In locales with long, severe winters, cities and universities worldwide revel in winter festivities similar to Dartmouth's Winter Carnival.
As celebrations of the snow and cold weather, the festivals feature traditional winter activities, including snow sculpting, ice hockey, skating and skiing, in addition to traditions unique to each carnival.
National Geographic Traveler Magazine ranked Dartmouth's Winter Carnival sixth out of the world's top 10 winter carnivals in its January/February 2012 issue.
Fur Rendezvous of Anchorage, Alaska, the top-rated winter carnival in the world, is a 10-day celebration of Alaskan life.
Originating in the 1930s as a sports tournament, the carnival coincided with the period during which miners and trappers brought their goods to town, according to National Geographic Traveler.
Almost 80 years later, "Rondy" continues to spotlight outdoor sports, including snowshoe softball, ice hockey and the two-and-a-half-kilometer and five-kilometer Frostbite Footraces, according to National Geographic Traveler. The carnival also includes Running of the Reindeer and World Championship Sled Dog Race events.
Visitors can attend the Miners and Trappers Charity Ball, an event that features a humorous Mr. Fur Face beard contest, according to the carnival's website.
Several small-town winter celebrations placed among the top 10, including the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival of Saranac Lake, N.Y. and the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival of Steamboat Springs, Colo., which National Geographic Traveler ranked second and ninth, respectively.
"We were thrilled to even be included on the list," Chairman of the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Jeff Dickson said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "The resources for many of the winter carnivals on the list are many times greater than our resources. Our carnival is truly the product of year-round efforts and thousands of hours of volunteer work."
The highlight of the carnival for most visitors is the ice palace designed and crafted by a crew of local citizens, according to Dickson.
Other events, including outdoor volleyball on an unplowed court and traditional winter activities like ski racing and ice skating, draw crowds of up to 5,000, Dickson said.
"Though a small carnival, there are plenty of activities for the entire family to enjoy," Dickson said. "If someone can't find something to do, it's because they aren't looking."
Michelle Krasilinec, public relations manager for the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association, said she felt similarly about her town's ranking.
"Steamboat Springs is a quaint town and with 12,088 people living within city limits year-round, we truly are a resort community," Krasilinec said. "We embrace tradition and celebrate winter the right way. It's great to see that our Steamboat Springs party has received national recognition."
The Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival is a five-day celebration that begins with a high school ice sculpture competition and concludes with a parade featuring floats that "have to be able to glide on the snow" and the world's only marching band on skis, Krasilinec said.
Other highlights unique to the carnival include the "Lighted Man," whose battery-powered suit weighs 70 pounds, and a 25-yard dash in which dogs pull toddlers on toboggans.
In addition to celebrating winter, the Steamboat Springs Carnival also raises money for the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, an organization that trains young athletes who hope to compete at the Olympic level, according to Krasilinec.
"As a town, Steamboat Springs has produced more Olympians than any other town in North America, with a record of 69 and counting," she said.
Other carnivals in National Geographic Traveler's top 10 attract large crowds of both local and foreign visitors.
Every February, more than two million visitors travel to Sapporo, Japan to admire hundreds of intricate snow and ice sculptures crafted by international teams for the Sapporo Snow Festival, according to the festival's website.
Visitors can also take figure skating lessons, go snow rafting and sample regional food specialties at the carnival, which was ranked eighth by National Geographic Traveler.
Coming in at number five, the annual Bon Soo Winter Carnival in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario also draws a sizeable crowd that averages 60,000 attendees, Bon Soo Winter Carnival manager Kerrie De Poli said.
"Variety is what sets Bon Soo apart," De Poli said.
The Bon Soo Winter Carnival hosts 10 days of indoor and outdoor activities, according to De Poli.
"We've got card parties, dances, skating, curling, dog sled rides, downhill canoe races and our famous bum slides slicked by fire hoses for a very slippery ride," she said. "We've got events for everyone from the Bon tots' to the senior citizens."
Another Canadian festival, the Quebec Winter Carnival of Quebec City, Quebec, qualifies as the largest winter festival in the world, according to National Geographic Traveler. Spanning 17 days and 17 nights, the Quebec Winter Carnival sponsors over 300 unique activities and attracts more than 700,000 visitors from across Canada and the world, according to National Geographic Traveler.
"Among the many events there are some that are not to be missed," Alain Winter, president of the Quebec Winter Carnival, said. "The canoe race across the icy St. Lawrence River, for example, is a Winter Carnival tradition. Our famous ice palace, where our carnival ambassador Bonhomme interacts with visitors, is also a staple of the Quebec Winter Carnival."
Additional winter carnivals listed in National Geographic Traveler's top 10 include the Winterlude of Ottawa, Ontario, the Winter Carnival of St. Paul, Minn. and the Fiesta Pescado Blanco of Whitefish, Mont.
While Dartmouth hosts the oldest collegiate winter carnival in the United States and is the only collegiate winter festival to make National Geographic Traveler's top 10, other Ivy League and liberal arts institutions in the Northeast also celebrate the season with winter events.
At Bates College, winter carnival celebrations begin with a student-run torch relay from Augusta, Maine to the college's campus in Lewiston, Maine. The festival is the second oldest college carnival.
After the torch run, Bates students can participate in such winter-themed activities as skiing, snowshoeing and building snow sculptures.
Similar to Dartmouth's Polar Bear Swim, Bates students take part in the Puddle Jump by braving the cold and plunging into nearby Lake Andrews.
Students at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. celebrate with FebFest, a week-long festival of activities that include chocolate tastings, "pizza wars" and a chili cook-off.
Other highlights include themed dances and the Mr. Hamilton Beauty Pageant for charity.
Other Ivy League schools hold winter events, but, none match the scale of Dartmouth's Winter Carnival.
At Cornell University students sled on the campus's Libe Slope. Harvard University's "Alaska Klub" holds an annual polar bear swim and a human Iditarod race.
