Though Winter Carnival initially emphasized skiing, the sport’s role in the weekend has decreased over the years. Regardless, certain events still cater to the sport’s tradition at the College. Both the Dartmouth Skiway and the Dartmouth Outing Club have worked to make Carnival skiing-related events fun for all participating students.
Winter Carnival’s athletic events will preview the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Skiway snowsports director and resort marketing coordinator Benjamin Craig said, especially since Dartmouth is often represented by Olympic athletes.
The Skiway will host several of the weekend’s scheduled ski races and provide venues for alumni and students to watch.
DOC outdoor programs assistant director Rory Gawler ’05 added that Winter Carnival is the best opportunity for students and faculty to watch ski races on Dartmouth’s home turf, especially since the ski team has recently displayed perennial success.
Although the Nordic ski race on Oak Hill will not be held this year since the Nordic team is away during Carnival, a number of DOC ski trips will head both to the Skiway and other locations, DOC outdoor programs deputy director Brian Kunz said.
Craig said the Skiway has worked to make Winter Carnival more inclusive for the entire community. In addition to hosting 99-cent day on Friday, the Skiway will organize events like radio station giveaways and ski equipment demonstrations over the weekend. Coca-Cola will hold a tasting event at the Skiway, Craig said.
“We’re trying to have more events for the other students who aren’t involved in the races but are there to spectate,” he said.
Carnival began solely as a Dartmouth Outing Club skiing event. In fact, “carnival” is a term used for ski races. Fred Harris, a member of the Class of 1911 who founded the DOC and first suggested the idea of a Winter Carnival in 1909 to increase interest in winter sports, was hailed by Sportsman magazine as “The Man Who Put America on Skis,” bringing national attention to both skiing and the College.
In the early years of Winter Carnival, the DOC winter sports division was the governing body for ski racing in the northeastern United States, Gawler said.
As Winter Carnival grew beyond solely a ski race event, the Outing Club became bogged down with the event’s administrative and logistical tasks. Eventually, the DOC needed to revert to its original mission, getting people outside on small trips to appreciate the outdoors, so it scaled back its role in Carnival, Gawler said.
In 1961, control of Winter Carnival was given to the Collis Center for Student Involvement, and the ski team was moved to the College’s athletic department, reporting to the department rather than the DOC’s outdoor programs office, Kunz said. Still, the DOC works with the ski team to provide training courses, along with other resources.
Though he acknowledged that the role of skiing in Winter Carnival activities has declined over time while other events have expanded, Gawler emphasized the key role that skiing has played and will continue to play in Winter Carnival.
“Carnival is skiing, the rest of it is window dressing on top of that,” he said. “Still, the whole point of all of this is to get outside and enjoy winter, and however people choose to do that is great.”
