Contents
Annual Report 2005
Directorate Reports
President
The 2004-2005 year was a remarkably stable and successful one for the DOC. The member clubs and Directorate generally had excellent years, and relationships with the Outdoor Programs Office and the college administration are continually improving. The hiring of Andy Harvard ’71 as director of Outdoor Programs has proved to be pivotal in that process.
Building on the excellent work of Joe Hanlon ’05, the 2003-2004 President, my goals for the 2004-2005 year were to improve the diversity of the club, recruitment, leader training, and the transportation policies. Although these goals changed somewhat through the year, I felt like I was able to make significant progress on publicity, recruitment and transportation policies.
The spring was highlighted by an excellent Banquet and a successful Spring Weekend, organized by Vice Presidents Eric Trautmann ’07 and Alex Kehl ’07 respectively. The Banquet was held in Collis Commonground and included a slideshow of Schlitz Fund Recipients Jen Mygatt and Emily Chenel’s cross country ski race across Greenland during Spring Break. The event attracted around 140 people. Spring Weekend included beginner trips by all the member clubs, an excellent dinner at the Lodge, and a performance by the White Mountain Oysters, a campus bluegrass band. About 85 people attended.
For All-DOC Day, we tried to do a mini-Spring Weekend type event, with half-day beginner trips. It didn’t work that well, and I would suggest returning to the format of years past with a BBQ and demonstrations by the member clubs on Mass Row. The 1999-2000 Annual Report has an excellent description of the event and some pertinent advice.
Major initiatives in the spring centered on improving the diversity of the club. Acting on a suggestion made by Bernie Waugh ’74 at the Advisory Council meeting, we put together a survey on the DOC and its role at the college. The survey was sent out to all undergraduates over blitz and also offered at tables in Thayer Dining Hall. We expected about 150 responses and got over 500!
The results were discussed by Directorate and the Advisory Council in the summer. We took several small steps to address them, including improving publicity with a club flyer sent to all HBs at the beginning of the term and wider propagation of the “This Week” blitz, running and advertising more beginner trips, and working on making club meetings more welcoming. However, I think that lack of diversity in the club is still a pressing issue, and some more significant steps still need to be taken to address it. I would encourage anyone reading this report to check out the results, which are included as an appendix. Also, if you are ever planning on doing a similar large scale survey, I would definitely suggest having ASE come up with a way to automatically tabulate the results, as it saves a lot of headache on your part.
Summer term highlights included an informal 4th of July event at the Lodge, plenty of trips and friendly interclub rivalries, and a revision of the Schlitz Fund. The 4th of July event was a more relaxed version of Spring Weekend—the clubs all ran beginner trips, and everyone came to the Lodge afterwards for a chili dinner and a hike up Moosilauke to see the fireworks. An early fog made the fireworks hike unappealing, so most people hung out at the lodge for the evening.
I worked a lot with Julie Clemons and Directorate on revisions to the Schlitz Fund. The Fund is becoming more and more institutional and popular, and applications are increasing each term. Directorate voted to increase the DOC’s contribution to $2800 from $2000, and the Friends of the DOC matched the $2800. It would be useful to permanently endow the fund. Julie and I added an application to the guidelines, and clarified several points in the guidelines. We also added a section on required publicity for the fund which future Presidents should take note of.
The Fund funded eight trips for thirteen people this year. Trips funded included canoe expeditioning in Saskatchewan, trekking in India, trekking the Inca Trail, mountaineering in Ecuador, climbing Anconguara, traveling in Peru, wilderness fly fishing in the Bahamas and trekking in Patagonia.
This year was the first year that the DOC held official events during Orientation. I planned the events in the spring with Rory Gawler ’05, the fall President, and the First Year Office and Rory ran the actual events. The planned events included Buildering on Rollins, Iron Chef Trangia, a Climbing Gym night, an Oak Hill Campfire, a hike up Gile Mountain, a Ledyard Pancake Paddle, DOC Dessert and Doggin’, and a DOC/OPO Open House at Storrs Pond. Both Buildering and the DOC/OPO Open House were hurt by hurricanes, but in general the events were successful and well-received. In light of the successes of this year, we began planning next year’s events with the First Year Office this winter, so look for even more trips next year.
Rory and Alex Kehl orchestrated a spectacular Fall Weekend. About 180 people participated in the weekend’s events, which were capped with a dinner performance by The Coming Grass at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge. All of the clubs ran beginner trips, and Whitney MacFadyen ’07 organized the 50-miler, which received the usual flood of support and interest. The event was a week earlier this term, which was somewhat more difficult to organize (the summer President should book a band far in advance!). However, the earlier date did boost turnout somewhat, as people were less busy early in the term.
Through the fall and winter, Rory and I worked with Andy frequently. Through the DOC Safety Board, we worked with the Risk Management Office to re-examine the college’s Driver Training Policies. As a result, Risk Management trained Brian Kunz and Ruff Patterson as van and microbus testers. This has really helped as testing was a bottleneck in the past. Andy and I are currently working towards a re-examination of the College’s first-year driver policy. The Safety Board has become a very effective means of examining DOC, OPO, and college policies and making sure that they work effectively.
The centerpiece of Winter Term was an excellent Winter Weekend Fun, organized jointly by Alex Kehl, Marianne Epstein, Katie Boldt, and I. About 220 people participated in the event, and for the first time we held an evening party at the Skiway with the Gordon Stone Band. We taught free beginner lessons in alpine skiing and snowboarding at the Skiway, XC skiing and snowshoeing at Occom Pond, and had free ice skating on Occom. The Skiway party was attended by about forty people, which was less than we had expected, although everyone who went had an excellent time. During a Directorate discussion afterwards, we decided that we should still have the party, but should scale it down some.
My major initiative of the winter was to improve the publicity of the club. In light of the discussions of the spring and summer, we sent out a publicity flyer to all undergraduates at the beginning of the term advertising the term’s trips. In the fall, Rory created a DOC Blitzlist of people who would like to get the ‘This Week’ blitz every week, and we began posting the ‘This Week’ blitz at all the HBs and in several places of Robinson Hall. We saw immediate results from these efforts as advertised trips (especially those in the flyer) filled up very quickly.
I thoroughly enjoyed my year as President, and felt that it was quite a good one for the club.
Jeff Woodward ’06
General Manager
As many of you know the Outdoor Programs Office searched far and wide for a new Director to fill the shoes Earl Jette left behind. It took a few tries, but we think we’ve finally gotten just the right one. In the spring of 2004, we were thrilled to learn that Andy Harvard ’71 accepted the job, and started full-time as of July 12th, 2004. Also, we said goodbye to Don Cutter ’73 whose temporary term with Outdoor Programs was up in the spring of 2004. He did excellent work here and we’re glad that he still stops in often. Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia filled in as Acting Director while also chairing the search committee and doing her regular job. We appreciate all the extra time she has put into OPO.
Another exciting event of the spring was the home Woodsmen’s Weekend, April 22-24, 2004. I was really proud of all the students and alumni who came together to make the meet smooth, fair, and fun for competitors and spectators alike. Read more about it under the Forestry report.
