Annual Report 2003

Directorate Reports

President

Spring term started with an opening All-DOC feed in Brace Commons. We cooked up some amazing chili for dinner and each club presented what they were planning for the term. Ledyard showed kayaking video clips, Cabin and Trail had a slideshow, and all other active clubs gave a convincing spiel about why you should go outside with the DOC in the spring. New people were added to blitz lists, over 120 people dined, and general club bonding occurred.

Spring Weekend was a rousing success, with excellent weather and excited participants. Ledyard brought their kayakers from paddling at Zoar Gap, the DMC had a crew of Rumney climbers, Cabin and Trail’s trailworkers worked on Moosilauke, and the Cycling Club biked both to and from the Lodge. Everyone gathered for a fantastic dinner at Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, filling every seat and every stomach. The evening culminated with some foot tapping bluegrass music.

All-DOC Day, the Thursday before Green Key weekend brought the DOC to Mass Row, where every active club had a table and excited club members out to advertise and enjoying a beautiful afternoon. Directorate handed out free hamburgers and hotdogs, Cycling Club offered free bike tune-ups, Ski Patrol was back-boarding victims, CnT roasted marshmallows, the Forestry team chopped and sawed, DMC gave gear demos, Ledyard showed a kayak video, and Bait and Bullet showed off their decoys.

The final spring event was the DOC Banquet, held at the DOC House on Occom Pond. Awards were given to those students who invested their time and effort in the club we all know and love, and the past president, Adam Sepulveda ’02, was honored, and each club gave a report about their year’s adventures.

In late spring, because of a new rule, the DOC was required to apply to keep their room in Robinson Hall. This new application process brought the groups together to submit a stack of reasons why we need a prominent meeting place on campus. Late in the summer, word came that we could keep our beloved room 13, at least for this year.

Another All-DOC feed opened Summer term for the club, and we cooked a great meal, barbequing hamburgers and passing out homemade potato salad in front of Robinson Hall. Each club announced their summer activities to all of campus from a microphone on the front steps and some spirited DOC’ers showed off their Salty Dog skills on the lawn.

For Sophomore Family Weekend, we showed a slideshow for parents, encompassing the DOC’s array of activities, in Dartmouth Hall. Over a hundred people attended and everyone enjoyed hearing the parents’ gasps at the amazing views and stunning places our club visits each year. A Pancake Paddle at Ledyard also welcomed parents, and all enjoyed a beautiful morning on the Connecticut River.

Eleanor Alexander
DOC President 02S, 02X

Fall term brought cooler weather, colorful trees, and, most importantly, an ’06 class full of awesome people excited to get busy getting outside. Lured by the promise of free pizza, unlucky first-years were snared by directorate for use as human shields during the ferocious weekly food fights. Well, not really, but directorate did pick up some new, friendly faces and a lot of new ideas. Once again, we fed early in the term, with OPO doing all the cooking, except the opening of hundreds of cans of beans. Facilities Director Don Cutter ’73 offered to add some prime local venison to the stew but we just weren’t brave enough to take him up on it. Fall weekend rocked the lodge with a 200 person dinner, square-dancing called by Everett Blake, bluegrass tunes from Dartmouth’s own White Mountain Oysters. We even had some of that good old fashioned New Hampshire weather for the Fifty Mile Hike – cold, gray, and windy, with a little rain and sleet mixed in for good measure. Rumor has it that Wolfgang Schlitz himself showed up and danced the Salty Dog Rag with DOC General Manager Julie Clemons.

During the second half of the term, clubs continued their activities while the energies of the directorate turned inward. We focused on finding better ways to plan events and how to get more general DOC members involved in the planning process. We also carved pumpkins for the steps of Robo on Halloween and gave away hot apple pie to past and present DOC members during the Homecoming bonfire.

Winter began one day in November, and by the time winter term caught up, thermometers everywhere decided to start off each day at twenty below. Unfazed and unfrozen, the DOC sipped some hot cocoa and got down to business. First up, an act of reclamation: the Snow Sculpture. Determined to restore the sculpture’s status as the eighth wonder of the world, a group of hard-working DOCers, led by D. Bradley “Dbrad” Bate ’04, Jeffery “The Valiant One” Woodward ’06, and Anthony “Tallguywholikestohikeverylongdistances” Bramante ’06, worked day and night to construct an immense statue of Gandalf holding skis. None who viewed it remained unmoved. Meanwhile, Vice-President Kate Huyett ’05 spearheaded a committee to create a DOC expedition fund, in order to provide DOC members some support for adventures far from campus. Even as the committee worked out the specifics, three DOC-supported adventurers, Anne Peick ’04, Matt Bank ’04, and Linsday Reither ’04, traveled to Peru and Chile to hike the Inca trail and attempt to climb some of the world’s highest peaks. Fueled by an insatiable desire for milkshakes during meetings, Directorate combed the Upper Valley for the perfect diner/meeting place, eventually settling on “The Fort”. Once satiated, however, we were all business, creating the position of member-at-large, helping to preserve institutional memory and working on publicity and making meetings more accessible. As winter term drew to a close, we held the first annual DOC Election/Feast. We drank mead and dined on fire-roasted leg of cow! Or was it chili and cornbread? It’s hard to keep track these days. Joe Hanlon ’05 and Merrick Johnston ’05 were elected to head the club for the next year. Finals came and (thankfully) went and the clubs loaded up big green vans and headed out in search of warmth – Ledyard to North Carolina, the DMC to Nevada, and Cabin and Trail to Texas. Back in Hanover the campus rested, rejuvenated, and prepared for another busy spring…

YITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

Brad Leneis ’03
DOC President 02F, 03W

DOCTours

DOCTours is a relatively new program whose purpose is two-fold. Foremost to facilitate public relations for the club and publicize DOC events through student liaison officers and second to allow enthusiastic students to become more involved in the DOC’s administration by holding those positions. This is done by holding regular office hours in 13 Robinson Hall Sunday through Thursday, one shift from 2-4 PM and another from 4-6 PM. During those times, student DOCTours answer blitz, phone and walk-in questions and help OPO with any random tasks they may have. Students are also required to attend weekly board and directorate meetings and perform some other organisational work, related to the DOC, for a minimum of one hour each week.

