Sculpture collapses due to weather
By Nathan Swire & Conrad Scoville, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Thursday, February 12, 2009
The snow sculpture was destroyed after the south wall collapsed, which made the structure a safety hazard, according to College officials.
About three weeks worth of work came crashing to the ground Wednesday afternoon when the south wall of this year's snow sculpture, a replica of the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, collapsed. The snow sculpture collapsed primarily because of unseasonably warm and rainy weather, Dartmouth Outing Club general manager Rory Gawler '05 said. Other events scheduled for Winter Carnival this weekend should continue as planned, organizers said.
The Outing Club and the Snow Sculpture Committee planned to work through Wednesday night to build a new sculpture, which will portray a two-peaked mountain with a river running through the middle, Outing Club President Andrew Palmer '10 said. The new design, created by David Seliger '12, was chosen for its relative simplicity and expected resilience in rain, Palmer said, adding that the river will double as a slide.
Following the collapse of the south wall, what remained of the original structure was deemed a safety hazard.
"The sun was so hot today that the front pillar collapsed, and then it basically became clear that with the rain coming tonight, the structure was potentially unsafe," Gawler said.
The north and east walls of the structure were subsequently knocked down into its center using a backhoe, leaving one wall standing, Gawler said.
College President James Wright, who spoke to students who had been working on the structure, said he had never seen a snow sculpture similarly collapse during his time at the College. There have been some years when there has been trouble finding enough snow, he said.
"There it goes, guys," Wright said, as he watched the backhoe dismantle the sculpture.
There were no plans in place to respond to this type of incident, Winter Carnival co-chair Grace Dowd '11 said.
"It's never really been a consideration, but I don't think we'll have problems figuring it out," she said.
Palmer said that he hopes the Dartmouth community will rally around rebuilding the sculpture.
"I think the support we've seen already has been helpful," he said. "We need more, but I think when a need arises like this, people turn out. I think people see the actual consequences and they realize it's important and you can't put it off anymore -- it's tomorrow,"
Whether the sculpture is rebuilt will depend on the weather, Gawler said, as work cannot continue in the rain.
The Winter Carnival snow sculpture dates to 1925, when students built a replica of a medieval castle. The Carnival's 1997 sculpture, which was intended to depict a knight riding a horse, collapsed following warm weather. The sculpture was instead converted into a scene from a knight's funeral. Two years prior, a sculpture of a wolf balancing on its hind legs completely melted, leaving a disappointing pile of snow in the center of the Green.
The heavy rain forecasted for Thursday may also force the College to cancel this year's opening ceremony or move it to another venue, Dowd said. The Winter Carnival Committee will finalize plans for the opening ceremony by noon on Thursday, she said.
Most other Outing Club and Winter Carnival events are scheduled to continue as planned, unaffected by the warm weather, Palmer said, although he noted that skating on Occom Pond may be deemed unsafe.
Saturday's ice luge event should also continue as planned, Palmer said.
"With the weather as it was, what we had done had melted, but we're going to try to get it done even so," Palmer said.