We had a busy summer and successful Sophomore Trips. The ’06s inaugurated a new trip—Yoga at the Lodge—the stretching and serenity nicely complemented our other, less-serene trip offerings.
In August we had a wonderful party at the Lodge to celebrate its 65th anniversary. Alumni and students mixed and mingled, the crew put on a fabulous feed as usual, and the crowning touch was a scale model of the Lodge in gingerbread. Many thanks to Put Blodgett ’53 for insisting we needed a party, and to Rachel Goldwasser ’01 and Chris Aslin ’97 for organizing everything.
The class of 2008 was welcomed with great fanfare and style by Trips 2004. In addition to the usual tomfoolery, we tried out two great new experiments. One was VoxCroo!, a new crew dedicated to covert field operations involving safety, resupplies, creative surprise visits, and several tons of junk food. They improved Trips immeasurably. The other was the Class of 1958 Feeding Station in the Grant. Several stalwart members of the Class spent two weeks in the Grant welcoming ‘08s and feeding them dinner on the second night of each trip. Many wonderful connections between ’58s and ’08s were forged in this way. Freddi Ghesquiere ’04 did a tremendous job as Trips Director.
The snow sculpture, once again, was magnificent, this year featuring a pirate ship with masts over fifty feet tall, a slide, and working cannons.
The arrival of the new ski trail groomer made for much excitement over the winter. And when it finally snowed, sometime in March, the groomer was even more fun!
Chris Polashenski ’07 took the lead over the winter with plans to rebuild Harris Cabin, which partially collapsed during the winter of 2000. This will be an ongoing project throughout 2005.
Put Blodgett ’53 recently completed an ambitious project—a history of the first ten years of the Woodsmen’s Team at Dartmouth. It’s a great read and copies are available through Kathy Decato’s office.
The Schlitz Fund had a busy year and the trip proposals continue to increase in number, as well as complexity and innovation, every term. Read more about it in the President’s Report.
All in all, we’ve had another wonderful year. We’re counting down to our 100th anniversary—December 14, 2009.
Yours in the out of doors,
Julie Clemons
General Manager
Dartmouth Ski Team
The Dartmouth Ski Team continues to dominate the world of collegiate skiing. Dartmouth ended the 2005 season with a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships in Stowe, VT, hosted by the University of Vermont, our best finish in a few years. There were many outstanding individual and team results throughout the season as well, highlighted by David Chodounsky’s NCAA Slalom title. This was the third consecutive year that a Dartmouth skier took the Slalom title. We also returned home with seven newly awarded All-Americans. In EISA competition we powered past UVM at their home meet to win while finishing second to them the rest of the season. In individual Carnival competition, thirteen events were won by Dartmouth skiers.
In keeping with our tradition of encouraging our athletes to challenge goals outside of the traditional intercollegiate season, we sent three alpine athletes and coach, Peter Dodge to the FIS University Games in Innsbruk, Austria. Two cross country skiers raced for the U.S. at the World Junior Championships in Rovaniemi, Finland and many others represented the ‘Big Green’ skiing tradition at U.S. National Championships, Junior Championships, Nor-Ams and Super-Tour events.
The 2005 season was a frustrating one in Hanover. The snow did not build up as we would have liked. The Dartmouth Skiway provided excellent training for the alpine teams, despite the conditions and even came to the rescue of the cross country team for a few weeks. At the Dartmouth Cross Country Ski Center we cheered at the arrival of a new Piston Bully and then watched in frustration as our crew drove it through the white gravel and dirt that passed for skiing in the Upper Valley this season. Thanks to the Trapp Family Lodge for allowing us to host the Dartmouth Carnival cross country events there.
Of course we need to recognize our athletes for their academic accomplishments: Alison Crocker ’06, a two-time All-American (and member of the Forestry Team), also received the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America District I Women's At-Large First Team as selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America), the Dartmouth Phi Beta Kappa Prize, and the Class of 1948 Scholar-Athlete Award. Congratulations Ali! The U.S. Ski Coaches All-Academic Award was presented to ten Dartmouth skiers.
Finally, changes are happening among the staff. The coaching positions have all been upgraded to reflect the dedication and commitment of the current staff. The Director position will now rotate every few years among the staff so Ruff Patterson will now have more time to coach his team, and Cami Thompson will take over at the helm.
Cami Thompson
Club Reports
Cabin and Trail
2004-2005 has been a good year for Cabin and Trail… finishing old projects, starting new ones, hosting the spring woodsmen’s meet, leading a huge variety of trips and recruiting an amazing group of new members.
Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the year was the completion of the new Moose Mountain Shelter, and its official opening this past October (see Rory’s report below). Chris Polashenski ’07 has been working hard on cabin maintenance since fall term and he will be overseeing the construction of a new Harris Cabin this summer. Chris has been working closely with Andy Harvard and other members of the Outdoor Programs Office on this project and has been doing a great deal of planning work and site preparation this fall and winter. Cutting will begin in the Grant at the end of the winter, and construction of the cabin will take place during the spring and summer. Many of the other ’07s are excited about the project and are looking forward to spending their sophomore summer working on the cabin (see Chris’s report below).
The spring woodsmen’s meet this past April went very well. Meet Director Ben Honig ’05 put an incredible amount of work into organizing the weekend and many other chubbers participated as competitors, organizers, and judges. Dartmouth had five teams competing: men, women, jack and jill, and men’s and women’s alumni teams (see Ben’s report below).
As usual the trip schedule for the 2004-2005 year was incredibly busy and varied. We continue to take weekend trips to the Second College Grant once a term. Unfortunately the spring and fall weekends were very small trips because of scheduling conflicts with other events. Heeler overnight trips have been as popular as always and most heelers have been good about planning overnights earlier in the term and avoiding the kind of scheduling crush at the end of the term that had been a problem a few years ago. In the spring heelers were particularly adventurous and led overnights to Wachupauka Pond and the Falling Water’s Trail in addition to the usual cabin and shelter destinations. One other successful overnight trip was a spring weekend trailwork overnight to Moosilauke. The group spent Friday night at the Beaver Brook shelter and then spent the Saturday working on the Ridge Trail and Al Merrill Ski Loop, ending at the Lodge. The trip worked well and should be tried again in the future.
Day trips of all difficulty levels have continued to be a main focus of each week’s trip schedule. Here’s a small sample of some of the hikes of the past year… Earth Week hike to Mount Cardigan, Fourth of July hike to Black Mountain, the traditional Mount Washington portage, fall trips to Ascutney, Liberty/Flume, Camel’s Hump, and Franconia Ridge, a winter snowshoe up Mount Carr, several trips to Moosilauke, and a backcountry skiing trip to Mount Cardigan. There have been some problems, mostly around midterms, with trips being cancelled due to lack of interest. For example, we have concluded that some curse has been placed on the Osceolas since four different trips there have been cancelled during the fall and winter. Part of this is that people are understandably busy and with three or four trips each weekend there might not be enough interest to fill all of them. This problem is a little hard to avoid but we have also been working on better publicity and hopefully it is helping. We have also tried to mix in smaller/shorter trips both on the weekends and during the week. This is often easier in the spring and fall when there is the opportunity to do short afternoon worktrips. This winter we have not had as many half day trips and are currently working to correct this problem. Also, this past fall Joe Hanlon ’05 began leading a sunrise hike each week to locations such as Gile Mountain, the Skiway, Mount Cardigan and Pinnacle Hill in Lyme. These hikes have been a lot of fun and gathered quite a loyal following especially in the fall.
