In keeping with the theme for this years carnival, "Lest the Cold Traditions Fail, Carnival Through the Years..." the Winter Carnival Committee created a ski jump and skier on the Green, reminiscent of the fomer ski jump competitions held annually on the College's golf course.
The jump and skier, designed by Ben Moor '00 and Andy Louis '00, was designed to be approximately 30 ft. tall, 8 ft. wide and 28 ft. deep.
Anne Cloudman '02 and J.R. Lederer '02 are co-chairs of the sculpture and they helped recruit students to participate.
Though this year there were several inches of snow to shovel in the weeks before Carnival, in past years, students have had to overcome uncertain snow conditions and sudden thaws that threatened the sculptures in progress.
In 1997 the knight and his steed succumbed to the unexpectedly warm weather. Students were adding the final touches when sculpture collapsed.
The 1996 sculpture, a stegosaurus eating Baker Tower, was constructed with trucked-in snow, only to be drenched with rain at the start of the Carnival.
Similarly, in 1995 a would-be wolf on its hind legs melted into an unidentifiable lump in the middle of the Green.
A heroic effort by John Cholnoky '80 saved the sculpture in 1980 when he contacted local ski areas for the use of their snow-makers to cover an all too green Green. The Killington ski area loaned the committee their equipment and three of Killington's operators volunteered to come to Hanover.
In addition to the unforseeable challenges of Mother Nature, the snow sculptors have struggled with the challenge of recruiting enough students to build the massive structures in a short time periods.
Currently, the College does not allow kegs or other alcohol on the Green, a feature which used to draw many more students.
Another change which may have affected the number of snow sculpture participants is implementaion of the D- plan. Previously, most of the College would be on campus for the winter and students would stay between terms to work on the sculptures.
"A big group of people from the [Dartmouth Outing Club] would stay in between semesters," Chris Aslin '97 said in a previous interview with the Dartmouth. "They had a lot less things to deal with in terms of classes and activities."
The sculture has had great years when many participants contributed.
In 1987 Dartmouth briefly gained world wide fame with its snow sculpture. The Guiness Book of World Records lists that year's "Mardi Gras in Bourbon Street," a 47.5 foot snowman playing a saxophone, as one of the tallest snowman ever built.
Students' zeal went too far in 1955, however, when they built a sculpture of an Eskimo riding a whale, which, due to extremely cold weather refused to melt and finally had to be destroyed with dynamite.
Students have also used the sculpture to express political opinions about campus policies and world events.
In 1992, students protested the banning of common-source alcohol in residence halls by creating a snowy rendition of Dr. Seuss's character, the Grinch perched on a beer keg.
On another political impulse, students expressed disapproval with the Gulf War by painting that year's sculpture of Neptune marking the ground in front of Dartmouth Hall with a red peace sign.
The adminstration also used the Carnival to make a political point by canceling the entire event during another war because they did not think it was appropriate to have such a frivolous party while soldiers were dying by the thousands every day.
However, that year students defied the admininstration and built a snow sculpture of a snow man in a coffin with a large V in the background referring to the death of the sculpture tradition and the soldiers in the War.
The sculpture has not always been a part of Winter Carnival. Not until 1925 did the sculpture join the festivities in the form of a large medieval castle, becoming the first of many impressive structures.
