Bitter cold temperatures and soft snow set the scene for the first NCAA carnival skiing race of the year at Sugarloaf, Maine.
The Dartmouth men finished an impressive second behind the University of Vermont, while the women struggled with sickness and injury, placing a respectable fourth out of 14 teams.
Men's alpine skier J.P. Daigneault '97 led the charge for the Big Green.
Daigneault showed that inexperience does not play too big a role on the carnival circuit, easily adapting to win both the giant slalom and slalom in his first carnival.
"If the first carnival is any indication, the carnivals are going to be pretty fun," Daigneault said.
Captain Jay Nohl '94 finished right behind Daigneault in the giant slalom. Ben Robinson '97 took fourth to round off a Dartmouth victory in that race.
Coulter Leys '96 and Cory Smith '96 posted the top results for the Nordic men's team.
Smith left his equipment at school and had to borrow skis and poles, but still managed to place a remarkable fourth in the 15 km classical race behind a trio of Scandanavian imports skiing for UVM.
Captain Todd Grover '94 skied an excellent 20 km freestyle race, but lost some time when his ski came off, and had to settle for fourteenth.
Leys finished ninth in the freestyle competition.
The women's team shined at moments, but the flu and a knee injury to alpine skier Nora Stowell '96 kept the team from performing its best.
"It was really frustrating because everyone was sick," Nordic women's coach Cami Thompson said. "Considering all the problems, I think the women did very well."
Nordic co-captain Liza Keisler '94 got outsprinted in the final moments of the 15 km freestyle race, but still had one of the best races of her college career, finishing fourth.
Women's alpine captain Jesse James '95 cruised into the lead on the first run of the slalom race and looked on her way to the first carnival victory of her career until she hooked her edge in the soft snow on the second run and had to hike up to a missed gate en route to a disappointing 26th.
James' ninth place finish in the giant slalom topped the women's alpine results.
Kate Buhrmaster '97 and Pam Finnerty '97 both posted excellent results in their first carnival, finishing tenth and eleventh, respectively, in the slalom.
Nora Stowell '96 missed the slalom race after crashing in the first run of the giant slalom and going to the hospital with an injured knee. She was unable to ski on Saturday, but likely to be back on snow in one to three weeks.
University of Vermont beat all 14 teams by a convincing margin in women's overall scores, followed by University of New Hampshire and Middlebury.
The Dartmouth skiers will compete again next week at the St. Lawrence Carnival in Lake Placid, N.Y.