The changes to the heeler program that were made last winter seem to be working well. The heelers did use their end of term skit to tease council about the large number of requirements expected of them. However, the fact that seven of them ascended to council that term shows that the new expectations didn’t keep them away. The new requirement of a second co-lead has probably been the most significant change and I think it has been really good one. Asking heelers to do two co-leads has both allowed them to get a better sense of what running trips requires and given council the opportunity to see heelers lead multiple kinds of trips.
We have had seven ascendees in both the spring and fall, one over the summer, and three this winter. Having so many people on council has been really fantastic, but there are a few issues that also come up. First, there are many more council members than directorships at the moment. This is not really a problem because many council members are not interested in holding a directorship. However a few problems have come up. Last winter and spring the heeler directorship was held by three people each term, with no continuity between the terms. Being able to communicate effectively between council and heelers is so incredibly important and with so many directors things often became more complicated than necessary.
Also, this winter Ben decided to step down as forestry director, which was completely understandable as he had held the position for over a year. However, no one person stepped up to fill his place, and right now there are four people who are technically in charge of forestry, but no one who is actually dedicated to organizing the team. We should try to have two people in charge of each directorship and ideally pair an older council member with a younger one. It is also great when someone is interested in continuing to hold a directorship for two or more terms, and people should be encouraged to do this. Secondly, with such a large council, it is sometimes difficult to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard during council meetings. I think it’s important to strike a balance between minimizing distractions when we do have something important to discuss and allowing people to chat and ask each other about trip ideas, etc. The next chairs might also want to look into finding a larger room to hold council meetings in. If all council members were able to sit down rather than having half of us standing around, it might make meetings a little less hectic.
Finally, Cabin and Trail has been incredibly successful in recruiting new members primarily from the ’08 class. This year for the first time, the DOC ran a number of events during orientation week. Cabin and Trail was responsible for running a hike to Gile Mountain, an Iron Chef Trangia competition and an evening campfire out at Oak Hill. Several council members put in a lot of work to organize these events and they all went really well. Joe and I decided to reserve Tindle Lounge in Thayer Dining Hall for our first meeting of the term and the turnout was overwhelming. Introductions were given as quickly as possible and still took forever, sign up sheets were full, 26 people went on Joe’s sunrise hike to Mount Cardigan that week… it was amazing. We filled Tindle for the first two weeks, the third week was not quite as huge, and finally on the fourth week of the term we were able to return home to the basement of Robinson Hall. There are currently many fantastic ’08s who plan on ascending to council in the spring and two of them, Marianne Epstein and Erika Sogge, have already led heeler overnights. So, it should be an exciting next year.
Helen Wilbur ’05
Cabin and Trail moseyed along summer term with Norah Lake ’06 and Anthony Bramante ’06 as Chairs. Led by Alison Crocker ’06, a lot of work was done cleaning up and finishing the Moose Mountain Shelter site. As per very recent tradition, a watercraft was portaged up to Lake of the Clouds on Mount Washington. Due to the small number attending the trip, the chubbers opted to navigate those vast waters in an inflatable raft, much easier to carry than Schlitz, the Forestry Canoe. Jean Polfus ’06 and others led a very successful weekend trip to the Grant which happened to coincide not only with Chemistry Professor and chubber Jon Kull ’88 and his wife Angela visiting the Grant, but also with Kathy Decato’s “Ladies’ Weekend”. Jon and Maya (Kathy and Robinson Hall’s guard dog) gave the younger chubbers a tour of Hellgate Gorge and other portions of the northern end of the Grant.
Regarding Heelers, there was some discussion at the beginning of the term regarding the benefits and problems of running a summer Heeler program. Council decided that there were enough people around that if Council was focused and committed to leading Heeler Events and other CnT trips, any aspiring Heelers would be able to fulfill their requirements for ascension. In that vein, at the end of the term, Carolyn Treacy ’06 ascended to council.
Anthony Bramante ’06
Heelers
Our increased efforts to ensure that those interested in ascending to council understand the heeling process have, I think, been successful. We also met individually with each prospective ascendee towards the end of the fall term, giving them and us a sense of where they stood in completing their applications—this was an idea that worked out well for the program.
Sarah Hackney ’06
This past spring marked the end of a year when significant effort was put in to reforming the heeler process. Although this process is continually being changed and (hopefully) improved, several significant changes, as well as many thoughtful conversations, occurred regarding the current heeler process and the best ways to encourage new members to become leaders within the club.
One of the most significant changes that has occured is the increase in number of required co-leads, from one to two. Council felt that this increase was necessary in order for us to help teach heelers more of the skills they will need to be successful leaders, as well as to evaluate their ability to learn and implement those skills. This increase is being fully implemented this year, after a transition period in which heelers with one co-lead were allowed to ascend.
Additionally, we have worked hard to improve our communication with heelers who are planning to ascend. Due to the changes I have already discussed, as well as some laxity regarding certain “requirements” on the heeler sheets (i.e. number of cabins or shelters visited), some heelers were at times confused about what, exactly, was a requirement for ascension. Part of last year’s reform efforts included making the heeler sheet more clear and concise, so as to make the process easier to understand. We have also begun to meet with each heeler during the second half of the term in which he or she may want to ascend. In this meeting, we discuss with the heeler which requirements they have already fulfilled, and which ones they still must complete before the end of the term.
These meetings seem to be working well so far. The feedback each heeler receives is important in letting him or her know more about where they stand in regards to ascension. We hope to continue to work towards making the heeler process more informed, so that ascending heelers will understand what they need to do, and why those requirements are important. We are happy with the improvements that we have made so far, and we hope to continue making the heeler process an important part of Cabin and Trail and its training of new leaders.
Laura Yasaitis ’05
New Council Members:
Spring 2004: Joel Dahl ’05, Ali Crocker ’06, Allie Hunter ’07, Pam Collins ’07, Chris Polashenski ’07, Shara Feld ’07, and Addie Smith ’07
Summer 2004: Carolyn Treacy ’06
Fall 2004: Max Young ’06, Whitney MacFadyen ’07, Heather Lisle ’07, Christine Mandell ’07, John Paul Lewicke ’07, Tom Bonamici ’07 and Brendan Willis ’07
Winter 2005: Sarah Uhl ’07, Matt Richardson ’07, and Brett Carr ’07
Trails
During the spring term, the annual clearing of water bars and brushing occured in the pouring rain of Spring Weekend. One group attacked the infamous Hurricane Trail with two chainsaws and declared victory over at least a dozen blowdowns. Other groups spread out over Moosiluake, improving trails all the way. In addition to Spring Weekend trailfun, a trip went out to brush the trail on the north side of Mount Mist, but most work-trip energy was still focused on finishing the new Moose Mountain Shelter.