Fall 2002

Cindy Wu, Michael R. Liroff, Joe Hanlon, Joanna Hurrell, Emily K. Knight, Anne Ladenburger, Dan Bailin, Kelly Swartz, Rory Gawler, Julia Payne

Winter 2003

Joanna Hurrell, Christopher McMullen-Laird, Brad Leneis, Victoria Allen, Peter Bohler, Jeffery B. Woodward, Philip Marvin, Michael Liroff

Spring 2003

Vicki Allen, Cindy Wu, Lauren P. Maynard, Jean Polfus, Beth Rabbitt, Anthony Bramante, Alicia M. Cruz-Uribe, Daniel R. Philp, Heather Lapin

General development in the program is moving towards having the DOCTours take up leadership roles in the Directorate as most of the other members of the directorate are too busy to run smaller projects such as All DOC Feeds, formals etc. Also, in future terms, emphasis will be placed on recruiting new (read: not already busy) members and freshmen to fill these positions, with a healthy mix of wily veterans to add experience and institutional memory.

During the past year we have been instrumental in revitalized the Snow Sculpture tradition. Rory has also played an important role in publicity and by publicity we mean he made posters. Kelly Swartz, a DOCTour this past year, has also revived Woodsmoke, the official Dartmouth Outing Club magazine. DOCTours have also gone on to such positions as Sophomore Trips Director and DOC President.

Rory Gawler and Cindy Wu

DOC Trips 2002

DOC Trips is one of the most broad-reaching traditions at Dartmouth. Its growth and evolution has brought Trips the opportunity to shape almost everyone’s first impression of the college, with the support of a spirited student body to welcome to the first year students by means of the outdoors. The 2002 Trips program was a remarkable success thanks to all of the hard work and enthusiasm of the student and faculty volunteers. The format of the program has remained relatively the same over the past few years, with a few bigger changes this year on the administrative side.

General Data and Overview

Number of trip sections: 9, Sections A-I
Types of trips: Hiking, Leisurely
Hiking, Easy
Hiking, Moderate
Hiking, Strenuous
Hiking, Advanced
Canoeing
Whitewater Kayaking
Flatwater Kayaking
Nature Photography
Fishing
Horseback Riding
Mountain Biking
Road Biking
Organic Farming
Rock Climbing
Trailwork
Number of trippees: 909 and 30 cancellations, including 10 transfer students and 1 exchange student
Number of trips in total: 109
Cost of Trip: $104
Financial aid: $8,598 distributed among 128 trippees
Numbers of leaders: 216
Leader distribution: 42 Class of ’05, 60 Class of ’04, 94 Class of ’03, 8 Class of ’02, 1 Class of ’01, 1 Class of ’00, 1 Class of ’49, 2 Thayer Engineering graduate students (both undergraduate alumni), 6 faculty/staff (including 1 Class of '88)
Numbers of crew members: 1 Director, 1 Summer Assistant, 2 Leader Trainers, 2 Hanover Safety Crew, 4 Grant Crew, 3 Climbing Crew, 14 Lodge Crew (including Lodge Safety person), 15 Hanover Crew

Last year’s initiative to recruit more leaders for a larger number of trips to keep trips smaller in compliance with use issues was continued this year, with compounding success. Two trips were single-led, because of last minute leader cancellations.

Changes to the Program

DOC Trips is constantly evolving, with changes every year. The most significant changes this year were:

Location changes of many Hanover activities

In recent years, the first night of each section was spent in a Choates cluster lounge, with all trippees and leaders sleeping in the common room area and hallways. This is and has been against Town of Hanover fire code and was not continued this year. Plans to change this practice began in January and with much deliberation and work with many parts of ORL decided that rooms in New Hampshire Hall would be a suitable place for trips. Each trip was assigned usually two rooms to stay in. This is a great improvement over the old system, although the rooms are holding more people than would normally be living there, it distributes people over the area of the building as it is intended to be used, and in the case of an evacuation would pose no hindrances to exiting. Sleeping within the trip groups also keeps intact the spirit of community while being less intimidating than a loungeful of students packed together. For the first year of this set up, it went quite smoothly, but talks with ORL must continue to make things as easy as possible for both Trips and ORL.

DOC Trips also moved many activities to the Collis Center beginning a truly mutually beneficial relationship. The Hanover Crew safety talk was held in the Collis Café (a better location than Collis Commonground), breakfast was on the Collis Porch, and 101 Collis was used to store breakfast bulk foods, serving dishes and utensils, and safety talk props. Patrick Connolly was invaluable, providing a huge amount of logistical and administrative support.

Adaptation to the changes in Dartmouth vehicle policies

The much talked about van policies went into effect this past year. The old fifteen-passenger vans are now limited to eight passengers, including driver, most roof racks have been removed, and all vehicles are now in the central pool overseen by the Vox Office. This was dealt with in a number of ways. Four members of Hanover Crew went through the MicroBus driver approval process. The MicroBus was used when it was necessary to move a whole trip: a few times to drop off trip 13 at Trescott Road, and once to move a trip caught in the rain to a trailhead further along their route. Hanover and Lodge Crew both had an additional vehicle over past years, a Vox minivan, to cover the bases if other trips had to be moved.

Decrease in logistical support by Hanover Crew members

Conversations with previous years’ Hanover Crew members revealed severe fatigue encountered due to the hectic schedule, early mornings, and late nights of DOC Trips. This fatigue, when combined with the same Hanover Crew members running the errand shuttle between Hanover and Moosilauke produced a potentially dangerous situation of overtired drivers. Hanover Crew was relieved of this duty, and I recruited a non-H-Crew van-certified person to drive the shuttle each day, usually a trip leader back from their trip. It was not difficult to find people to volunteer, and it is a good deal safer.

