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Founded on skiing, snow, fun and competition
Thursday, June 14th, 2007 by GetawayBC.com
One hundred and ten years ago, the Rossland Winter Carnival was created by Olaus Jeldness and the local ski club.
The event was the first of its kind and has gone on to become a huge success, and operating for many years as the location for Canadian ski jump and race championship competitions.
The first event began like no other, with the storming of a fort.
A large square, built from cordwood and soaked in coal oil, was designated as the “Fort”. The opening of the carnival featured the taking and firing of the fort, noisily defended by the reserve militia with guns and blank cartridges.
The first Winter Carnival had 200 men in snowshoes lined up for the preliminary parade.
Prospector N.F. Townsend won the first Novice snowshoe race, while Fred Wells won the cross-country snowshoe race along a course laid out by Father Pat.
The inaugural Winter Carnival proved to be a huge success and it was decided the event would become a yearly celebration of the Rossland winter spirit.
Jeldness dominated ski racing and ski jumping at the carnival for several years before retiring.
Since all Canadian Ski Jump Championships were held at the Winter Carnival, the Canadian jump distances were noticeably smaller than that of their American counterparts.
The reason for this was that all ski jumping for the early carnivals was done on Monte Cristo Street rather than at Red Mountain. Jeldness believed jump competitions should be held where the public and press could easily watch without having to comb mountains in waist-deep snow.
Once he had retired Jeldness donated the Jeldness Cup, which was given to anyone who won the ski championship three times.
With Jeldness out of competition, it did not take long for a new skier to fill the void at the Winter Carnival.
Torgel Noren, a 17-year-old from Norway, moved to Rossland in 1903 and immediately cemented his reputation as an excellent skier.
From 1904 to 1909, Noren won every Canadian Ski Jump Championship. Noren was also the ski race champion from 1904-05 and 1907-09.
The Winter Carnival was not always a friendly experience for the participants.
In 1909, a conflict erupted between hockey teams from Rossland and Nelson.
Nelson accused Rossland of playing too rough, and they would not play unless a “judge of play” was appointed in addition to the referee.
Rossland agreed to the condition, but no judge could be found and the game was in turn, cancelled.
Due to the allegations and subsequent cancellation, the Rossland Miner suggested that gambling interests were behind Nelson’s refusal to play because Rossland had beaten Nelson before and most likely would again. Tickets were refunded for the game at a considerable loss to the Winter Carnival committee.
Over the following years, the carnival grew in popularity and size. In 1917, the Winter Carnival reached record numbers of attendance.
Unfortunately, the Spanish Flu in 1918, and difficult times in Rossland would curtail the carnival for over a quarter-century.
It was not until Rossland’s 50th anniversary of incorporation that the Winter Carnival made a triumphant return to the city.
It was said that where the old carnival was famous for skiing, the new one was famous for hockey and curling. Since then, the Carnival has become one of the biggest events of the year for Rossland, bringing together the community in a celebration of snow, winter, and community spirit.;