Fall trailwork started with the two DOC trailwork trips (led by Rory Gawler and Brooking Gatewood and Laura Yasaitis and Dan Schneider) that started puncheon work on a boggy section of trail near Wachipauka pond. Fall Weekend brought the "M cubed" trips brainchilded by Anthony Bramante—M cubed equals Mud, Machetes, and Mayhem. The Mud trip went to Watchipauka and finished the puncheon work there. The Machete trip brushed the Ranger Trail up Smarts Mountain after having locked their keys in the van. Moosiluake Trails Ninja Jon Kling led the Mayhem trip to the Glencliff Trail where many rocks were moved to create twnety new waterbars.
Other trails trips during the fall included two trips to clear waterbars on Moosilauke, a trip brushing the North side of Moose Mountain, and the reblazing of the trail to Ledyard Spring (the Velvet Rocks Shelter water source).
Also, during the fall, Cabin and Trail was given money from ALDHA (Appalachian Long Distance Hikers’ Association) in appreciation of the maintenance we do on the Appalachian Trail. With this money, several new trails tools were purchased including new axes, shovels, a Swedish safety axe, and some snazzy loppers.
Ali Crocker ’06
Cabins
Not a whole lot happened with cabins last spring—the docks got put in, I drove around the north country chasing nonexistent gas leaks.... the usual.
John McCall-Taylor ’03
The chief accomplishment of the fall cabins co-chairship was to put a new roof on John Rand Cabin. The new roof is metal and should be extra waterproof considering it was put on right over the old one. Infinite thanks are due to Larry Hathorn for ordering all the materials and organizing the project which was nearly completed in a single day. In addition, fall cabins took care of a few minor things such as moving mattresses to cabins as well as regular fall maintence such as removing docks and draining water pipes before ice up.
There was a DOC cabins related Hantavirus scare in the fall when an individual who had stayed in one of the Hellgate cabins in the Grant was initially diagnosed with the disease. Though the diagnosis later proved incorrect, the scare caused some concern about the number of mice in our cabins. Additional steps have been taken to change blankets and cabin supplies more frequently, and educate cabin users about potential issues with mice.
We had some issues with the right of way into Armington Cabin. Apparently the access road to the cabin is not in the same location as the college’s right of way. The landowner has chained the access, and since parking is not permitted along Cape Moonshine Road during winter, we have no parking as of the end of fall term. OPO staff is currently investigating ways to remedy the situation.
The chairship began exploring opportunities for rebuilding on one of the DOC’s historic cabin sites. As of the end of fall term, possibilities included Miller site, Cube site, and Harris site with a lean toward Harris site because of its proximity to campus.
Chris Polashenski ’07
Harris Cabin
Due to the work involved in the undertaking of building a new cabin, a chairship was formed specifically for this activity.
The chair has attempted to gauge support for reconstructing a cabin, submitted detailed proposals for reconstruction on the Harris site, and met with and toured the site with the DOC leadership of yesteryear (namely David Hooke and Earl Jette) in order to discuss historic problems. Significant support has been expressed from across CnT for the project, and though there are a number of problems yet to be resolved, the project does seem feasible.
In the interest of preserving the historic chimney in the new construction, several trips were made to cut the remains of the old cabin from around the chimney before burning. Students also went to the College Grant to assist in the harvesting of spruce timber for the construction. The remains of the cabin were recently burned successfully.
Chris Polashenski ’07
Shelters
In the spring and summer, we wrapped up construction of the Moose Mountain Shelter, finishing the final details in time for the Grand Opening Ceremony in the fall (see below). Also in the fall, we sent out a few work trips to destroy the old Moose Mountain shelter to be ready for a manageable burn for the winter. Other shelters are up and running well.
Haley Peckett ’05
Moose Mountain Shelter
Since the last annual report, the shelter project has been completed.
Starting again in the spring, weekend work trips went out under the direction of Rory Gawler ’05. The roof purlins were notched and rolled up runners on the back wall and into place. One of them was notched a little deeply, hence the ample shimming underneath the roof strapping. Speaking of strapping, in order to compensate for the variability of the purlins, we elected to use 13 pine strapping to secure the roofing. This was hauled up and nailed down: one course perpendicular to the purlins (20" apart) and one course parallel (16"). This was also an attempt to have a rectangular, as opposed to trapezoidal, surface to which the roofing might be secured. It almost worked. Then, the corrugated roofing was attached using screws and a yankee screwdriver (holes pre-tapped with 16-penny nail). It is important to note that the roofers had never used such roofing and failed to butt up the peak appropriately which is why the ridgecap only barely covers it, hence probably some leakage during storms. The flooring was nailed down. In future it would be helpful to have either softer floorboards or more experienced hammerers with framing hammers as many nails were lost during this process. (GM’s note: Pre-drilling would also help with this problem.) Also, do not install the floor until you can be sure that the roof is up as rain buckled some of the very dry floorboards. Water sealant was applied using a broom which now doubles as the actual broom.
Thanks to Bob Averill ’72 who donated the flooring, and Bert Gilbert who donated the roofing material.
There is currently no chinking in the cracks or corner tables out front as originally planned, though perhaps some industrious heeler will take that on as project. The privy situation was also solved. The roof was raised and secured to the crib. Thanks to Chris Polashenski ’07 for making that happen. This privy will likely have to be replaced in a few years’ time. So much for psychology major engineering. The roof was designed by an engineer, however, and should last 15-20 years. Maybe more, it’s pressure treated.
For future reference, J.T. Horn is a smart man and was right in saying that little nitpicky tasks like signage and trail blazing should be done before completion of the main structure, otherwise you tell everyone at meeting that it’s finished and then ask them to come do more work and they look at you like you’re from another planet, and then your best friend who’s a sophomore has to do it all over the summer, and he can’t get more than one or two people to help him either. Thanks to Anthony Bramante ’06 for getting that stuff done.
The old shelter has been torn down and the non-burnables packed out. Thanks to Allie Hunter ’07 for taking care of that. We are awaiting sufficient snow cover to torch the piles. The opening ceremony was held amidst little fanfare this fall after Fall Weekend. Julie Clemons and Rory attempted to make beanhole beans and failed miserably. More flavouring and more coals. Rory still has Put’s Pot, however, and further attempts will be made in the spring when the ground unfreezes.
Anyway, it’s there. If you go to sleep there, don’t bring a down bag.
It’s so sweet.
Rory Gawler ’05
Feeds and Fun
Despite Ben Honig’s attempts to start a Starvation and Misery directorship, chubbers were fed and enjoyed fun during the past year. Sources suggest that food was consumed on other weekdays and unofficial fun was also present in the lives of Cabin and Trail members.
The purpose of the Feeds and Fun directorship is to make sure feeds are held regularly and random fun events occur.
