Dartmouth's Winter Carnival, although one of the most famous college winter carnivals, is not the only collegiate winter celebration in the northeast.
There are many other colleges -- particularly those with a focus on winter athletics and outdoor activities -- that also have festivals similar to Dartmouth's Carnival in honor of their school's snowy home.
Like Dartmouth, Middlebury College's celebration is strongly community-oriented withboth social and athletic events during the weekend open to all community members.
For the students at Middlebury, "Winter Carnival is seen as a very special time on campus," said Middlebury Carnival Social Chair Melissa Pruessig. "It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun," she added.
Middlebury's Carnival is very similar to Dartmouth's celebration. The weekend is centered around a theme -- this year's theme is "Caribbean Carnival." The weekend also includes Nordic and Alpine skiing competitions, and there are many other events for students at both colleges to maintain a Carnival mood for the entire weekend.
Middlebury's weekend extravaganza revolves around a big ice-show -- a 24-year old tradition -- which is the collaborative effort of students and professional skaters.
Bates College also celebrates the white landscape with a carnival, however, it takes place in early January.
Student Activities employee Laura Biscoe said their "Margaritaville" themed Carnival was a big success.
With a celebration that featured steel-drum bands, theme dinners and revelries in grass skirts, Bates' Carnival helped to dispel all thoughts of this year's recent ice-storm. The winter celebration at Williams College encourages activities in the wintery great outdoors.
With events such as snow volleyball, a snow-sculpture contest and sports team competitions, Williams celebrates winter in a manner similar to Dartmouth.
However, the winter festivities and events at Williams, although enjoyed by students, are smaller than Homecoming.
Among the other colleges which comprise the Ivy League, the celebrations do not compare with Dartmouth's.
For Princeton University, the winter festivities are small and are mostly centered around formals.
Marshall Burkes, a senior at Princeton, said the "Winter Formals" -- evenings with formal events, dinners and dances in December -- are the only winter celebration.
The festivities at Princeton are not enjoyed by the entire student body. The formals are held by the "Eating Clubs" -- coed groups similar to fraternities -- which are only open to juniors and seniors.
Yale University celebrates winter with an annual Winter Ball as well. Yale does not have a major weekend celebration.
While Cornell University held a winterfest several years ago, the school currently has nothing comparable to Dartmouth's Carnival. Cornell does have a winter semiformal celebration in the second week of December. This tradition,however, is four years old and only freshman have the opportunity to frolick in a "Winter Wonderland."
The lack of snow this year affected many winter celebrations at northeastern colleges.
At Middlebury, the absence of snow prevented the carnival board from including the traditional snow sculpture in the winter festival weekend activities.
Bates' celebration was also dampened by the snow. Like Middlebury, the tradition of the snow sculpture was impeded by the weather. However, Bates was hampered because it was hit hard by the ice-storm, not for lack of snow.
