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The Dartmouth
July 16, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Snow sculpture is down but not out: the legacy lives on

In an epic battle of good vs. evil yesterday afternoon, the dragon killed the knight in the center of the Green.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. the knight and his worthy steed succumbed not only to the dragon's might, but also to the unexpectedly warm weather.

This year's sculpture, designed by Winter Carnival Snow Sculpture co-Chair Chris Carbone '97, was originally supposed to depict a knight on horseback rearing up and stepping on a dragon.

Co-sculpture chair Christopher Aslin '97 said the students working on the sculpture had "just finished up" and were adding the final touches when the collapse occurred.

Yesterday's warm and sunny weather caused the snow on the sculpture to become very wet and heavy. The softening snow meant that the snow shell on the outside was no longer supporting itself, Aslin said.

"The internal frame just splintered," he said.

The horse part of the scene collapsed in on itself and was laying on top of the rectangular shaped base of the sculpture. Facilities, Operations and Management came and pulled the wreckage off, Aslin said.

The dragon part of the sculpture is still intact, he said.

Aslin said they would turn the remains of the base into a coffin.

"There is a piece of wood sticking out of the dragon's neck that we can say is part of the knight's sword," he said. "I guess the knight lost."

Chair of the Winter Carnival Committee Amy Henry '97 said it is important to stress that this sculpture is not a failure. "These things happen," she added.

Henry said she was very thankful no one was hurt. There were people on the scaffolding surround the sculpture when the collapse occurred.

Ever since the first snow sculpture was built in 1925 Dartmouth students have engaged in an annual battle with Mother Nature to see who shall conquer the Green: the snow sculpture or the mud.

Aslin said he thinks this year's sculpture was a more ambitious project than previous years' because it tried to portray a scene instead of a solitary figure.

As with many past sculptures, lack of snow and warm weather can wreak havoc during construction.

Last year's sculpture -- a Stegosaurus eating Baker Tower -- had to be constructed with trucked-in snow. To further complicate matters, it began to rain almost immediately after Winter Carnival started.

Rebecca Sullivan '97 said, "The snow was only on there for about 10 minutes before it melted off."

The snow sculpture from 1995 also suffered at the hands of Mother Nature. What was supposed to be a wolf on its hind legs howling at the moon ended up as phallic symbol in the middle of the Green, according to many.

"It did have that upright posture," Sullivan said.

A number of students felt sympathy for students who labored so intensely to construct the sculpture. Sullivan said she felt bad for the volunteers that worked so hard just to have their work melt away before it could be appreciated.

Josh Adams '97 said he admired the work the snow sculpture committee puts into the sculpture and said, "even when it is not the most aesthetically pleasing object on the earth, it is a commendable effort."

Where's the Snow?

"The biggest obstacle is always a lack of snow," Aslin said. "The last couple of years there has been some rather warm weather."

Unlike previous years -- where the scarcity of snow has forced sculpture builders to become exceedingly creative in their ways to obtain the snow -- "this year seems to be a lot better," Aslin said.

Students in 1980 had to become a bit more creative in order to overcome the obstacles Mother Nature had set in their way.

Just 10 days before the Carnival, not only was there no snow on the Green, but unseasonably warm weather meant there was no snow in the area that could be trucked in as per years past.

John Cholnoky '80, the co-chair of the Carnival committee, became the hero of Winter Carnival. He saved the sculpture by petitioning local ski areas for the use of their snow-makers.

The Killington ski area loaned the committee their equipment and three of Killington's operators volunteered to come to Hanover and stay until enough snow had been made to build the sculpture.

With the aid of the technicians and their artificial blizzard, the Olympic ski-jumper sculpture was completed and the sculpture tradition remained intact.

The Recent Past

Over the past few years, the snow sculpture has suffered not only from a lack of snow but also a smaller number of students willing to invest the time and energy needed to construct the structure. Aslin said this year differs from previous ones because there are a significant number of freshmen that are really enthusiastic about the project.

Todd Garfield '00 said he knew even before he enrolled at the College about the tradition of the snow sculpture and that was one of the reasons he got involved this year.

"I didn't even know what Winter Carnival was besides the snow sculpture," he said.

The lack of volunteers in recent years may have come about for a variety of reasons, Aslin said.

One reason is the change in the College's alcohol policy several years ago which forbade kegs out on the Green. Formerly, kegs had been used as incentives for students to come help build the snow sculpture.

Another reason that snow sculptures in the last decade or so have not lived up to their predecessors is due to the Dartmouth-plan. Before the D-plan's implementation sculpture construction took place during the break between semesters.

"A big group of people from the [Dartmouth Outing Club] would stay in between semesters," Aslin said. "They had a lot less things to deal with in terms of classes and activities."

Political Pressures

Students have also used the annual construction of the snow sculpture to express their political beliefs and displeasure with various College policies.

In 1992, students protesting the banning of common-source alcohol from residence halls constructed a sculpture of the Grinch, a cartoon character created by children's author Dr. Seuss '25, sitting atop a beer keg.

Politics have also affected the sculpture in the form of vandalism of the structure.

In 1991 students protested the Gulf War by throwing paint on the snow sculpture of Neptune and painting a large, red peace sign on the ground in front of Dartmouth Hall.

In 1943, the Carnival was canceled because the College administration did not think it was appropriate to have such a frivolous party while soldiers were dying by the thousands every day.

But a few students, inspired by the "death" of the Carnival and the sacrifice of their countrymen, went ahead and built a snow sculpture anyway.

The sculpture "was to be a coffin in the foreground containing the figure of a doleful snowman ... in the background will be a huge V and on the front of the base will be the words "Here Lies Winter Carnival Who Died For Victory."

Sculptures of the Past

The snow sculpture was not always a part of the Winter Carnival festivities. The first snow sculpture, a large medieval castle, was built in 1925.

Dartmouth briefly gained world wide fame with its 1987 snow sculpture. The Guinness Book of World Records lists "Mardi Gras in Bourbon Street," a 47.5 foot snowman playing a saxophone as the tallest snowman ever built. Amazingly enough, the sculpture was completed only five minutes before the Carnival's opening ceremony.

In 1955, students built a sculpture of an Eskimo riding a whale. However, due to extremely cold weather, the sculpture, named "Nanook," refused to melt and finally had to be destroyed with dynamite.