I am proud to announce that feeds did occur on various delicious notes. The actual scheduling was somewhat random—we do not yet have a set date. This is due to conflicts with Ledyard and DMC feeds, and the general life of whomever steps up to cook. Not having a set feed day allows people who may have conflicts to be sure of attending some feeds. However, a sense of consistency would have its benefits. Wednesday is a good day, since it does not conflict with either DMC/Ledyard feeds or directorate. On a positive note, chubbers cook well, and we’ve been treated to excellent dishes ranging from pasta with homemade pesto sauce to Uruguayan empanadas.
We have had a good assortment of “fun” too. The usual contradance in Norwich proved popular, if humbling. For variety we have thrown in game night at the rock (a Hanlon creation). We’ve expanded fun version 2.0 to include roller-skating, inter-club bowling and ice hockey. Inter-club low-key events have been successful; a fun way to bring together the clubs that may interact less often. They should be continued.
Finally, to encourage camaraderie within Cabin and Trail, Shara set up a CnT “spew” for unofficial blitzes within the club (similar to the Ledyard-council and ultimate Frisbee lists). This is Chubbers@mac, and has already been christened by its first (and then some) blitz war.
That’s all folks!
Shara Feld ’07
Forestry (UGH!)
The past year has seen a great deal of growth and success for the Dartmouth Woodsmen’s Team (also known as the Forestry Team).
The Spring term of 2004 saw the tri-annual return of Woodsmen’s Weekend (or Spring Meet) to Hanover for its 58th year. Over twenty teams from eight different schools converged on the Hanover plain to paddle, split, saw, and chop their way through nineteen different events. Dartmouth’s three teams were able to walk off the field with a handful of victories, including Women’s Doubles Canoeing (for the fifth year in a row), Men’s Doubles Canoeing, Women’s Singles Canoeing, and Women’s Obstacle Course. A hearty contingent of old-timers (excuse me, alumni) arrived to put the upstart undergrads in their places. A very impressive Singles Canoeing performance by Dave Hastings ’00 and Canoe Master Put Blodgett ’53 left the rest of the field treading water. As a special part of this year’s competition, representatives from the STIHL Timbersports Series were on-hand to invite one competitor from each school to compete in three events (Underhand Chop, Stock Chainsaw, and Single Buck) for a chance at a spot on the professional circuit. Rory Gawler ’05 made an outstanding performance for Dartmouth, but was ultimately defeated in his quest for Timbersports glory. Overall, the women’s team placed third and the men’s team placed ninth. Meet Director Ben Honig ’05 would like to extend his special thanks to the committee of people dedicated to organizing the event as well as Head Judge Jim “Porkroll” Taylor ’74 and David Hooke ’84 for their assistance in set-up and coaching. Additionally, Doug Britton ’73 provided all the sawn lumber for the meet. Kevin Peterson ’82 was emcee; David ’86 and John Kotz covered both still and motion photography—we encourage you to visit Dave’s website.
The Goodman Awards for Forestry were given to Eric Benson ’04 and Heather Lapin ’04 for outstanding performance and dedication to the team.
A change from recent years, the Woodsmen’s Team was quite active over the Summer term, under the direction of Alison Crocker ’06 (who, incidentally, has yet to place worse than 1st in any singles event in which she has competed).
The 2004 Fall term arrived along with a heavy infusion of new blood for the team. A mere three days into the term, three of these enthusiastic ’08s (Blaine Morriss, Megan Paradise, and Marianne Epstein) tested their new skills at a competition at Unity College in Unity, Maine. Victories came from Laura Yasaitis ’05 in the Pulp Throw for Distance, Alison Crocker ’06 in the Super Swede, and Joe Hanlon ’05 in the Pole Climb. Rory Gawler ’05 and Ben Honig ’05 made a very impressive showing in the Water Boil portion of the Water Boil/Packboard Relay, but had been doomed from the start by a pack load that came to pieces on more than one occasion.
The team attended a second competition during the Fall term at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. Recent additions to the team and the timely arrival of two alumni allowed Dartmouth to enter three full teams, for the first time in recent years. Very strong performances earned both the Men’s and Women’s teams 2nd place, behind teams from Colby College. Individual victories came from Rory Gawler ’05, who defended his title in the Splitting event and Alison Crocker ’06 in the Obstacle Course. To the amazement of all, particularly the Dartmouth teams, Rory Gawler ’05 and Scott Andrews ’07 won the Standing Block Chop with an amazing time of just under 32 seconds. The Men’s team was joined in defending its Team Obstacle Course crown by the Women’s team, who edged out the Colby women with a spectacular log rolling performance by Marianne Epstein ’08 and Megan Paradise ’08.
The 2005 Winter has proven to be an off-term for the Woodsmen’s Team (and for winter, as well, it seems). As the term draws to a close, the team looks to make a strong showing at the 59th Annual Spring Meet at Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, New York.
Ben Honig ’05
Publicity
Things seemed to go fine using a form for each event to make sure information didn’t get left out. I found it most effective to attach the form to the bottom of each blitz so people could read what the trips were for the week if they weren’t interested in the creative part.
Jeff Wagner ’06
Dinertoure
This fall we visited several less-regularly-visited diners, such as Grandma’s Home Cookin’ and Stub’s and Laura’s, in hopes of making them part of our regular circuit. We also tried out the Windsor Diner for the first time (with tasty success). Between Joel, myself, and Tom, we have a pretty good list of potential new diners to continue working through as well. We need to remember to call and ensure that new diners are open early enough before setting off, however, since an attempted trip to Your Place in Fairlee ended in finding it closed and having to head to the Fairlee Diner instead.
Sarah Hackney ’06
We’ve been going to diners. Breakfast has been tasty. That’s my report.
Nic suggested I mention frequency and attendance. Frequency has been every week of each term. Attendance was mammoth for the first half of fall term, necessitating getting two vans each week and maintaining a waiting list. We had to select diners with larger capacities, rather than the smaller ones. When midterms hit in the fall, dinertoure attendance dropped off to more manageable numbers, where it has stayed since.
Joel Dahl ’05
IM Sports
Fall
3v3 basketball: single elimination tourney format, lost first and only game.
Soccer: didn’t happen, because application deadline preceded date of first CnT meeting. For future reference, should the IM sports coordinator just turn in the application and worry about getting a team together later?
Volleyball: Did OK, but had to forfeit first playoff game because it was the Sunday after thanksgiving and we didn’t have enough people back in time.
Winter
Basketball: current record is 3 wins, 0 losses, with one game left before the playoffs.
So basically, what happened with IM hockey is that I didn’t take responsibility for it, because Joe said he would, and it was early in the term and I really didn’t know what I was doing, so I let him. But then he got really busy, and though he signed us up for teams, the first game for both teams was before the first CnT meeting of term, so there was no chance to get teams together. The only way to fix this that I can think of is either to get the teams together at the end of the preceding term, or else to send out blitzes and try to recruit teams before the first CnT meeting of term. Hope that helps!
