A Snow Carnival at the south boundary of Crater Lake attracted thousands in the 1920’s and 30’s. The Crater Lake Ski Club, Pelican Club and other Klamath community organizations helped sponsor the event. Activities included snowballing, snow races, toboggan and sleigh rides, barefoot races, sled dog races, ski jumping and a homing pigeon race.
At the 1927 Carnival, Myrtle Copeland was in such a hurry to get to the first skiing race that she forgot her ski boots. Determined to compete, she skied in her bedroom slippers. She didn’t win that year, but won first place nine years later in the women’s race.
In the 1933 carnival, Scotty Allan, a dog trainer and musher from Nome, Alaska, participated in the first Crater Lake sled dog race. Scotty and his 15 Alaskan huskies had won many honors and awards. A popular children’s book featured one of his famous dogs, Baldy. The team won the 32-mile race along the rim of Crater Lake with a time of five hours.
At the height of its popularity, the carnival drew 3,000 to 4,000 spectators a year.
Sources: LaPlante, Margaret. Crater Lake National Park. Charleston, SC, Arcadia Publishing, 2013, pp. 108-13; Rostel, Ernest. "Crater Lake Annual Snow Carnival and Ski Tournament." Crater Lake National Park: Nature Notes, Crater Lake Natural History Assoc., Apr. 1933, npshistory.com/nature_notes/crla/nn-title.htm. Accessed 27 Nov. 2016; Houdek, Jennifer. "Mushing Legend "Scotty Allan"." Lit Site Alaska, University of Alaska, 2000, www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=Digital-Archives&page=Land-Sea-Air&cat=Dog-Mushing&viewpost=2&ContentId=2558. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.
