The unseasonably warm weather might endanger another Dartmouth tradition besides the Winter Carnival sculpture on the Green: the ice rink in front of Psi Upsilon fraternity.
But the rink is more than a Dartmouth tradition -- it is an integral part of Psi U. "One of the reasons why the rink is so important is that it's a really important aspect for the alums," Psi U President Kevin Mollen '96 said. "It keeps people interested in the house."
House member Justin Hart '97 agreed, saying the rink is a "great facet of the house."
"It's an actual thing that everyone can put time into and enjoy," Hart said. "It shows why Psi U is one of the strongest houses on campus. We've got brothers that go out in the middle of the night in the freezing cold and lay down layer after layer -- no other house does that."
Everything with the rink was fine until the middle of January. Then a warm spell hit, and the frozen rink turned into a muddy mess. "We had the rink, it was perfect," Derek Pollard '95 said. "And then it got all muddy."
Nick Kendrick '97 is this year's "ringmeister." He is in charge of preparing the rink for the house's Winter Carnival keg jumping contest and delegating people to help with the task.
Each of the brothers takes turns running water from a hose across the lawn to build a foundation for the rink, Pollard said. But one of the problems they have faced is water running into the street instead of freezing on the lawn.
"Everybody understands that in order to have a rink, it's going to take a lot of time and help," House Manager Chris Campbell '96 said.
"We have a good base now," Campbell said. "The past few days we've been icing around the clock, almost all night long." Pollard said all the house needs now is some snow.
"It we get a couple of inches of snow, we'll ice it down and it'll pack really nicely," Pollard said. "We are looking for the rink to be skateable [Wednesday] night or Thursday."
The ice rink blocks the front entrance, but Pollard said there have not been any injuries to brothers or students visiting the house.
"We always worry about that as far as liability," Pollard said. "But we have been lucky enough not to have had anything yet."
Members must make the most of the somewhat-muddy lawn to prepare for the 14th annual Winter Carnival keg jumping contest.
Carnival "is 10 days away," Pollard said. "If we have any warm weather, we'll have trouble."
The contest is scheduled to be held on Saturday, Feb. 11, starting around noon. In the contest, brothers skate towards kegs that lie horizontally. The brother who jumps over the most kegs wins the contest. No prizes are given to the winner of the contest.
"It's for the glory," Pollard said.
In the past two years, the winner of the contest has separated his shoulder, according to Pollard.
The brothers of Psi U who enter the keg jumping contest each donate $25 to charity.
In recent years, donations have been given to David's House, a home for families of children being treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. This year the money will again go to David's House.
