About a year ago I was called to be the Assistant Scoutmaster for our local troop. The Scoutmaster has been trying to motivate the boys to build a sled to enter into the annual winter "Klondike Derby" camporama. This is a two-day overnight winter camp, complete with activities such as igloo building, map & compass, snow sculptures, morse code signalling, snowshoe relay, mitten knot tying, first aid, steal the bacon, snowball accuracy, bear bag toss, and cooking contests. The event culminates with each troop competing in a Klondike Sled Race, where the boys pull a sled of their own construction, loaded with gear and one passenger.
This year the boys all agreed that it would be fun to build the sled and go to the Klondike Derby, so we began construction about a month prior to the event. We started with a pair of thrift store skiis and some scrap lumber, roughly following 3 or 4 different plans found on the internet.
Zach & Landon worked on their "Head-Clamping" Merit Badge.
With adult supervision and guidance, and only a few minor mis-calculations, it gradually began to take shape. We attached the riser blocks from below, countersinking the screws, filling in the base with p-tex, and then filing it all smooth. Next we added the cross pieces, on top of which we attached the deck.
Then we attached the side upright supports and the large dowel handle. Finally we attached some cord to contain the gear, and a large rope "harness" to allow at least five boys to pull at once. 
After 2 evenings and half of a Saturday we ended up with a sturdy yet sleek sled, which wasn't too heavy. Testing on the hard packed snow revealed very little friction - even before waxing the skiis! It seemed the only limit to the speed was how fast the boys could run. It developed a bit of inertia once moving, so without any brakes the race had better be only on the flats! 
With practice, the boys quickly learned how to steer while standing on the back of the skiis and leaning one way or the other. 
The Scoutmaster was scheduled to be in Peru for 2 weeks as part of a surgical team, so I would be leading this trip. The week before the campout it became apparent that with other conflicting activities - such as the ward ski party and league basketball games, the number of boys planning to attend was dwindling. With such a long hard winter and other scheduling conflicts, I was having difficultly finding the second required adult leader. By noon last Friday I was down to 2 boys (out of 11) and one leader (me), so I had no choice but to postpone our Klondike Kamp until next year :-( But at least we have the sled all built and ready to go for next winter :-) 
Klondike Klobberhead was NOT too keen on the sled-dog idea!
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