Any student who has ever been to a Dartmouth hockey game dreams of driving the Zamboni.
As the crowd watches between periods, the driver effortlessly maneuvers his six ton vehicle across the ice, smoothing the scratched surface in the blink of an eye.
The driver leaves a trail of flawless ice behind him and neatly brings the massive green and white Zamboni into its garage at the far end of the rink. At this point, most spectators turn to their companion and say, "Gee, I've always wanted to drive the Zamboni."
Keith Pelton, who has been driving a College Zamboni for about fifteen years, knows he has a popular job.
"Driving the Zamboni is fun," Pelton said.
Pelton is one of several men who polishes the ice in Thompson Arena. The men are a tough and weather-beaten group, dressed in old jeans and work boots.
While everyone else may dream of driving the Zamboni, for them it is all in a day's work.
Driving the Zamboni is a unique experience.
It's almost like a combination of using a tractor, playing the Atari game "Pole Position" and driving a Ferrari.
It is a hulking piece of equipment, fun to use and something that everyone wants to try once.
But Pelton said driving a Zamboni is not very difficult.
"It's kind of like driving an automatic," he explained.
The Zamboni smooths the ice by first washing it and then shaving it clean, in order to remove scratches made by skate blades.
As the shavings are vacuumed up into the huge dump tank, which consists of the huge upper part of the Zamboni, the ice-making water is released from the end of the machine.
Dartmouth is one of the only schools that actually washes the ice, Pelton said.
By doing washing the ice, the Zamboni can remove soaked in stains, such as blood.
"To be honest, I don't know why we wash the ice," said Pelton. "I guess because the equipment is there to be used."
After the ice has been cleaned, the shavings are collected and then unloaded in a back room..
Usually, the 1,500-gallon dump tank of the Zamboni is filled with shavings.
When the shavings melt, they will then be used as the ice-making water in the next round.
The ice is cleaned after any group has been on the ice and between periods during hockey games.
The ice is cleaned more during the men's games than the women's.
"It's probably because the women don't cut up the ice as badly as the men," Pelton said.
For the men, the ice is cleaned before and after the warm-up time, while for the women, it is only done before the warm-up time.
While the Zamboni looks like a formidable vehicle, it is relatively safe to drive.
There is a roller on the front that pushes the Zamboni away from the wall if it gets too close.
Alas, the Zamboni does not move very fast. Peak speed is only ten to fifteen miles per hour.
Learning to drive the Zamboni may be easy, but often times explaining the job to your parents is not as simple.
"One student told his parents that he was an ice resurfacing technician," Gordie "Honda" Barnes said.
Barnes said he has been driving the Zamboni for about 14 years.
He splits the driving duties with Pelton in the mornings and during games, while the Athletic Department hires students to drive the Zamboni at nights.
Barnes said he has been through a lot, but said he'll never forget the time a streaker decided to make a half-time appearance during a game about two years ago.
"All he was wearing was a hat and a sock, and you can guess where the sock was," Barnes said.
Even accidents can become amusing memories.
Once the Zamboni ran out of gas in the middle of a run and had to be refilled right on the ice.
About 15 years ago, after a holiday party in the Smoyer Lounge in Thompson Arena, a drunken man decided to clean the rink.
However, the drunken driver never made it to the ice.
Instead, he ran the zamboni into the wall of the corridor that leads to the ice.
"We've had some fun," Pelton remarked. He said he remembers kazoos, squid and even a live chicken being thrown on the ice.
Pelton said the Athletic Department even held a contest to name the College Zamboni. The winning name: "Smooth Operator."
The Zamboni has helped the Dartmouth community in other ways besides simply cleaning the ice in Thompson Arena.
The shavings made after the ice has been cut have often been used in the past to help build the ice sculpture for the Winter Carnival.
But the shavings have not been used this year, Pelton said, even though the sculpture is in desperate need of help.
Shavings were also used one summer to create snow to try to get kids interested in skiing, Pelton said.
