The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a bi-national organization shared by the United States and Canada. From its headquarters in Colorado Springs, it has been tracking Santa’s journey around the globe for nearly 70 years.
The tradition dates back to 1955, when a newspaper advertisement accidentally printed the wrong phone number for a “Call Santa” hotline. Instead of reaching the North Pole, children were connected to the operations center of the Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD’s predecessor.
Major Jennie Derenzis, a member of the Canadian Armed Forces, is the media division chief with NORAD. She says one of those calls was answered by Air Force Colonel Harry Schoup, who was the commander on duty that night.
“He was quick to realize that this mistake had been made,” she said. “And while he could not connect this youngster to Santa, he was able to say, ‘you know what, we have all that technology and capability to let you know where he is right now, you know, on his journey across the globe.’ Thus began a very magical tradition.”
Derenzis says the tradition has endured even as technology has changed dramatically over the past seven decades.
“It just comes down to the fundamentals, the memories,” She said. “We all hold it from our own childhood, the joy that we see in the eyes of our children and just the excitement, you know, that palpable energy and excitement that kids hold on on Christmas Eve is just so beautiful.”
“So I think despite whatever technology is doing, those kinds of fundamental things we love so much about Christmas time are really central to the program.”
Each Christmas Eve, a hangar on the NORAD base in Colorado Springs is transformed into the North Pole. Approximately a thousand volunteers rotate through the call center over the course of the day, roughly a hundred per shift, answering calls from children around the world. Volunteers include NORAD personnel, Canadian and American family members, and people from the local community.
“The calls start at four in the morning local here, Mountain Time, till about midnight, and we're taking calls from across the world,” Derenzis explained. “I think last year we had over 380,000 calls come in, and I think the highest peaking hour was like maybe the 6:00 PM timeframe, and it was maybe just shy of like 60,000 calls or something like that in that one hour. So it's pretty amazing.”
Children call to ask where Santa is and to pose a few other important questions, like what kind of cookies they should leave out, or what snacks the reindeer prefer. One question Derenzis says comes up often is when kids should go to bed on Christmas Eve.
“It's a really good idea to be in bed between 9:00 PM and midnight, wherever you are in the world, just to make sure that you're sleeping, so that when Santa does come by, he can visit your house or wherever it is that you live without any peeking,” she said.
For children worried about weather conditions affecting Santa’s global journey, including recent windstorms in the region, Derenzis says there’s no reason to worry.
“He's a very confident, proficient aviator and we have never seen anything like weather prevent Santa from getting where he needs to be.”
The NORAD Tracks Santa call center is open all day on Christmas Eve. Families can call 1-877-HI-NORAD or visit noradsanta.org to follow Santa’s journey.
Copyright 2025 Rocky Mountain Community Radio. This story was shared via Rocky Mountain Community Radio, a network of public media stations in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, including Aspen Public Radio.
