snow-machines, and when the gun went off they had to run to the machine, start it up, and then take off. I thought that was an interesting twist.
The view of the races across the frozen lagoon...and the buildings of Barrow in the background.
Wayne warming up in the car, looking hot as ever. So glad we got married. :)
2 comments:
Wow, this reminded me of the "Wild West Winter Carnival" that we had in Riverton every January . . . back in the day when Januarys in Wyoming were 20 below. Everyone used to drive their cars out on the lake and there were all kinds of races and competitions. Guess global warming has had its effect on Wyoming.
I am loving reading about your life up in Barrow. I can't wait to see pictures of your baby when it comes!
You look great!
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