Diversity

Diversity and DOC Trips has been an ongoing discussion. It was important to me to not only “get the numbers” but welcome every new student

Possible Changes for the Future

Last year, an online application was available for first-years to register for DOC Trips. In 2001, 480 students used it, and in 2002 approximately 550 students used it, including a large majority of international students, due to the slower international mail. With the widening availability of the Internet in homes, high schools, and libraries, it would not be unreasonable to further encourage students to use the online version of the registration by not including a paper copy in the initial mailing. This would reduce wasted paper, costs of paper and printing, and errors made by manually inputting paper registrations into the database. This year I also received the email address of each member of the class of 2006. Only ten of the 1000+ member class, or less than one percent, did not provide an e-mail address, proving the extent of Internet availability.

Furthermore, the future of computing in general and at Dartmouth points to increased reliance on computers for retrieving personal information. The BannerStudent system has increased in usage on campus and with the First Year Office and other administrations that deal with first-years. DOC Trips could very well eliminate the need for the second mailing- when the student finds out what trip they’re on, if they’ve been assigned financial aid, where and when they should meet their bus if they chose that option, etc. A student could log in to find out what trip they’ve been assigned to, as well as other personalized information. This is most likely not possible for next year, but should be considered, and the groundwork (which might include a new database program) should be evaluated and conversations continued with the BannerStudent team.

Emily Lesher ’02

General Manager

One of my favorite memories of the year just past is my section-hike. I took nine days in the end of June to hike the DOC AT section and sleep in our shelters. I was accompanied at various points by Chuck Wooster ’89, Sue Kirincich ’91, Olive Wooster-Kirincich, Pam Ahlen, Brad Leneis ’03, Heather Trillium, F. Jon Kull ’88, Sasha Kull, J.T. Horn, Jonathan Garthwaite, Matt Stevens, Kathy Wohlfort, Bert Gilbert, Chris Carbone ’97, and Al Sochard. I trailed the elusive and mysterious thruhiker Prudence, said to be a Dartmouth ’06, by just a couple of days the entire way (more on him later). It so happened that my birthday fell during the trip. Thruhiker Yossarian was absolutely delighted to be awakened along with me at Trapper John Shelter by a vocal crowd of chubbers (Eleanor Alexander ’04, Matt Kemp ’04, Joe Hanlon ’05, and Kathy Doherty, among others) bearing donuts, coffee, and somewhat inexplicably, an Oreo Barbie as a present. Even more delighted was my fiancée Jonathan to be awakened that night at Hexacuba by yet more chubbers (Brad Leneis ’03 and Kelly Sennatt ’05) bearing a homemade marbled cake, plumber’s candles, and pink Janis Joplin sunglasses. In addition to turning thirty-three in style, I saw our section of Appalachian Trail in its entirety for the first time. I got to see the fine handiwork of our very own Trail Crew just days after they finished the work on the north side of Smarts. It looked terrific.

Later in the summer I was treated to a “dime tour” of Mt. Moosilauke by the redoubtable David Hooke ’84 himself. We circumnavigated the entire mountain off-trail; it was quite a day. I can only hope that all the things I learned that day eventually percolate back to my conscious mind, as you all know, David is a veritable artesian well of wisdom.

The Moosilauke Ravine Lodge had an excellent season marked by wonderful crews and guests. Our summer was graced by a visit from Warren Braley ’33, straw boss of the crew that cut Hell’s Highway, that furious Moosilauke ski run, in the summer of 1933. I enjoyed talking with him and hearing about this experience as well as building Cabin #19 in Jobildunc Ravine in 1931, and converting a horse stable to the first Ravine Camp shortly thereafter. Other illustrious guests included the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia Mission STS-109, who were in Hanover to visit with Professor Jay Buckey of the medical school and to deliver a banner they had flown for the Thayer School. We were honored to host them for a day of rest and relaxation. I note with great relief that no freshmen were lost to the cold, bony clutches of Doc Benton this September, although I did hear about a few close calls.

The Ravine Lodge was ably managed by Eli Burak ’00. Spring crew was Nils Ericson ’00, Liza Lokich ’03, Frankki Bevins ’02, and Brad Leneis ’03. Summer crew was Nira Salant ’03 (Assistant Manager), Brad Leneis ’03, Kelly Sennatt ’05, Laura Grey ’03, Samantha Burdman ’03, and Dave Asmussen ’02. Fall crew was Erica Close ’02, Flora Krivak-Tetley ’02, Lydia Smith ’04, Page Kyle ’02, Berwin Song ’02, and special guest star Julia Martesian ’01.

Moving on to the fall, DOCTrips went off without a hitch, thanks to the excellent leadership of DOC Trips Director Emily Lesher ’02, Brian Kunz, all the croos, trainers, safety dorks, leaders, and most of all the wonderful ’06 class. I got to spend some time at the Lodge during Trips and therefore can personally comment on the fine job croo chiefs Kelly Ramirez ‘03 and Jon Cedar ‘03 were doing there. And I was just pleased to death to be “served” cake and ice cream in such a way that I was still picking it out of my ears two days later. It’s wonderful to feel included. Dean of the College Jim Larimore, sitting immediately to my right, was equally pleased. I think.

DOC Fall Weekend was marked by weather that can only be described as miserable. Cold rain with snow predicted at the higher elevations, and snow already blanketing the summit of Mt. Moosilauke, prompted serious discussion of canceling the Fifty Mile Hike. In the end we decided to go on with it, modifying the end of the hike to include the Hurricane Trail instead of the more usual Glencliff/Gorge Brook route. We had a lost persons incident in the wee hours of Saturday morning, which thankfully resolved itself as daylight came on. Although I’d never want to go through it again, thinking of all the talented, strong, intelligent people around me at the Lodge whom I’d trust to go on a search was very powerful. I felt very proud of the Dartmouth Outing Club at that moment.

