In the 80-year history of the Carnival snow sculpture, the statues have changed and evolved, reflecting the interests and values of Dartmouth students.
The first Winter Carnival at Dartmouth, held in 1910, was not yet known as "Winter Carnival" and did not include a sculpture. It was not until 1925 that the Carnival saw its first official theme and snow sculpture. That year, Dartmouth paid homage to the Scandinavian carnivals that inspired their winter celebration, choosing the theme "Jutenheim Iskarneval" and building a large medieval castle on the Green.
In 1927, in a tradition that has since died out, fraternities began to build individual statues on their lawns, competing with each other to create the most innovative structure.
On the Green, the earlier snow sculptures often represented powerful pagan gods or depicted the College's former mascot, the Indian.
In 1940, students constructed "Starshooter," a record-setting 40-foot tall statue of a Native American shooting an arrow at the sky. In 1941 there was Hyderdahl, a mythical Norse skier, and in 1956 students constructed Urrl, the Norse god of skiing, a sculpture which towered 45 feet above the Green.
The Indian theme emerged again in 1957 when the Dartmouth community produced "Fire and Ice," a statue named after a Robert Frost poem depicting a Native American emerging from a pillar of flames.
One of the most innovative sculptures appeared in 1969, when students constructed a massive dragon that actually breathed fire from a butane tank.
Although recent sculptures have not matched the grandeur of early creations, there have been some memorable snow sculptures in the last 30 years.
In 1987, students constructed a 47.5-foot sculpture of a snowman playing a saxophone, which the Guinness Book of World Records listed that year as one of the largest snowmen ever built. The record has since been broken.
In 2005, after nearly a decade of more ordinary creations, students constructed one of the most impressive sculptures in recent memory. The Pirate Ship, at 18 feet wide and 56 feet tall, complete with cannons, signalled for many a return to the epic sculptures of yesteryear.
Although an immensely successful tradition, the construction and life of the snow sculptures has rarely gone according to plan.
In 1955, students built "Nanook," a sculpture of an Eskimo riding a whale. Due to extremely cold weather, the sculpture refused to melt and was finally destroyed with dynamite in the spring.
In 1997, warm weather spelled the demise for that year's statue, a knight battling a medieval dragon. After the knight collapsed, the building team had to think quickly, deciding to change the statue to a funeral for the knight, complete with a coffin and mourners in the form of snowmen.
A lot of planning goes into constructing such innovative and distinctive creations.
Once a theme has been chosen, the process begins with brainstorming ideas and coming up with feasible designs. When the College approves a design the sculpture team begins planning and eventually construction gets started in increments of four feet using plywood.
In recent years, due in part to warm weather, student participation in sculpture building has been down.
"It's hard to convince people that piling up a heap of snow will turn into a sculpture," said Daniel Schneider '07, who led this year's sculpture team.
According to Schneider, the participation of varsity athletic teams in building has largely offset any shortage of volunteers.
Although enthusiasm for the construction of the snow sculpture might not be what it was a few generations ago, the tradition is as strong as ever. Students, alumni, and faculty all anxiously await the unveiling of each new statue.
"I'm glad to see that there is a pile of snow on the Green and that people are working on it and being clever about it," Albert Henning '77 said. "I hope ya'll have fun because when you get right down to it that's what the sculpture is about."
Schneider agrees that building the sculpture is important to the spirit of being at the College.
"We firmly believe in Mark Twain's quote: 'Don't let your schooling interfere with your education,'" Schneider said. "It's a great project to learn management skills and it's continuing a Dartmouth tradition. Most people don't see fun in shoveling snow for hours but I have tons of fun."
