While participation of the student body as a whole was low, several student sculpture construction crew members worked tirelessly for multiple hours a day in order to complete the construction of this year's sculpture a model of the Roman Colosseum before Winter Carnival.
Following the collapse of last year's scale model of the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge due to warm weather, this year's sculpture crew took extra precautions when designing and constructing the sculpture, according to crew members.
Last year's sculpture design was "too ambitious" and had several mistakes, sculpture crew member Richie Clark '11 said.
This winter's sculpture was scaled down significantly in order to meet realistic time constraints, Clark previously told The Dartmouth. The 2010 sculpture crew used a temporary wooden frame unlike last year's internal frame to act as reinforcement for the structure and to provide an extra measure of safety during construction, senior snow sculpture chair Benjy Meigs '10 said.
While building this year's sculpture, constant above-freezing temperatures and consistent rainfall concerned the sculpture crew, Meigs said.
Meigs led a ten-person sculpture crew which, for the first time, consisted of several sub-chairs, Meigs said.
Rosa Van Wie '12, the logistics chair, was responsible for ensuring that the sculpture builders were well-supplied with building materials, including wood and pick axes. Clark acted as the construction and build-site chair, while Riley Kane '12 served as the recruitment chair.
Clark said he worked roughly five hours per day on the sculpture.
"I just like being out here and being able to say that I am helping to make sure what I consider to be one of the greatest traditions at Dartmouth continues," Clark said.
Organizers noted that student participation in sculpture building was weak this year, following a trend that has plagued sculpture construction efforts in recent years.
"The snow sculpture is a student-built project," Meigs said. "Student-built doesn't mean that me and the three other chairs go out and fill buckets if we did that we wouldn't be finished by May."
Often, potential student volunteers are deterred from participating because they believe volunteering is a large time commitment, Meigs said.
"It's easy for people to just go by their iCalendars and say I don't have time for this' and forget how important it is," he said.
The majority of students who assisted sculpture engineers this year were upperclassmen, the chairs said.
"The [members of the class of 2013] haven't been out here as much," Van Wie said.
Decreased student involvement has contributed to the shrinking size of the snow sculpture over the years, Van Wie said. For each year the sculpture is smaller, students are further discouraged from participating the following year, she said.
The cold may also have deterred people from helping, according to Rene Zelaya '11, a student who helped with construction.
This year, sculpture chairs solicited student organizations to encourage their members to contribute to building efforts. Students involved in Dartmouth Emergency Medical Services, Ledyard Canoe Club, the Dartmouth football team and Cabin and Trail have helped build, Van Wie said.
Only two fraternities Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity and Zeta Psi fraternity have made organized efforts to aid in construction, Clark said.
"Participation has been slow, [but] we've gotten some organizations out which is great," Van Wie said.
Daniel Lee '12, an Alpha Chi member who helped with this year's sculpture, said he believed that preserving the sculpture tradition was an important part of celebrating Winter Carnival.
Having a Winter Carnival without a snow sculpture would be "like having Homecoming without a bonfire," he said.
The sculpture is funded through Programming Board and has stayed within its budget this year, Van Wie said.
Local businesses donated food for builders during the weeks leading up to Winter Carnival, especially during the overnight build on Wednesday, Van Wie said.
