After a decade of struggle due to unexpected warm weather, political controversy and insufficient design considerations, the official snow sculpture that is the core of the Dartmouth Winter Carnival tradition looks to have returned to its former pinnacle of creativity and immensity.
The Winter Carnival centerpiece features a massive ship to capture the weekend's "Peter Pan" theme. The structure surpasses previous sculptures in size, towering between 50 to 55 feet tall and measuring 18 feet wide. The mainmast stands 56 feet high, and the foremast stands 52 feet. Sketches for the ship began in early December, with Eric Clum '08 and Lucas Schlumtz '08 designing various structural parts for use in the ship's construction.
The snow boat is designed with steps up the stern and a removable slide on its side. It will be open to the public throughout the weekend.
Student volunteers began constructing the sculpture in late January, accompanied by eight members of the sculpting team. Committee co-chair Dan Schneider '07 commended many athletic teams and Greek houses for providing assistance. Of particular note, recently inaugurated football coach Eugene Teevens aided in the construction efforts, hosting a team meeting on the Green that finished with a one-hour commitment from each of the players to help build the sculpture, Schneider said.
Despite several recruiting drives, Schneider said the builders suffered manpower shortages that placed the team behind schedule. Long hours of building throughout the night and early mornings allowed for an on-time opening ceremony Thursday.
Similar to previous years, the committee relies heavily on Mother Nature to provide adequate amounts of snow and cool temperatures. Because the ship is 25 percent larger than last year's sculpture and required almost three times as much snow, Schneider said the Facilities, Operations and Management ground crew donated trucks to transfer snow from nearby Scully-Fahey Field.
Uncertain snow conditions, abrupt freezing, and recruitment challenges have been common issues for past sculpting committees and previous project leaders have struggled to solve sculpture adversities.
In 1997, a sculpture of a knight riding his steed collapsed after unexpected warm weather. A year earlier, rain consumed a stegosaurus eating Baker Tower. Misfortune also marked the 1995 structure, when a howling wolf melted into an unidentifiable mound.
During previous carnivals, students used to sculpture as a vehicle for expressing their political opinions on campus policies and national events. The 1992 protest of the College administration's alcohol ban in dorms prompted the creation of the Grinch perched on a beer keg. Students constructed a statute of Neptune with a red peace sign to show disappoval of the Gulf War in 1991.
Before the demise of Carnival sculptures in the 1990s, sculptures were larger, more innovative and seemingly unaffected by weather conditions. In 1987 the Guinness Book of World Records named Dartmouth's 47.5 foot saxophone-playing snowman one of the tallest snowmen ever built. The 1969 theme "Fire and Ice" culminated in the creation of a dragon capable of breathing fire, fueled by a butane tank.
Fourteen years earlier, a sculpture of an Eskimo riding a whale refused to melt after Carnival weekend due to unseasonably cold weather, and finally met destruction with dynamite the following spring.
Many have speculated that waning enthusiasm is turning around. The pirate ship sculpture comes on the heels of last year's creation of a 35-foot tall cat balanced on a hat, which surpassed expectations as a commemorative of Dr. Seuss' 100th birthday.
