Students followed the advice of this year's Winter Carnival theme, breaking loose from a frozen Hanover to take advantage of the many activities offered during the weekend.
But Hanover Police officers said this year's Carnival weekend was quieter than usual.
Many of the events during the three-day weekend drew large crowds of students, especially the Winter Carnival Formal and Psi Upsilon fraternity's annual keg jump.
More than 500 students flocked to Collis Center Saturday night for the resurrection of the Winter Carnival Ball, said Kerri Cavanaugh '95, chair of the Winter Carnival Formal Committee. There was no formal last year because of lack of student interest the year before, Cavanaugh said.
"The dance floor was always packed and I really think that people enjoyed themselves," she said.
The Programming Board contributed about $5,000 to the event, Student Programs Coordinator Linda Kennedy said. She said she thinks there will be another formal next year.
"I don't think we'll be able to get away without doing it," she said.
In addition to bringing in decorators from Boston, the Formal Committee hired a Boston band and served both snack and dinner foods.
"I was very happy that there were that many people there. It felt like something other than a Greek party," Patricia Bankowski '95 said.
But Greek house parties remained crowded throughout the weekend as well.
Saturday afternoon at Psi U, Thomas Huber '94 soared over 13 kegs to tie a house record and win the annual keg jumping contest. Competitors take a skating start and dive over as many kegs as possible without touching or kicking them.
Huber said the crowd, which was more than 100 students, urged him to try to break the record by clearing 14 kegs, but he decided not to risk an injury.
Tim Chow '96, one of the three co-Chairs of the Winter Carnival Council, helped judge sculptures at fraternity houses. Zeta Psi fraternity won first prize with a sculpture of a Tasmanian devil, Chow said. Phi Delta Alpha fraternity took second place with its pineapple snow sculpture.
April Whitescarver '96 helped organize the Winter Games, a four-part team relay co-sponsored by the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council and the Dartmouth Outing Club.
The games, which were held Friday afternoon, attracted about 40 people, Whitescarver, the CFSC's publicity chair, said. The teams represented Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Epsilon Kappa Theta and Sigma Delta sororities, Whitescarver said.
Hanover Police Sgt. Chris O'Connor said the weekend was "pretty quiet" but not without problems. Hanover Police took seven intoxicated college-aged visitors into protective custody, he said. Two non-Dartmouth individuals were arrested for driving while intoxicated.
College Proctor Bob McEwen said Safety and Security saw about the same number of obviously intoxicated Dartmouth students as last year.
"In a lot of cases the students should be commended," McEwen said. "We didn't really have any big problems of students who passed out drunk in snow banks."
McEwen said one or two students were taken to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center because of dangerously high blood alcohol levels.
Late Friday night or early Saturday morning someone painted "AIM" on the snow sculpture, Kennedy said. She said she did not know who painted the sculpture, what the letters meant or why it was done. The sculpture was quickly repaired.