One particularly wonderful project we’ve been working on is the (temporarily named) Wolfgang Schlitz Adventure Fund. The idea of this fund is that it would combine money from student-controlled DOC endowment (the “pool fund”) with up to $2,000 from the Friends of the DOC yearly. This fund will be dedicated to encouraging small, adventurous student expeditions to all parts of the globe, and to bringing their learning experiences back for the good of the whole Club. We are all very excited about it and are currently working on the parameters and structure. The DOC has been funding small student expeditions with the help of the Friends for many years but this plan helps to cut red tape and make the funds more accessible. It also gives students more information to work with over the long haul. Kate Huyett ’05 has been doing an amazing job leading this effort.

Anyone who has been around Hanover during Winter Carnival for the past few years has noticed that the snow sculpture has been, shall we say, a little less glamorous than usual lately. With the help and generosity of Put Blodgett ’53 and Mary Ripley, the DOC acquired a large amount of 16mm film that had been shot by Ross McKenney throughout his Dartmouth career. Much of it was spectacular footage of the snow sculptures of the early ’50s, including the massive, cantilevered skijumper engineered by Ross and many hardworking chubbers. You can easily imagine the effect these sights had on impressionable young minds and before I knew it there was an enthusiastic crew drawing up plans and running hoses to the center of the Green. The end result was a magnificent twenty-five foot statue of Gandalf the Grey from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The snow sculpture powerhouse consisted of Brad Bate ’04, Anthony Bramante ’06, Luke Wachter ’06, and Jeff Woodward ’06. Rusty Cheney ’03 showed himself a credit to the DOC and the Thayer School by contributing the design as well as personpower. Dozens of DOC members and even a few staff helped with the piling, packing and carving of the snow. We’d also like to thank Ruth Morgan in Student Activities and the crew at Facilities, Operations and Management for all their timely and cheerful help. I am so proud of the students who turned excitement and frozen water into serious planning, hard work, and the most glorious snow sculpture the Hanover Plain has seen in many years.

A wonderful expedition that was partially funded by the Friends of the DOC also went out during the winter term. Anne Peick, Lindsay Reither, and Matt Bank, all ’04s, planned and executed an ambitious expedition to South America including Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and Chile. We look forward to a detailed report when they are back on campus, so look for it on the website (www.dartmouth.edu/~doc).

The highlight of early spring at Dartmouth was the NCAA Ski Championships. The tireless efforts of ski coaches Ruff Patterson, Cami Cardenali, Peter Dodge, Patrick Purcell, Vince Gross and Joran Elias, administrative assistant Maggie Sullivan, Don Cutter, Larry Hathorn, Mike Silverman, all the members of the Nordic and downhill teams, and hundreds of volunteers, ensured that the event came off beautifully. Record-setting cold and snow for months beforehand certainly contributed a measure of success as well!

Some of you remember that sometime in the late Cretaceous period (okay, it was 2000) the DOC began to plan a new shelter for Moose Mountain. Thanks to the grace and full staffing of the local Forest Service office, it looks like we can begin building it this summer. An excited crew of Chubbers is shaping up fast and I expect them to rise brilliantly to the challenge, as always. The new shelter will be a bit further north on the Appalachian Trail, moving the site further from Wolfeboro Road and to a much more scenic spot. Rory Gawler ’05, purported Canadian and current Dinertoure Trooper’s Special champion, is spearheading the effort.

If you find yourself on Mount Moosilauke this summer you may be greeted by the smiling face of an Alpine Steward. We received a grant from the Guy Waterman Alpine Stewardship Foundation to try and improve our care of the summit and our educational outreach to hikers, particularly those who come in large groups. The more group size regulations are set on the surrounding White Mountain National Forest, the more large groups tend to be attracted to Moosilauke’s summit with its commanding views and absence of regulations. We want to be able to welcome everyone and yet be responsible stewards of that fragile environment. Many thanks to J.B. Friday ’82 for sharing with me his history of stewardship on Moosilauke, and Chuck Wooster ’89 who brought the opportunity to my attention.

Most recently I had the honor of attending an Appalachian Trail Strategic Planning Summit with the aforementioned mystery ’06, Prudence, a.k.a. Anthony Bramante, heeler extraordinaire. It was fascinating and productive.

On a logistical note I would like to let you know that as a money- and environment-saving measure the DOC will no longer be publishing a paper activities bulletin. Instead, a listing of DOC contact information, including club heads and meeting times and locations, will be maintained at www.dartmouth.edu/~doc/activities.

I must note with sadness the decision of Kathy Doherty to move on from her position of Director of Outdoor Programs and wish her well with her plans to pursue her Ph.D. As I write the search for a new Director is on and we appreciate the help of Joe Cassidy, Associate Dean of Student Life, as interim Director of Outdoor Programs. Praise and thanks go to my colleagues in Outdoor Programs as we pull together through this uncertain time.

In particular I would like to thank DOC presidents Eleanor Alexander ’04 and Brad Leneis ’03 for being my teachers this year.

I’d like to dedicate my report this year to the Old Man of the Mountain, who passed gracefully in the night on May 2, 2003. His granite majesty will be deeply missed.

Yours in the out of doors,

Julie Clemons
General Manager

A Goodbye from Kathy Doherty

As many of you already know, I have decided to pursue a PhD and therefore move on from my position as Director of Outdoor Programs. This decision was very hard. I truly believe in the mission of this office, and I am honored to have been an integral part of it. Clearly, the programs and the office staff make a difference in students’ lives.

I have enjoyed working with my colleagues here, and I love the students. I plan to stay in the Upper Valley, and look forward to keeping in touch. Thanks to those of you who have written or called to lend your support of my future plans.

