As temperatures rise above freezing for the first time in weeks, one group of students is praying for cold weather.
The six-member snow sculpture committee was out on the Green in T-shirts yesterday, shoveling hundreds of pounds of snow into a giant pile that will become the base of a 35-foot tall homage to Dr. Seuss, the whimsical author known to his Dartmouth classmates as Theodore Geisel '25.
"We're nervous about the warm weather," said Dan Schneider '07, who had taken off his hat and jacket. "But it will probably get cold again. It's snow that we're really hoping for."
Snow is indeed in the forecast, but it will take a more than a few flurries for the sculptors to have enough of the white stuff to build their giant Cat In The Hat. The structure is a salute to Seuss' 100th birthday.The design, which includes a giant hat with a jaunty cat perched on top, was conceived by the committee. Victoria Solbert '07 sketched a draft, then made a clay model for the builders to work from.
Now it's a matter of coming up with enough snow. The builders were out snow-hunting yesterday with a truck they rented from the College. When they found an area with an abundance of clean snow, they loaded the bed as high as they could, leaving bare ground behind them. Then they drove the truck back to the sculpture site on the Green and shoveled the snow out onto the statue's base.
It's a grueling process but necessary if they are to construct their giant cat. To form the tower of snow they will later whittle down into the sculpture, builders roped off plywood sheets to form a 14-by-14 foot rectangle. They filled the form with snow, then watered it all down. Left overnight, the slushy mixture will harden, forming a 4-foot tall block of ice. Tomorrow they will take the plywood off and build a new block on top of the old one.
Each block will be smaller and smaller, giving the builders room to walk up the side of the structure. Starting with the fourth layer, 21-foot steel rods will be implanted in the snow, which will be used to secure the cat at the top.
The rods will also allow carvers to rappel off the top of the ice, where they can carve the cat's face and body using wire and hand tools.
Committee co-chairs Jeff Woodward '06 and Luke Wachter '06 said they are very happy with the project so far.
"This will be harder than sculptures have been in the past few years due to the sheer volume of snow," said Woodward. "We're hoping this one will be on par with the sculptures of 30 or 40 years ago."
The College threatened last year to discontinue the snow sculpture tradition due to waning enthusiasm from students, according to member of the committee. Woodward and Wachter were among those who worked hard to increase involvement and revive the tradition.
"We put a lot of effort into publicity, and we ended up building a 35-foot Gandolf holding skis. This year we're trying to continue with that momentum," Woodward said.
The committee is open to anyone from the community who would like to help, including artists, engineers and, yes, shovelers.
"There are still surprises in store, like lighting for the top of the hat, for example," Wachter said. "If someone is experienced with theater lighting, we'd love them to help -- we're open to ideas."The sculptors will be working weekdays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily and weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the cat is atop the hat. They said they hope their presence on the Green will continue to attract volunteers.
"Building the sculpture was my favorite part of last year," said Wachter. "I hope even more students get to enjoy the experience this year."