Pam Collins ’07
Winter Break
Cabin hopping this year was spectacular. We had a group of ten that hiked from the Dartmouth Skiway to Moosilauke over the course of six days. Snowshoes were only a necessity on the last day as we hiked from Great Bear cabin to John Rand over Moosilauke in a snow storm. We managed to get into all cabins before nightfall which left the group with plenty of time to enjoy the fires in the cabin and eachothers’ company. At the end of the trip, everyone seemed to have had a great time and the ’08s in particular seemed very excited about CnT.
Jeff Wagner ’06
Cycling Club
In 2004–2005 the Dartmouth Cycling Club lived, as it has for the past few years, in the shadow of the Dartmouth Cycling Team. It is difficult to envision this arrangement changing in the near future, for a number of reasons. First and foremust the members of the team and club overlap almost completely, with three consecutive national championships everyone is more than happy to focus on racing. That said, the club is by no means dead.
We discussed a mountain biking trip to a destination nebulously referred to as “out west” for spring break 2004. This would be an excellent idea if someone was ever inclined to take nebulous ideas and turn them into executable plans. The problems were expense and interest. The cost of moving bikes and providing the sort of ground support and accommodations needed for a first-rate bike trip would have been a stretch. The enthusiasm for such a trip was insufficient to motivate the creativity needed to provide sufficient funds. In what is starting to look like a pattern a similar discussion was held this year and once again failed to produce a trip.
The cycling club keeps no formal written records. As such it is difficult (impossible) to provide any sort of statistics on club meetings. As a general rule the club meets once or twice a term in the basement of Robo. The club uses the blitz list “ride-list@mac” to organize daily rides. All members are not only free to, but strongly encouraged to, blitz out their plans for the day. The ride list is extremely active during the fall and spring terms. The club is inactive in the winter. Because the club keeps no records everything that needs to be known is passed from one class to the next. Although heirloom knowledge is fun for those in the know it is not a particularly good way of running an organization. In the year ahead the cycling club and team are both looking to improve their record keeping.
With the graduation of Steve Weller ’05, Dartmouth cycling lost a good friend and excellent mechanic. He has worked with DOR to provide a well-stocked shop in the basement of Robo and holds regular mechanics hours open to the Dartmouth community. Tom McCoy ’07 will move into the position of campus mechanic in the years ahead, but Steve will be badly missed.
Tim Clement was the president of the cycling club through the summer of 2004. In the Fall of 2004 Tim stepped down so that his successor, Tom McCoy ’07, could learn the ropes under his supervision. Tim and Dartmouth cycling are synonymous. He and Steve worked for three years to build interest and infrastructure on campus. Tim secured excellent pro deal opportunities for equipment purchases and dramatically improved the quality of Dartmouth cycling apparel. The club owes Tim a great deal.
The club’s most successful trip, the bike to the lodge, is run in conjunction with fall and spring weekends. This is a fun trip and very accessible to beginners. It is important for the leader to check equipment on Friday afternoon to ensure that people have a road-worthy bike. Because this trip draws a number of non-regular members, equipment has been a problem at times. Getting home from the lodge is slightly more difficult than getting to the lodge. Although the trip was planned as ride up on Saturday and home on Sunday the Sunday ride is not popular. A transportation alternative should be planned in advance for both bikes and riders. The bikes are generally the problem. Tom and Jenna Farleigh led the trip in the fall of 2004 and provided a good solution. Tom drove a car to the lodge on Friday afternoon with enough rack space to bring home all the bikes and then rode his bike back to Hanover. The trip went as planned on Saturday and, as expected, no one wanted to ride home on Sunday morning. Tom and Jenna brought all of the bikes home on/in Tom’s car and other riders rode home on DOC vans. Other than the ride to the lodge the only somewhat regular activity is the epic 4 or 6 gaps ride around Middlebury, Vermont. The logistics around this 120 to 140 mile ride are far to complicated for this report. Suffice to say the ride is a blast, particularly in the middle of fall leaf season, only very experienced riders should go, and at some point someone (maybe Tom, or his successor) should write down how to pull off this classic ride.
The final issue to address in this report is one of member ability and involvement. The success of the cycling team does pose some problems for the cycling club. The cycling team will be in the North Carolina Mountains for a training trip over spring break; the cycling club is unable to organize a spring break trip. This is in no way surprising: all of the interested involved senior club members are also team members; as a result anyone in a position to plan or really care about going on a club spring break trip already had other plans. At first blush this does not seem like much of a problem, and maybe it is not a problem. However, it seems not only possible but also likely that the involvement of team has intimidated those who might be interested in riding but in a less dedicated manner. Cycling seems uniquely capable of ferreting out differences in ability, while a slow ten mile ride is deathly boring to the Men’s A team it is all that many novices are willing to commit to at first. The price of equipment further exaggerates this differences, those who are committed enough to own nice bikes are extremely committed, very few people own a bike capable of serious road or mountain riding who do not ride seriously. Although the problem of beginner involvement is not new this is the first time in recent memory that it has gotten any attention. Sadly a solution is not readily apparent. The Bike and Build program may be a good source of non racing riders to bolster club ranks and lead beginner trips.
Future Goals
In addition to written records the cycling club has a few goals for next year:
- Prepare an updated list of rides in the area for the D.O.G.
- Train an additional mechanic
- Provide basic mechanical training to novice club members
- Institute leader training (tentatively planned in two parts: mechanical and knowledge of the area)
Tom McCoy ’07 (Fall/Winter)Tim Clement ’05 (Fall)
Dartmouth Mountaineering Club
Immediately after winter finals finished, fifteen frozen Dartmouth students packed into a bus and drove for fifty-five straight hours, braving snow storms in New York to arrive in Las Vegas for a week and a half of sunny, warm climbing. Almost twenty-five Dartmouth students ended up participating in the Spring Break Trip this year in Red Rocks, NV. There was great climbing for all, from beginners to experts and from bouldering to sport climbing to long trad routes.
The spring saw a huge amount of tough sport climbing at nearby Rumney. Dartmouth students could be seen on the cliffs casually polishing off 5.12s. Tristan Perry ’04 knocked off Big Kahuna (5.12d) and Butt Bongo Fiesta (5.13a), while Victor McConnell ’04 sent Silver Surfer (5.12a) and James Joslin ’05 got Maui Waui (5.13b) and Rhythm X (5.13b/c) among others. Numerous others were climbing hard at Rumney this spring as well, including DMC alumni.
Laura Case and Robin Batha chaired the club this past summer, getting the ’06 class out to local areas such as Rumney. A midsummer trip to the Adirondacks in New York also provided great climbing and a good trip from campus. Though rain came on the second day, the ’06 class found much to do in the woods and roads of upstate New York. Those not on campus this summer climbed everywhere from Yosemite and Owen’s River Gorge to Lumpy Ridge and the Grand Tetons.
The Expedition Fund was put to good use last summer by Andrew Flynn ’07. Working for the International Scout Center in Kandersteg, Switzerland, Andrew led students on mountaineering trips in the Alps. In his spare time, he climbed some classic routes, including the traverse of Mont Blanc during which he summitted three 4000m peaks.