Kathy Doherty

Club Reports

Cabin and Trail

It has been a super year for Cabin and Trail. The club is vibrant and healthy, with well-attended trips, packed meetings, and kickin’ parties. We’ve ascended thirteen new council members in the past year, and have a rambunctious ’06 class rarin’ to rise in the spring. The spirit is high, and every meeting has brought a cavalcade of hearty laughs and good times.

We’ve had some great trips this year. Our Presidential series kicking off the fall term harnessed the energy of Trips and propelled a few dozen people through the nasty weather to the tops of Mt. Adams and Mt. Jefferson. Later that term, a backpack across the stupendous Bondcliff ridge was a thrill to all the hardy souls who went along. In the winter, the Osceolas staked their claim as the best mountains in New Hampshire. Five hours up, one hour back. Good times. On a less mountainous subject, we’ve enjoyed the wonderful services of Alcott Smith, the amazing tracker and woodland guide.

Even when away from the woods, CnT keeps active. We finished a disputed second in the all-DOC bowling championship, spanking the Ledyard Canoe Club. Our Diner Death Match finished with the estimable Rory “the trash compacter” Gawler ’05 claiming victory over Anthony “the Thin Man” Bramante ’06, four and a half plates to five.

The Grant as always has been a magical home for CnT. We’ve enjoyed four trips up there, one as a co-trip with Ledyard in the summer. The Grant Trip is almost always the most popular one, and this year has been no exception. A hot hot hot Valentine’s Day trip this term was legendary, and we look for another one like it next term.

Chubber Sports have as always been valiant. Chubber Soccer, with our European captain Peter Bohler ’03, was the best that we have ever seen, but the B League proved too much even for our talents. Chubber Hockey, led by Lauren Hendrickson ’04, displayed less incompetence than usual. And Chubber Basketball, in the farewell season for Captain Peter Brewitt ’03 and The Franchise, Matt Kemp ’04, played hard, had fun, won some games, and lost a close one in the semifinal.

I want to thank all the OPO crew – Julie, Don, Brian, Laura, Kathy, Kathy, and Maya – for all of their help and support for CnT. Special thanks go out to Kathy Doherty as she leaves Robinson Hall. We’ll miss you!

Below are reports from all the divisions of Cabin and Trail.

Yours in the Out O’ Doors,

Peter Brewitt ’03
Philip Marvin ’03

Trails

A decent amount of work was completed in the summer and fall, but lots of catching up is still necessary. One problem is the lack of council members skilled enough to lead trailwork trips, especially those involving more advanced knowledge. A second issue was numbers of participants on trailwork trips. Some went great, but others had many fewer people on them. Both will be looked at and hopefully improved in the coming year. Inclusion of more of council, as well as doing the simpler tasks such as brushing and clearing smaller fallen trees with saws (and noting where the bigger obstacles are) would make life much easier. The trails database was not fully utilized in terms prior to the fall, and in the future a good record should be kept.

Some trips of interest were a visit by several council members to the ATC meeting this summer, a massive brushing and blazing trip to Moose Mountain, a great work crew that handled several projects on the Trapper John access trail, and the ALDHA worktrip that myself and several others attended late in the fall. ALDHA has two worktrips each year, and future chairs should make every attempt possible to attend these – they’re fun, it’s a great way to meet people, and you get a whole lot done. They really liked seeing us there as well, and Bert Gilbert’s pie and (homemade) strawberry ice cream and, to be honest, the rest of the meal, are not to be missed.

Joe Hanlon ’05

Shelters and Cabins

This past year involved a new style of privy building: the moldering privy. A complete new moldering privy was built at Trapper John shelter in three days. Additionally, the old privy at Velvet Rocks shelter was demolished, and a new moldering privy is half built. We hope this new method of outhouse design will have less impact on the environment and will be less tedious than the composting privy at Beaver Brook.

Besides building privies, Cabin and Trail also maintained cabins and shelters. New brooms and logbooks were placed in Cloudland, Velvet Rocks, and Happy Hill shelters. The water was turned on and off at all of the cabins at the beginning of spring and end of fall, respectively. The docks were pulled out of Armington Lake several times, as well. Ice and snow were removed from the roofs of Billings and Stoddard in response to leaks near the doors. We also performed maintenance on the ladder, window, and mantles at Ritchie Smith.

Lauren Hendrickson ’04

Heelers

This past spring culminated in the ascension of a spirited group of heelers: Betsy Hart ’05, Nicole Mansfield ’05, Eric Benson ’04, Helen Wilbur ’05, and Joe Hanlon ’05. They have become great assets to Council, with Joe heading up Trails and Helen leading this year’s Spring Break trip to Big Bend, Texas.

An era of unprecedented enthusiasm started this fall with a large and spirited ’06 heeler class and a group of wonderful ’05s working toward ascension. These heelers led a series of very popular heeler overnights marked by epic raids. At the end of the fall, Kelly Swartz ’05 led a nearly all-male overnight to the Happy Hill Shelter, which was raided by the Sugar Shack with firecrackers and snowballs.

At the end of the fall, Kelly Swartz ’05, Rory Gawler ’05, Joanna Hurrell ’05, Whitney Maughan ’05, and endurance heeler John McCall-Taylor ’03 ascended.

Heeler events have occurred quite regularly, with two standing out above the rest. During the winter, we taught how to build a snow cave by hollowing out a massive drift in front of Collis. The cave was big enough for three to lay down in by the end.

During the fall, we ran a couple of water boiling competitions trying to prove the superiority of the MSR Whisperlite over Trangia stoves. Peter Brewitt ’03 and I beat Brian Kunz in the first one, but Ben Honig ’05 (who ascended at the end of the winter) and Rory won the rematch using a block of cedar, forestry-style. We held the competition in front of Robo and it drew a crowd of about fifty students!

Among the promising troupe of ’06s are Jeff Woodward and Anthony Bramante, who led the DOC’s successful effort to revive the snow sculpture. They’ve also been keeping council and residents of the Rock on their toes with several elaborate raids. In the fall, they served us breakfast in bed with a chainsaw awakening, and recently they completely rearranged everything in the Rock, a raid that was very funny and for which they will pay dearly.

