For decades, this weekend of snow sculptures, athletics -- and of course, parties -- called Winter Carnival has been a time when Dartmouth memories have been made. Though experiences vary from class to class, for the past 93 years most Dartmouth alumni have carried a little piece of Carnival with them for many years after their graduation.
Justin Aborn '83 said that his "strongest memory is clearly building ice sculptures." Aborn also recalled Carnival of 1980 when there was no snow on the Green and Dartmouth students borrowed snow machines from nearby Killington ski resort to create an artificial winter wonderland on the Green. Aborn said students were so excited to see snow that before they turned the fake snow into an ice sculpture, they went skiing on it.
Pete Barker '54 described Carnival as perpetually "phenomenal," noting the anticipation of the men on campus as they waited from women from Smith, Mount Holyoke and other women's colleges to arrive.
"We would go down to White River Junction, and the steam engine would pull in, and the girls from Smith and Mount Holyoke would pour out," Barker recalled.
Barker remembered everyone at the College trying to line up dates for Winter Carnival, as well as helping friends who didn't know any girls to find dates.
So many people not affiliated with the College would show up for Winter Carnival, Barker said, that for his junior and senior years Dartmouth had to put new restrictions on who could sleep in the dorms and how many guests each enrolled student could host during the weekend.
Also in the 1950s, the College featured a large show on the football field complete with stars from the Winter Olympics. Large ramps would be constructed and members of the ski team would ski down onto the field holding torches to start the show.
This tradition was eventually discontinued at the request of the football coaches who complained that all of the snow in the football field was making it sink.
Edmond Cooley '82 told The Dartmouth about a Carnival at which the temperature was even lower than it had been this January.
Despite the minus 20-degree conditions, Cooley said he and the other engineering students still participated in the Thayer School of Engineering's steak and champagne party. It was Cooley's job to grill the steaks outdoors, and even though the steaks were exposed to searing heat, they remained frozen solid on top.
Cooley also cited Friday night fireworks being a highlight of his Winter Carnivals while enrolled at Dartmouth. Friday, Cooley said, "was extremely memorable because fireworks on a cold winter night really hit you."
But for the women of Dartmouth, especially during the transitional years into coeducation, Winter Carnival wasn't always fun and games.
Merle Adelman '80 said that Dartmouth women felt especially unwelcome during Winter Carnival, both by Dartmouth men and by women who were visiting from other colleges.
Indeed, in the first few years of coeducation, Dartmouth women generally preferred the laid-back, somewhat more egalitarian atmosphere of Green Key weekend to Winter Carnival.
After their freshman year, most women in the Class of 1980 made a point to be away from campus during Winter Carnival festivities and the inevitable influx of often-hostile outside females, Adelman said.
