Reports
Annual Report 2007
DOC President
Spring 2006
Incoming DOC President Ada Graham ’08 and Vice Presidents Chelsea Little ’09 and Sarah Parkinson ’09 did a great job of making sure the day-to-day club activities ran very smoothly and organized several successful and well attended events as well. Todd Rabkin-Golden ’06 served as the DOCtour Director this term, bestowing his extensive knowledge of and experience with the club on a strong group of freshman volunteers. One of Directorate’s main accomplishments was revising the Wolfgang Schlitz Adventure Fund guidelines to make the process and requirements as clear as possible to applicants that likely have no prior exposure to the procedure. Among the Fund recipients this term were Katey Blumenthal ’06 and Andrew Flynn ’07 for their attempt at the Grand Traverse in the Tetons; Andy Reynolds ’09 for multiple ascents on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park; Dominic Winski ’09 and his trekking trip in Western Europe; and finally Andrew McCauley ’09, Parker Reed ’09, and Peter Shellito ’09 for their backpacking trip along the Long Trail in Vermont.
Despite a very wet and rainy Spring Weekend, all activities still went very well. Signups could have run more smoothly if the DOCtours reliably attended their shifts in Room 13 – this is a reoccurring problem with most big weekends and is definitely something to work on. Despite this, every person signed up for trailwork showed up and did an amazing job on the trails on and around Moosilauke. In particular, Wiley Bogren ’07 was a resourceful leader for the beginner rock climbing trip and was able to arrange an alternate, indoor location for his trip. At the Lodge we had the privilege of listening to the student band Hamm and the Public (including Nathanial Grainger ’08, Hannah Rossman ’08, Cici Cruz-Uribe ’06, Rory Gawler ’05 and Nathan Hamm G’07 among others) – they put on a truly impressive show, and helped to create one of the most memorable nights of the term.
Outgoing DOC President Anne O’Hagen ’06 organized the annual DOC Awards Banquet in Collis Common Ground, an event that highlighted outstanding student contributions throughout the club over the past year. Over a dinner of Mai Thai, seniors Ali Crocker ’06 and Jeffrey Burns Woodward ’06 (among others) were honoured for their work with CnT and DMC, respectively, and freshmen Xavier Engle ’09, Hanna Farrar ’09, and Jake Feintzeig ’09 were also acknowledged as strong additions to Ledyard and the DMC. In the past year, the trio have certainly grown to become leaders in the club and push the limits of their sports at Dartmouth and beyond. The banquet also served as a time when Anne was able to publicly hand the Presidency over to Ada. Beyond student recognition, the DOC also awarded departing Dean Larimore a lifetime membership for his support of club activities and we wish him well in his future away from Dartmouth. A special thanks to the DOCtours who collected pictures from the past year for a slideshow—perhaps the club can find some storage space for such photos on an extra hard drive for historical collection purposes.
One particularly innovative and motivational event that took place this term was the month-long Vertical Challenge, created and overseen by Andrew Flynn ’07 and Alex Steinberg ’07. In the spirit of encouraging students to push themselves to get outside while fostering some good natured competition between Ledyard, the DMC, and Cabin and Trail, the two developed a weighting schema. This involved different point values for various grades of whitewater kayaking, climbing, hiking and trailwork. Between daily outings of a few friends and weekend expeditions of twenty students and fuels by weekly updates of the standings (complete with Excel graphs!), the clubs vied for the lead. In the final few days the DMC finally pulled away with the first ever Vertical Challenge title. While some Cabin and Trail members thought that the weights assigned to hiking and trailwork had set them at a disadvantage, the competition received rave reviews from most DOCers.
The final large event of the term was All-DOC Day, held on Mass Row complete with kayakers hanging from trees and sliding down the steps of Thayer Dining Hall, a complete forestry demonstration, a stand from the organic farm, and a BBQ. A special thanks to Todd Rabkin-Golden ’06 for his help cooking hundreds of burgers and to Chelsea Little ’09 and Sarah Parkinson ’09 for their shopping efforts and obtaining the necessary permits. A few last, but certainly not least, thank yous to Paul Magyar ’09 for his hard working compiling enough submissions to publish a spring edition of Woodsmoke magazine. Also to Pam Collins ’07 for her work as secretary at Directorate meetings this term.
Summer 2006
Compared to the other terms of the year, the summer is usually a much more relaxed one for the DOC and 2006 proved to continue the trend. During this time, energy, resources and interested students are usually consolidated into a few, yet strong events that are largely organized by the sub clubs. One of the exceptions to this in the past two years has been a summer 50 Miler – this time, expertly organized by Ben Jastrzembski ’08, Lauren Smith ’08 and Ali Crocker ’06. There were approximately 90 applicants for the 30 spots, and thanks to some amazingly energetic support crews along the way, 28 of the 30 people who left Robinson Hall made it to the Ravine Lodge. There were a few issues with having enough transportation to get everyone involved with the event to the Lodge for dinner and then back to Hanover again, so be sure to gauge how many people will want to attend and spend the night as soon in advance as you can so that enough vehicles are available. Reserving the Lodge for exclusive use during this evening may be the way to go in the future to ensure that there are enough dinner reservations for all hikers and support crew members. This year it also appeared that most people wanted to return to campus after dinner (as is often the case with big weekends).