The Heelers have been the lifeblood of C&T this year, and it has been a ton of fun. I’m confident that I’ll be leaving the club in good hands, and I look forward to ascensions this spring.

Pete Bohler ’03

Forestry

The spring saw the Dartmouth Woodsmen and Woodswomen travel to Unity Maine for the 56th annual spring woodsmen’s meet. For more on the Unity meet, see last year’s annual report.

In the fall, we quickly recruited several dedicated ’06s to the team and had regular practices. In early November we headed to Durham, NH for the UNH meet. In typical fashion, a new member of the team was recruited in the week before the meet. The men’s team managed an impressive showing in the log rolling event. After many teams had struggled, the Dartmouth men, used a brilliant maneuver that allowed the Dartmouth woodsmen to complete the event in good style. The head judge was so impressed with our performance that he said, “I knew those 1400 SAT scores would be good for something”. Team members danced to The Salty Dog Rag to warm up on what was otherwise a chilly day.

Then winter came. Many team members had off terms and left Hanover for distant locations. A small but devoted crew carried on the team. Returning from winter break, we had many obstacles to overcome in the three short weeks before the McGill meet. A large dumping of snow, right before classes started, left our venerable truck completely buried in snow. After getting the truck out, we made it out to our practice site at Oak Hill. There we set about trying to find our sled “Big Moe” which had been completely hidden under all the new snow. Despite all the challenges, a small team made the trip to Ste. Anne-de-Bellevue to compete. There we gave it our best, but the lack of practice showed. We drove home dreaming of warm spring days. With many team members returning, we look with hopeful prospects towards the 57th annual spring meet to be held at Colby College in April.

FTD

Philip Marvin ’03

Feeds And Social Events

This seems to have been a good year for the social life of Cabin and Trail. We have held around four feeds every term and they usually attract a nice crowd of 20-25 people. It is always a lot of fun to get together with friends over an excellent home-cooked meal. The first fall term feed was exceptionally well attended, partially because of the irresistible eat-free-if-you-did-trailwork-that-day deal. It was one of the best ways to help upperclassmen reconnect after the summer and welcome all the new freshmen to Cabin and Trail. Feeds this past summer were very well attended as the sophomores “came out in full force”. Feeds directors for the past year have been Heather Lapin ’04 in the spring, Jennie Savoca ’04 in the summer, Helen Wilbur ’05 for both fall and winter, and also Drew McConville ’03 in the winter. Other Cabin and Trail social events have included a DOC bowling challenge with Ledyard and the DMC, and evening of sledding on freshman hill, a “Moovie Night” complete with Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, several rock parties, and contradancing both in Norwich and here on campus. Events such as these have been a great way to bring together the wide variety of people who have found a home in Cabin and Trail and has also helped people to try new things, like contradancing, that they might otherwise never get a chance to do.

Helen Wilbur ’05

Diner Toure

While some may prefer to remain curled up under their covers at 6:30 am on a Wednesday morning, there’s no place I’d rather be than waiting behind Robinson Hall, in eager anticipation of Diner Toure. With the help of DinerDame, leading Diner Toure this fall and winter has been a blast. It’s especially rewarding to see more and more chubbers take Diner Toure to heart each week. Though many people rave about the pancakes at Eaton’s sugarhouse, I contend that the greatest event of the year was the “Diner Deathmatch”. The deathmatch was a nauseating eating contest that took place at the Hungry Bear Diner during fall reading period. The “unit” of food in this competition was The Hungry Bear’s patented Trooper Special. Translation: two eggs any style, toast, home fries, and coffee, for $2.29. The competition was fierce, but no one could stop Rory Gawler ’05, who victoriously stuffed five specials down his gullet to claim victory, edging out Anthony Bramante ’06 by a fraction of a special. I, on the other hand, had to throw in the towel after wolfing down just two. Perhaps someone out there will be able to dethrone Rory in the anxiously awaited deathmatch sequel this Spring.

Sir Dinesalot (Justin White ’05)

Summer Trail Crew

Armington Cabin? Where is that? A year ago, I would have answered that question with a blank stare. Armington, along with virtually all of the other cabins maintained by the DOC, remained shrouded in mystery – mythical shrines to the outdoors scattered across the White Mountains. My world existed in the protective bubble of Hanover, with only the occasional foray into the great outdoors for a breath of fresh air. Just as if it had been slashed by our chainsaws, that bubble disintegrated after a summer on the Trail Crew.

Over the summer our muscles grew burly as we trudged to the summit of Smarts Mountain carrying rock bars and chainsaws, or hauling brush saws over miles of the AT during the hottest week of the summer. Cord upon cord of firewood fell under our saws and landed neatly stacked in the woodsheds.

My personal favorite though, was neither the trailwork nor the firewood, but the carpentry projects. One of the weeks we spent in the Grant (an excellent place to spend part of your summer) began with a roofing job and John Rand is now home to the squarest woodshed in the land. And just let me say that there is nothing quite as breathtaking as cutting lumber with a chainsaw.

Fate had left us with only three full-time members of the Crew (plus, of course, Larry) and there were some concerns as to whether or not we would be able to accomplish all the work allotted to us for the summer. Being the well-oiled machine we were, we still managed to finish everything with enough time to help prepare Oak Hill for the NCAA Skiing Championships.

At the end of the summer, I considered myself somewhat of an authority on DOC geography. No longer are the DOC cabins just points on a map, existing in some ethereal realm to the north of Hanover. Covered in sawdust and grit, tired, but feeling refreshed after a stop at Fat Bob’s, we’d pull into the lodge, many times finding our parking space occupied by some oblivious lodge patron. Over dinner and a reading of Fox in Socks we’d reflect on our accomplishments and prepare to face the next day’s work as lords of our domain.