Fall climbing in New England (headed up by co-chairs Vivek Tata and Luke Evans) provided beautiful foliage and great trips to Rumney. Several beginner trips went out, as well as numerous trips by DMCers on their own. November came with a trip to Pawtuckaway for great fall bouldering, and a weekend to the Shawgunks in New York during which several members showed the club has at least some culture and saw Le Nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera House.
This winter the club has been as active in New England ice as ever. With Andrew Flynn, Addie Smith, and Luke Evans chairing, the club has taken beginner trips to Holt’s Ledge and Mount Ascutney, and will be going to The Flume soon. There is enormous interest in the sport, with spots on the trips being filled within hours of announcement, signifying the sport’s surge in popularity. In addition, individuals have been active going to Crawford Notch, Lake Willoughby, and Cannon Cliff. Linden Mallory ’07, partially supported with Expedition Fund money, went to the Andes to climb 22,211-foot Mercedario. Bad weather kept Linden from summitting, but he reached 19,000 feet before turning back.
Overall this year has been great for Mountaineering Club climbers, with next year promising to start off well going to Bishop and Joshua Tree, CA for spring break.
Environmental Studies Division
Under the continued leadership of Sarah Uhl ’07, Jessie Doyle ’05 and Ritchie King ’06, the hard work of organizing Earth Week 2004 during Winter Term paid off during the Spring Term of 2004 with a week of exciting events from April 16th-22nd aimed at increasing student awareness of environmental issues. The week featured two panel discussions, one titled “Finding A Path to Greenness: Sustainability and Dartmouth”, with panelists Professor Michael Dorsey, Tom Wilson ’67, Megan Boyar ’03, Dr. Larry Litten, and Professor Benoit Cushman-Roisin. The second panel, “Exploring Relationships to Nature and the Environment”, drew a slightly larger audience and featured panelists Professor Marcelo Gleiser, Professor Priscilla Sears, Professor Darren Ranco ’93, Aritetsoma Ukueberuwa ’04, and Freya Sachs ’04. During the week, students and professors also volunteered to carry their trash in order to gain an appreciation of the waste we generate. A film series also took place, with a different environmental film each night for students to enjoy. A trash pick-up around Hanover took place on the Saturday of the week. The most popular event, the Big Green Environmental Festival, took place in Collis Common Ground and attracted well over a hundred students. The White Mountain Oysters, a band composed primarily of Dartmouth students, performed bluegrass tunes, and Earth Week t-shirts were available for sale. At the festival, nearly twenty campus groups and college organizations had booths to educate and involve students about their environmental efforts.
Inactive during the Summer Term of 2004, ESD came back to life early in the fall with another big festival in the Collis Common Ground, this one aimed specifically at first-year students in an effort to help them become involved in the many opportunities on-campus for students interested in environmental issues. Another success, this festival also attracted a wide range of students and succeeded also at bringing together the many environmental student groups on campus. After the festival, the leaders of ESD began to devote more of their time toward the hiring process of the new Sustainability Coordinator for Dartmouth, and activities within the club waned. Throughout the Winter Term of 2005, the club has been busy with planning for Earth Week 2005 and many of the members have participated in organizing and attending events for students during the interview process for the finalists for the Sustainability Coordinator Position. Long one of the club’s agendas, this critical hire represents a significant step for the college and a success for all of the students who have worked over the years to lay the groundwork for such a change within the institution.
In the coming terms, ESD seeks new leadership and aims to focus more on off-campus trips in addition to organizing on-campus events. With half a dozen environmental student groups on campus, it can be difficult to define the role of ESD. However, the club members are realizing the desire for more outdoor opportunities with an educational focus. Also, as the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) gets back on its feet and begins to push for new changes, there is hope that ESD will be able to partner with them and help move projects along.
Ledyard Canoe Club
Spring
Ledyard kicked off Spring 2004 with the traditional Spring Trip to North Carolina, led by Sam Damon ’04. Two vans, a few cars, and a wonderful new cage trailer made the epic drive to Rockmont, the reliable cabin situated a few miles outside of Asheville. Rivers run include: Lower Green, Green Narrows, Nantahala, French Broad, Nolichucky, Ocoee, Chattooga, Pigeon, Tuckaseegee, Big Laurel, and Wilson Creek.
Upon their return to Hanover, Ledyardites rejoiced in the snowmelt, and also helped run the Mascoma Slalom. Creeking season got off to a great start with the Wells River Rumble and Downtown Smackdown, two new local extreme races with many Ledyard competitors. Other local favorite creek runs include Pond Brook, Jacob’s Brook, the Baker, the South Branch of Asquamchumakee, and the Mettawee. A trip also went to the Bottom Moose River in New York.
Ledyard ran beginner trips to Zoar Gap and intermediate trips to the Dryway, both on the Deerfield River in Massachusetts. Beginner PE classes were taught as usual, and Friday Hartlands trips gave boaters the opportunity to start their weekend with a surf or two. The business opened up with the annual Opening Day party and barbeque, and canoe rental enthusiasts turned out en masse.
Prior to graduation, Trip to the Sea traveled from Hanover to Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and celebrated at the end with a generous dinner party courtesy of Ledyard alums.
Summer
Summer 2004 was the time for the ’06s to shine. In addition to the PE program and Friday Hartlands, beginner and intermediate trips were offered once again on the Deerfield. Several older Ledyard folks ran a trip to Canada to paddle the Ottawa, Gatineau, Rouge, 67 Wave, and Lachine (both on the Ste. Lawrence River in Montreal). A Ledyard reunion was held in honor of the wedding of Andy Schmidt ’02, complete with a bachelor party at Lachine.
Sophomore Trips provided ’06s with another Trips opportunity. Canoe trips enjoyed Gilman Island, while kayakers went to Hartlands. Sophomores from the Source happened in August, with a slightly shortened route traveling from somewhere in northern New Hampshire back to the club in Hanover. In DKAF news, Eben Sargent, Chris Polashenski, and Brad Marden traveled to Saskatchewan for a long-distance whitewater canoeing trip, also supported by the Schlitz Fund.
DOC Trips 2004
Ledyard helped out with DOC Trips by organizing logistics for trips in the Second College Grant. These trips included whitewater kayaking, canoeing, fly fishing, mountain biking, leisurely hiking, nature writing, nature watercolor, and nature photography. In addition to shuttling boats, Grant Crew members instructed whitewater kayaking trips in basic whitewater skills, and ran them through the Errol Stretch of the Androscoggin River. Canoe trips traveled down the Magalloway, into Lake Umbagog, and finished on the Androscoggin. When they weren’t working, Crew members boated the Dead Diamond Gorge and the Magalloway River.
Fall
Fall Term began during Orientation when several members embarked on Fall Trip. Beginning with the 67 Wave in Montreal, the group traveled onward to the Ottawa and Gatineau in Canada, and then returned to the U.S. for the last weekend release on the Beaver River in New York, running the Taylorville and Eagle sections.
