The Dartmouth Green may be the only locale on this side of Middle-Earth fitting enough to host a giant snow statuette of the wizard Gandalf holding none other than -- a pair of skis.
Though in past years carried out exclusively by the Winter Carnival Council, according to Jeffrey Burns Woodward '06, one of five chairs of the project, the Dartmouth Outing Club assumed the responsibility of designing and building the 25-foot tall sculpture this winter. Concerns last year over the quality of the sculpture led the Winter Council Committee to reconsider the tradition altogether.
"The Winter Carnival people wanted to cancel the sculpture, but the Outing Club stepped in and said, 'We don't want this tradition to end,'" Woodward said. "So basically, the Outing Club took it over and promised to get the people out there to work on it."
Two weeks ago, workers from Facilities Operations and Management plowed out a section of the Green to prepare for the sculpture's construction. Since the project's official start last Sunday, committee members have already overseen the work of dozens of volunteers.
Engineering student Rusty Cheney '03 designed the structure and submitted his proposal to several engineering professors, FO and M and Special Events before gaining approval and beginning construction. Cheney and other members of the Snow Sculpture Committee worked with these groups to refine the design and come up with something to please all involved parties.
"One of the main safety issues was the height," Woodward said. "Obviously we'd like it to be more than 25 feet -- we certainly have the manpower and initiative to do it, but we are happy with the final design."
At the 1987 Mardi Gras-themed Winter Carnival, students built a 47.5 foot saxophone playing snowman, making the Guinness Book of World Records for the tallest snowman ever.
Also to take place during Carnival-related events this weekend is a snow sculpture contest, with two divisions: one for clusters and dormitories and one for Greek houses.
"We've made a bigger effort this year to promote the contest," co-chair Daniel Hui '05 said. "We felt the tradition of dorm and Greek snow sculptures was waning, particularly due to the poor snow we have had the past few years. We hope that as many dorms and Greek houses will participate as possible."
To create the giant Gandalf, workers first piled six layers of snow on top of each other, with each layer becoming progressively smaller, to create a rough shape from which to carve the sculpture.
After completing the tower-like structure, but before beginning to actually carve out Gandalf's features, workers constructed Gandalf's hat on top of the snow -- a wooden frame covered in chicken wire and burlap sacks.
Woodward said that after numerous brainstorming sessions, gaining support for the Gandalf proposal was not difficult. When co-chair Bradley Bate '06 suggested that Gandalf also hold a pair of skis, the plan was met with almost universal approval.
With concerns that student involvement would not be strong enough to bring the idea to fruition, Committee members took several steps to boost interest in the project. Beginning about two weeks ago, volunteers placed signs throughout campus asking students to "save the snow sculpture" with the warning that "the fate of the snow sculpture as a Dartmouth tradition rests on this year."
Woodward said that these flyers and a successful word-of-mouth campaign have helped bring a steady flow of volunteers to the project. Several groups on campus have also assembled to help as a joint effort, including the Nordic Ski Team, the Jack o'Lantern, Ski Patrol, Ledyard Canoe Club and Cabin and Trail.
"Some people stay for five minutes, others for four hours," Woodward said. "But we'll take anyone. We love having people coming out to help."
Last Friday afternoon, the most popularly-attended sculpture-building session so far this year, at times in excess of two dozen volunteers and onlookers could be seen surrounding the heap of snow. In addition to plenty of members of the lightweight crew team, College President James Wright came out to lend a helping hand.
"I've been real impressed with what I've seen so far," Wright said as he watched students haul buckets of snow to the top of the sculpture. "I love to watch them make progress every day from outside my office window."
"It's the first time I've been out here this year, but it definitely kicks the pants off the ice tower from a few years ago," said Hans Albee '03, a member of the crew team who worked on the sculpture last Friday. "It's good to see so many people helping."
For members of the committee, central to the effort this year has been the idea of returning to the snow sculpture's roots as a Dartmouth tradition.
In previous years the lack of snowfall has required complex wooden frames and the transportation of snow from remote areas, but Gandalf is almost entirely constructed of pure snow, just like "an old-fashioned snowman," Woodward said.
The snow sculpture tradition has recently fallen on hard times, with several recent efforts falling victim to warm weather or rowdy students.
1995's sculpture, intended to be a howling wolf perched atop a rock, melted into an amorphous lump amidst record warm temperatures.
The following year, a stegosaurus portrayed devouring Baker tower was washed away by driving rainfall less than a day after its completion.
In 1997, an ambtious sculpture of St. George slaying the dragon collapsed only hours from the start of festivities, as soaring temperatures melted snow and toppled the mounted knight.
Last year's effort, which attempted to portray the Emerald City from "The Wizard of Oz," fell victim to all-time record high temperatures and lack of student participation. The resulting sculpture barely topped 10 feet in height and, after Carnival, was doused in spray paint by disenchanted Dartmouth students.
This year, however, icy temperatures and ample snowfall have provided the materials nacessary to construct a traditionally-designed sculpture.
"What we're doing is a little more true to the basic concept of a snow sculpture," Woodward said.
"We've looked at this as bringing it back to what it was like one of those years when the sculpture was really good. The strength of our project has definitely been in the team work -- not just the work of one person."