Ben Honig ’05

Cycling Club

The Cycling club has enjoyed another great year of riding!

The spring was very muddy, which kept many singletrack trails closed in local areas such as Boston Lot well into the spring. Beginner rides were still able to go out on numerous Friday afternoons on the unimproved roads in Norwich. The big ride of the term was riding back from the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge during spring opening weekend.

In the summer, the club experienced problems finding enough DOC leaders to take out the many trips that we planned. With the help of some non-sophomores, trips continued.

Friday beginner rides continued and we were able to introduce new people to the sport. A huge success was a day trip to the Northeast Kingdom in Burke, VT. The singletrack riding is well worth the drive and the trail use fee. We had a few beginners on this trip and the trails were perfect to develop beginner skills and allow for more experienced people to test their limits. I would suggest trying to put together this trip each term if possible.

The Killington downhill trip did not go out because of a lack of leaders.

The fall term was quite disappointing since we had so many trips planned. Many people went out on individual rides but primarily because of leader availability, the major trips did not go out.

We had planned a road ride on the Kancamangas Highway but because of weather, we had to cancel it.

The Killington downhill trip and Northeast Kingdom trip did no go out because of a lack of DOC leaders.

The other major trip, a ride to the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge on closing day, was set to go out. However, because only one person signed up, we also had to cancel this trip. The Moosilauke ride has always been very popular and should be organized again for the next season although it did not materialize this year.

In the future terms, more attention needs to be given to developing people into DOC leaders. The biggest problem was certainly a lack of leaders. This is especially true over the summer. Future heads of the club should also work on making the club more visible on campus and in doing this, hopefully more major rides will be filled. There is no reason that the Moosilauke rides should not go out every spring and fall. Although it is difficult to get commitment from leaders, the organization of beginner rides every Friday is a great way to bring new people into the sport. This should be the main focus of the club in the future.

Kent Johnson ’04
Cycling Club Chair, 02X-03W

Ledyard Canoe Club

2002 was another great year for Ledyard both on the water and off: paddling new rivers, welcoming new members, enjoying our little haven on the Connecticut.

Ledyard kicked off the ’02 spring in spectacular fashion with its annual Spring Trip. Led by Andy Schmidt ’02, the trip saw thirty-three Ledyardites journey to Asheville, NC for a week of the best paddling in the south. Thanks to ample rainfall, the trip did not disappoint. Unfortunately, the trip met freezing temperatures in Ohio Pyle, Pennsylvania and so, concluded with a night in Billings Cabin.

The excitement from Spring Trip held up as Ledyard awoke from its winter hibernation in Hanover. This year, the Mascoma Slalom, the nation’s oldest continuously run whitewater race, was designated as a New England Team Qualifier. Kate Hewitt ’05 organized the event, which featured forty-nine competitors, including sixteen Ledyardites. Jamie Salem ’02 led a group of Dartmouth seniors and alumni on the 216-mile annual Trip to the Sea from Hanover to the Atlantic Ocean in Essex, CT.

With plenty of rain, the club saw many trips go out, including a well attended trip to the Dryway section of the Deerfield river, and an unheard of twelve-person run of the Wells river in Vermont. Additionally, a record six PE classes ran in the spring, adding both an intermediate kayaking class and a whitewater canoeing class to the usual four beginner classes.

The highlight of Ledyard’s summer was the wildly successful USCA Marathon Canoe and Kayak National Championships. With Ledyard hosting for the first time since 1988, the race featured a record turnout of about six hundred paddlers. Chris Wilson, Marc Lessard, and Peter Heed, with the help of USCA and NECRA organizers, coordinated the six-day event. Thanks to the hard work of Ledyard’s ’04 class and others who helped with the event, the race was, according to the USCA president, “…a paddlers dream”. Counted among the winners were Ledyard’s own Ben Zabar ’04 in the Men’s Single Orienteering event and John Hugus ’78 in the Masters 12.5 mile race.

Despite all the work they put into nationals over the summer, Ledyardites still made time to go boating. The summer saw two trips to the Deerfield River, one to both the Dryway and Zoar Gap sections, and one just to the Zoar Gap section, as well as many trips to the Rapid River in Maine. Brad Marden ’04 organized Sophomores from the Source, the annual four-day canoe trip from the headwaters of the Connecticut to the Ledyard dock. Alex Monopolis ’03 introduced a sea kayaking class to the Ledyard PE repertoire. To cap off the summer, Andy Hunter ’04 organized a DKAF trip to the Talkeetna River in Alaska with Andy Schmidt, Brad Marden, Jamie Salem ’02, Matt Hood ’00, Nick Koshnick ’01, Erik Schoen ’02, and Katie Simon ’02.

As most students were home awaiting the beginning of school in the fall, Grant Croo, consisting of George Storm ’04, Jeff Beardsley ’04, Allison Forbes ’04, and Laura Jorgensen ’05, was preparing to welcome the incoming ’06 class. In spectacular Croo fashion, the four introduced the young trippies to canoeing and kayaking on Umbagog Lake and the Androscoggin River.

Fall opened up on a beautiful September day with an all-freshman feed to draw new members to the club. After fixing a little mix-up with the PE office, Ledyard PE began, continuing to offer the new, and increasingly popular, intermediate PE class. With little rain, the local whitewater offerings were slim. Undaunted, trips went out to the Kennebec, Deerfeild, and Moose Rivers. Despite inclement weather, a flatwater trip went down the Connecticut, and was a huge success. Looking back at the end of fall, Ledyard saw the completion of all of its Kirby goals for the year.

As the bitter cold of winter swept into Hanover, many Ledyardites traveled to seek warmth elsewhere. Jeff Beardsley and Jamie Salem took a DKAF trip to Ecuador; traveling around the country for two months of amazing paddling. In another DKAF trip, Kristina Eaton ’04 and George Storm ventured all the way to South Africa to paddle the Tugela River in the KwaZulu Natal Province. For those still in Hanover, winter pool sessions kept everyone in tip-top shape for the spring to come.

