The Wilderness Woman Contest is organised by the Talkeetna Bachelor Society and is held in Talkeetna, Alaska on the first weekend of December. The contest began in 1986 and is open to single women aged 21 or older. The winner gets a fur hat, a plaque, and sometimes a trip to Europe.
The contest includes at least three timed events highlighting the skills that a Talkeetna bachelor would find most desirable in a woman. The events change from year to year, but have included:
- hauling firewood
- fetching water
- driving a snow-machine
- harnessing a sled-dog team
- catching fish
- climbing a tree
- shooting a moose or a ptarmigan
- making a sandwich and opening a beverage for a reclining bachelor watching Sunday-afternoon football on a simulated TV
The Annual Bachelor Society Benefit Auction and Bachelor Ball takes place in the evening after the Wilderness Woman Contest. The winner is crowned and contestants bid on eligible bachelors. Only single ladies aged over 21, and members of the Talkeetna Bachelor Society, are permitted to enter the auction room.
Famous quotes containing the words wilderness, woman and/or contest:
“Every tree sends its fibres forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plow and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When a woman behaves like a man why doesn’t she behave like a nice man?”
—Dame Edith Evans (1888–1976)
“It is odd but agitation or contest of any kind gives a rebound to my spirits and sets me up for a time.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)