Returning to campus, Ledyard welcomed new members with a free feed at the club, and started up the Fall PE program. Beginner and intermediate trips returned to the Deerfield River, and Friday Hartlands was back on schedule. The biggest mileage trip of the term was the pilgrimage to the Gauley River in West Virginia for the notorious GauleyFest. Participants boated the Upper and Lower sections of the famous Gauley River, and got their last taste of big water for a long time. The next big road trip took everyone to the Bottom Moose River in New York, for the annual MooseFest, and dropping temperatures reminded everyone that boating season was winding down. Lack of rainfall limited most boating opportunities for the fall, unfortunately.
The end of Fall Term was greeted with enthusiasm by Ledyard members who received DKAF Grants to kayak around the world. Ben Burke traveled to Australia and New Zealand and did a multi-day kayak trip on the Whanganui River. Mike Holliday, Nicole Mansfield, Scott Andrews, Spencer Lawley, and Magdalena Dale went to Mexico for three weeks and kayaked multiple rivers. Alex Steinberg visited his parents in Uganda, and managed to hit up the White Nile while he was there.
Winter
Winter Term started off with some unexpectedly warm weather, and one creeking trip made it to the Wells River before ice took over. Pool sessions and IM hockey were therefore the primary activities for kayakers. Boaters counted down the days until Spring Trip ’05 allowed them to escape south for the love of their kayaks.
Dartmouth Ski Patrol
The Dartmouth Ski Patrol reached a new level of achievement this season. Last spring the DSP received the Milton Sims Kramer Award, given to the student organization that the Dean’s Office determines has made the greatest contribution to the Dartmouth Community. Last season we made great strides toward becoming a more professional patrol and this year we reached the next level in that endeavor. There is still plenty of room to improve and I am confident that under the leadership of our newly elected Board of Officers we will see the DSP reach the next level soon.
Last spring our newest members worked diligently to complete our Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) course under the excellent tutelage of our two-term training officer Michael Lauria ’05 and our Patrol Director Matt Fulton ’96. These 15 “OECers” put in a cumulative 1,500+ hours of time during last spring learning the skills necessary to becoming a ski patroller. Upperclassmen patrollers also volunteered countless hours to teach classes, lead practical skill sessions and practice exam sessions. All fifteen participants passed the National Ski Patrol Exam with above average scores and have proved to be very effective patrollers.
The summer and early fall tend to be a relatively low season for the Ski Patrol. However, the officers and particularly our secretary, Lauren Brown ’05, invested hundreds of hours in the revision of our Handbook. The handbook was first published last year as a first draft and using input from the membership and Skiway management, Lauren did an excellent job of updating both the language and content of the handbook. My personal hope is that the officers and members that come through our organization in the future really take that document seriously and develop it into a very integral part of the organization. Currently it thoroughly outlines virtually every aspect of being a Dartmouth Ski Patroller and it has the potential to be a very useful document.
One of the stated goals of our Board was to reconnect with our alumni. To this end we organized an alumni newsletter committee led by our Assistant Director, Lauren Maynard ’06. During our off-season we secured a mailing list from the Alumni office and have since produced a very informative newsletter that will hopefully update all of our alumni to the activities of the DSP and start to reconnect them to the undergraduate organization. Our hope is to have an alumni event during the next winter but that will have to be a task for our new officers to undertake.
We made a few changes to our pre-season preparations and in-season operations this year. First we moved our annual OEC refresher to the fall term. The refresher is an annual event, required by the NSP, that allows all patrollers to refresh their EMS skills. This move to the fall has allowed us to get all of our patrollers refreshed prior to their first day on the mountain. Similarly because we had access to all of the Skiway facilities we were able to run practice scenarios and trainings that we can’t accomplish during normal Skiway operations.
This season we continued our Candidate Training program which ran for the three days prior to New Years Day. These marathon full-day training sessions are intended to bring all the new OEC certified members from the previous spring into the fold of DSP and Skiway Operations. It allows all of the new members to refresh their skills in a more realistic environment, namely a cold snowy hill. This training culminated in our on-the-hill in-service day on January 2, 2005. This day is required of all patrollers and provides everyone with an opportunity to practice their lift evacuation skills as well as their emergency care skills in a realistic setting. This season we also purchased two new rescue harnesses for evacuation and rescue. They will be fully incorporated into operations next season.
During the season our patrollers spent over 8,000 hours at the Skiway. The participants of our Apprentice Program volunteered nearly 2,000 hours of time learning what being a Ski Patroller is about. These fabulous students, nearly all freshmen, did a spectacular job helping and learning from our full patrollers. Whether it was rebuilding our terrain park or working an accident, they did an excellent job with great enthusiasm. Our Apprentice Program has truly developed into a great stand-alone training program. In addition to the preseason training, Mike Lauria ’06 put in tremendous effort developing our continuing education program.
Our hope is that in the future all of our patrollers will be pursuing the next level of certification within the National Ski Patrol. This level, termed Senior, requires the completion of Senior level clinics and exams in OEC and Toboggan handling as well as several electives in areas such as Instructor Development and Avalanche Control. This year we made strides towards that end by establishing ties with professional patrols in the area and having several members participate in senior level clinics and electives. No doubt this area is one of the primary goals for continued improvement for next year’s Training Officer Ben Schiffman ’07.
The final event of note for this past year is our recent Skier/Boardercross. The DSP sponsored this event in an effort to raise money for the local charity WISE. The event, organized by Lauren Brown ’05, was a tremendous success. There were over fifty participants that navigated our custom-built course during the day-long event. We hope that this event will continue to be a part of every winter season as it has help raise money for a great cause and fosters increased exposure of the organization to the greater Dartmouth Community.
In conclusion, the Dartmouth Ski Patrol continues to uphold its standard of excellent service to the Skiway. Our members have contributed considerable time to the organization and undoubtedly left it in a better place. We continue to develop ourselves as a professional and student organization and though we have ambitious goals for the coming season we have a remarkable group of new leaders coming into leadership roles who will undoubtedly take the DSP far.
A big thanks to our graduating seniors and many wishes of good luck to our newest members who will be participating in our Spring OEC course.
Respectfully Submitted,
Phillip B. Andersen
Student Director
Winter Sports Club
This winter we again went up Mount Katahdin in Maine, braving the remoteness, cold, and regulation of Baxter State Park in deep wintertime. Six students ended up participating—Sean Mann ’05 and Rory Gawler ’05 led the trip, which took five days, over Martin Luther King weekend. It was beautiful as always, as well as a serious undertaking for all involved. Happily, the trip was successful in reaching Baxter peak, and no one suffered injury, cold-related or otherwise. This trip is amazing, quite demanding, and should be continued. Whitney MacFadyen ’07 and the other students on the expedition all did well in facing exciting and adverse conditions. This year there were more qualified people interested in going than there was space on the trip, so hopefully students will continue to have sufficient inclination and experience for this kind of remote winter camping and mountaineering.
Sean Mann ’05 was the club head. Winter Sports was inactive over the Fall and Summer of ’04. Last spring, there were ski trips to Tuckerman’s Ravine.
Chris Farmer ’08 was named the recipient of the Kem Tyler Award, which honors the person who contributed the most enthusiasm to Winter Sports.