Speaking of spring, this year Eileen Carey ’04 will be leading beginners, experts, and alumnae on Ledyard’s Spring Trip back to Asheville, NC. Simultaneously, Rusty Cheney ’03, R. Scott Cushman ’03, and John Shea ’03 will be heading up a twelve-person DKAF flatwater trip to the Florida Everglades. Evelyn Mervine ’06 is heading up this year’s Mascoma Slalom.

The winter has been generous to us. With strong leadership in the rising senior class and dedicated new members, the coming year looks to be one of full rivers and happy boaters.

Cohaereamus,

Mike Holliday

Ski Patrol

The 2002-2003 season was a fabulous year for the Dartmouth Ski Patrol. A tremendous amount of snow early in the season, an extremely eager and well-trained group of returning students, and freshmen Apprentice Patrollers who were so excited about patrol that they shattered previous hours-logged records, made this year one of the best I can recall.

Last spring we continued our revamped OEC course, though with a bit more experience and knowledge about how to run it. The course ran for the typical four hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, along with full practice days about every other Saturday, with a large emphasis on skills training. The result was a class of super candidates – the ’05s were ready to take on any scenario on any mountain anywhere.

Summer term saw some bonding activities for the active ’04s, as well as significant preparation for the fall term, including gearing up for recruitment and training.

Fall was organizationally our busiest term, as usual. With many patrollers eager to spread the word about patrol to incoming freshmen, our selection process could only wean the field down to a class of over forty Apprentice Patrollers. As we incorporated this new class into patrol, we continued our regular training events, offering CPR/First Aid, Blood-Borne Pathogens, a Lift Evacuation workshop, and the OEC refresher course for those who would be off campus during the standard winter refresher. We also learned how to improve our relations with the DOC with more realistic budget requests, and started the season off on the right foot with the Community patrollers, by inviting them to a patrol barbeque. DSP also found its new calling (in case that medical thing does not work out); we showed our wide range of talents by catering the Skiway’s fall foliage day, serving hundreds of hungry leaf peepers.

Winter term went very smoothly. The candidates, and several overly dedicated full patrollers, returned to campus a week before classes started, to get in some quality training. This training, combined with the on-hill refresher course for all returning patrollers, ensured the candidates a speedy vesting process, with each ’05 becoming a full patroller prior to Winter Carnival. The winter also saw two exciting events at our little Skiway – the second annual Kayak Downhill competition and the NCAA Skiing Championships. Needless to say, these competitions brought many spectators to the mountain, and provided for some incredible (and humorous) stories. In terms of business, the final call count was over 138 during the winter, due in part to the new terrain park.

This year’s Apprentice Patrollers proved to be quite an impressive bunch. After logging a huge number of hours and sled runs, most were ready to take on the challenge of the OEC class. However, with the restrictions imposed by such a rigorous OEC class, we were forced to cut the numbers down to seventeen freshmen. These ’06s have surpassed all previous expectations of Apprentice Patrollers, and we are thrilled to have them as the future of our club.

As a graduating senior, I have been forced to turn over the reigns to a new director. Ski patroller extraordinaire, Jessie Seymour ’04, will be leading patrol on to new and exciting things this coming year.

Respectfully submitted,

Kiki Frantz
Patrol Director ’02-’03

Winter Sports

This past spring Winter Sports was under the able leadership of Kenny Gillingham ’02 and Matt Bank ’04. From what I hear (I was in Sweden), the highlight of the spring was a ski trip to Tuckerman Ravine.

This winter started off with some epic powder dumps, and the snow stayed fresh throughout January because of frigid temperatures. It didn’t get above freezing for two weeks, with lows of twenty below zero every night.

Winter Sports also got off to a great start, running a Katahdin shakedown trip to Franconia Ridge and a Snow School with Brian Kunz. A couple weeks later, during Martin Luther King Weekend, we ran the Second Annual Winter Sports Katahdin trip. This year’s trip, led by Peter Brewitt ’03, was a great success – every member of the exceptionally strong group reached the summit. The weather was clear and very cold, but luckily at Chimney Pond the group had use of a heated yurt.

Later in the winter, we ran a Backcountry Ski Clinic, instructed by Jed Eliades, and a winter hike to Carter Dome. By a matter of chance, they occurred over the same weekend, for a short time making Winter Sports the most active club in the DOC.

This spring, we’re looking forward to skiing in Tuckerman Ravine, and to the challenge of finding an heir to the Winter Sports Kingdom as Pete and I press on toward graduation. Long Live Winter Sports!

Pete Bohler ’03

Reports Unavailable

Mountaineering Club

Spring and Summer ’02: Ben Graham ’04, Alejandro Cruz ’04

Fall ’02: Anne Ladenburger ’05, Ben Graham ’04

Winter ’03: Alex Hamlin ’03, Will Morrison ’05, Sara Hellmuth ’05

Environmental Studies Division

Spring ’02: Jeff Kemnitz ’03, Adam Tapley ’03

Summer ’02: Kate Theoharides ’04

Fall ’02: Kate Theoharides ’04, Sasha Earnhardt-Gold ’04

Winter ’03: Chris Prentice ’05

Snowboarding Club

Spring ’02: Mike August ’03

Summer: INACTIVE

Fall ’02: Kelly Ramirez ’03

Winter ’03: Kelly Ramirez ’03, Merrick Johnston ’05, Chester Areson ’04

Bait and Bullet

Spring ’02: Zach Keane ’03

Summer ’02: Ryan Gorsche ’04

Fall ’02: INACTIVE

Winter ’03: Harry Camp ’04

Women in the Wilderness

Spring ’02: Erica Mintzer ’02

Summer ’02 - Winter ’03: INACTIVE

GO-Out!

Spring ’02 - Winter ’03: INACTIVE

Boots and Saddles