This article is featured in the 2025 Winter Carnival Edition.
Growing up just two hours south of Hanover, I have become accustomed to snowy winters and below-freezing temperatures. Still, even after years of living in Massachusetts (a true “J.O.B.” or just outside of Boston-er, as many Dartmouth students remind me), I have still come to dread the winter, when the sun sets before dinnertime and going outside requires at least three layers.
Heading into my first winter term at Dartmouth, I returned to campus from winterim with my long puffer coat and a lingering uncertainty about my 10-minute walks from East Wheelock Hall to the Class of 1953 Commons. After reflecting on the first few weeks of the term and talking with upperclassmen, I have learned how to make Dartmouth winters less bleak than the weather app makes them seem. By embracing traditions and the many winter activities that Dartmouth has to offer, the coldest term on campus can be a chance to push your limits and explore new activities.
Other Dartmouth students have also learned to embrace the cold — and a select few even look forward to it.
“Honestly, winters are my favorite term,” Dara Casey ’25 said. “I think I have reverse seasonal depression — I get most excited for the winters, and I get kind of sad when it’s hot on campus.”
A fellow Massachusetts native, Casey grew up skiing every winter, which contributed to her appreciation for the season.
“If people find winter to be a depressing time, they should really look into taking ski lessons or skate lessons, or whatever it is, to find that activity that gets you outside and gets you warm,” Casey said.
For Casey, making the most of her final winter at Dartmouth is why she has committed herself to hitting the slopes every day of the term.
She allocates at least two hours each day to the challenge, which has taken the form of cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, backcountry skiing and snowboarding, she explained. While Casey often hits the slopes close to home, she has also ventured beyond the Dartmouth Skiway — making her way to various sites in Vermont, including the Willoughby State Forest, Mount Mansfield and Brandon Gap.
“I really, really love [Dartmouth], so I want to appreciate it,” Casey said. “I think [the challenge has] been a really special way to celebrate my last winter here.”
Winter sports motivate other students to be active, too. Mackenzie Morong ’27 said she was “pretty excited” about this winter term, emphasizing the importance of finding ways to get outside and enjoy the winter.
“If you’re going in and you’re only thinking, ‘Hey, this is going to suck, and it’s going to be cold and dark,’ that’s definitely going to kind of screw you over,” Morong said. “I think a lot of it is looking for what stuff you can still do to have fun — because you’re always going to find it.”
Another Massachusetts native, Morong has also grown up with the cold.
“I’ve not really been to a ton of places where the weather is very different … but I do love it,” she said.
Ledyard Canoe Club president Hayden Miller ’25, who also grew up in Massachusetts, said he is “already kind of used to the cold.”
“The cold can be hard, but I think it’s important to still try to go out of your way to be active and make the most of the winter when you can, because it is a special time of year here,” Miller said.
Despite the frozen rivers and lakes, Ledyard remains active, hosting practice sessions with rolling kayaks in the Spaulding Pool as well as weekly meetings and dinners, Miller said.
According to Miller, Ledyard also has a hockey team, called the “Frozen Chickens,” which hosts weekly games on Sundays in Thompson Arena in addition to practices and pickup games on Occom Pond. The hockey team and indoor practice sessions are parts of Ledyard’s efforts to “bring people together and keep people engaged” during the winter term, Miller said.
The Dartmouth Outing Club also recognizes the importance of accessibility to winter gear to engage more students with Hanover’s many winter activities.
Robinson Hall — which houses the DOC — provides snow shoes, ice skates and winter clothes to students at no cost, according to the Dartmouth Student Affairs website. Dartmouth students also have access to discounted season passes and rentals at the Dartmouth Skiway and free passes and rental cross country ski equipment from the Oak Hill Outdoor Center. Starting this year, Dartmouth is also offering free beginner ski and snowboarding classes for undergraduate students, covering the costs of “seven lessons, equipment rentals, lift tickets, and transportation,” according to the website. Students can also borrow ice skates for free from the DOC house on Saturdays and skate on Occom Pond or the ice rink set up on the Green.
While staying active outside is an important factor to enjoying the winter term, Miller noted the importance of access to new activities.
“I had never really skated or skied before coming here, so I think having [the option to try new activities] pretty accessible was really important, especially my first year when it was extremely cold,” Miller said.
Morong, who is a member of Club Nordic — a sub club of the DOC for Nordic skiing and racing — praised the club’s inclusivity and openness to members of all skill levels.
“Everyone on the team is great,” Morong said. “They make it so accessible for people. We have so many practices that are just like, ‘Show up and we’ll teach you how to ski — we have all the equipment, and we’ll drive out there.’”
Casey also emphasized the importance of providing opportunities to those without prior experience.
“I think beginner trips … are great,” Casey said. “We need to encourage people to do that because I think [skiing] is a really, really, tough sport to enter.”
Intentionally spending time outdoors and engaging in quintessential winter activities are not the only ways to celebrate winter in Hanover. Winter traditions, such as the annual school-wide snowball fight and Winter Carnival, are other simple ways to embrace the season, Morong said.
Even though the cold weather is “a hard adjustment,” Morong said she believes “people are still willing to have spirit and get out there” to celebrate Dartmouth’s winter traditions.
“The snowball fight and things like that bring people more together,” Morong said. “I haven’t heard [of] stuff like that from other schools.”
Miller agreed, adding that this year’s snowball fight and the one his freshman year were “two of [his] favorite nights at Dartmouth.”
“I was just surrounded by all my friends, and we were very aware of how fleeting senior year is, and [that] this is our last one,” Miller said. “It was a great tradition, so fun to see all these familiar faces out there on the Green.”
The Polar Bear Plunge — an icy challenge in which participants swim 15 feet in the middle of a frozen Occom Pond — is another highly anticipated Dartmouth winter tradition.
The event, which typically occurs on the Friday of Winter Carnival weekend, fosters a sense of community and offers students unforgettable memories — whether they are jumping in the pond themselves or cheering on their peers. Because the weather was too warm for Occom to freeze over last winter, students are looking forward to not only enduring but embracing the icy water this year.
“What I’ve realized is the Dartmouth experience is always pushing you outside of your limits and outside of what you think is humanly possible,” Casey said. “It’s this collective sense of everybody’s doing it, and I want to be part of this collective thing that is really special.”
Even for those who wouldn’t typically jump into a frozen pond, the Polar Bear Plunge just might be worth the experience.
“I don’t really love cold water, but I think I have to do it just once,” Miller said.
For me, this term has shifted away from sunny runs down Lyme Road into powdery runs down trails at the Dartmouth Skiway. I am learning to embrace the chilly temperatures, whether on my walks across campus or while skating on Occom. I am hesitant, but mostly excited, about jumping into Occom when the Polar Bear Plunge rolls around.
While the winter term might not lend itself to canoeing down the Connecticut River or playing spikeball on the Green, it provides opportunities of its own. From exploring winter sports to taking part in traditions unique to the Dartmouth experience, winter in Hanover still finds a way to bring the heat.