Sophomore Trips (Strips) was also another highlight of the summer thanks to the hard work of this year’s Strips Directors Katie Boldt ’08 and Arjun Chandrasekaran ’08. In past years Directorate has occasionally planned a small Summer Weekend, including beginner trips and dinner and/or music at the Lodge afterwards. This year they decided not to do this, and it seemed to be the right decision. Between the 50 and Strips, there isn’t much more student interest for a weekend full of outside activities.
This term, Schlitz funding was awarded to a group of ’08s headed to South Africa in the fall on the Environmental Studies FSP. After finishing their studies, Ruth Hupart ’08, Amelia Potvin ’08, Josh Hurd ’08, Chris Farmer ’08, Tom Glazer ’08, and Travis Green ’08 embarked on a backpacking trip around Cape Town with their funding. Finally, Portia Lombardo ’08 acted as the DOCtour Director and everything ran smoothly.
Fall 2006
The fall term started off with a very successful round of orientation events. Thanks to some hard work on the part of club heads and the summer Directorate in planning eleven events, the execution was very smooth and the events well attended. As usual, working with the First Year Office required a lot of advanced planning and last minute changes to the schedule or notes about events for the orientation booklet were not easy – plan all of these details well in advance!
Fall Weekend took place during the second weekend of the term and it was a bit of a scramble to organize signups and train DOCtours. As usual, the climbing and whitewater kayaking trips filled up within the first half hour or so. Vice Presidents Chelsea Little ’09 and Sarah Parkinson ’09, along with returning DOCtour Director Portia Lombardo ’08, were very helpful in organizing these efforts and helping logistics to run smoothly. The 50 Miler was expertly organized by Ben Jastrzembski ’08, John Shellito ’07, and Katherine Schiavoni ’09 and with over 110 applicants for 30 available spots, the challenge remains in high demand and continues to be an event that attracts many students outside of the normal DOC pool. By working with past organizer Whitney MacFadyen ’07, the trio were able to complete a twenty page manual on how to organize and execute the event. Fall Weekend concluded with a very well attended dinner and evening of dancing at the Lodge with music provided by a local bluegrass band from Norwich.
In addition to organizing large, DOC-wide events like Fall Weekend, one of the main objectives of the Directorate this term was to lend support to sub-club events for the term. The main example was the that the Mountaineering Club brought to the College, “DosageIV” and “First Ascent.” Due to some last-minute funding withdrawals, the DMC had the difficult challenge of raising over $1,500 in the three weeks leading up to the showings. Thanks to the efforts of DMC Fall Chair Mike Holmes ’08, Addie Smith ’07, and Jake Feintzeig ’09, the club was able to gain the necessary funds through soliciting Programming Board, the Film Studies Department, and the DOC Directorate, among others. There was also a very successful raffle of prizes donated by local businesses at the show, and students attending weekly DMC feeds helped by paying an additional three dollars in the two weeks before the show. It was certainly a good learning experience for students in the club and a great chance for members to pull together to make the event happen – well done, DMC!
Prior to Halloween weekend, the third annual DOC Pumpkin Carving event took place on the Robo lawn for students and community members. It was great to have the works of art line the steps of Robo and they even lasted there, undisturbed by late night raiders, until they began to rot and headed out to their final resting place at the organic farm. To end the term, the Directorate awarded two trips funding from the Schlitz Adventure Fund. Lindsey Mann ’07 and Luke Antal ’07 planned to do some backcountry skiing in the east during the winter term, although there were several concerns both within the Directorate and the DOC Safety Board that they did not fully understand the safety and logistical implications of their proposed adventures. Due to weather conditions and injury, their adventures did not go out. Another group, made up of Zoe Acher ’08, Sarah Garcia ’07, Ana Schumacher ’09, David Strauss ’08, Katie Ammons ’08, and Emily Harding-Theobald ’08, received funding for a very well planned trip to Costa Rica to do some whitewater kayaking. With paddlers of many different abilities, the trip was certainly one with strong potential for skills and leadership development for some very active Ledyard Members.
Finally, at the DOC Advisory Board meeting for the term, we discussed some of the impacts of Freshman Trips on the greater Upper Valley community. We identified several things that it would be helpful if students keep in mind in the future. First, the importance of minimizing disturbance to others enjoying the outdoors, especially during raids. This includes raiding trip groups in the early evening instead of in the middle of the night when they may be sharing their camping spot with other people; avoiding crowded places to stage a large raid (e.g. the summit of mountains) so that others can enjoy their experience as well; limiting the use of electronics and other devices that may spoil the natural serenity of a place; and limiting the amount of crazy clothing that trips wear while on the trail. While craziness certainly has a place in Trips, we hope that freshman also develop an appreciation for what nature has to offer as well while between Hanover and the Lodge.
Winter 2007
Several exciting new developments came to fruition this winter as a result of some stellar student initiative and planning. Shara Feld ’07 and the Winter Sports Club worked hard to open up the student workshop for ski waxing and tuning purposes.
With some beginner courses in ski maintenance from cross country and alpine experts Susan Dunklee ’08 and Mike Adelman ’10, respectively, and some brand new equipment, the workshop opening was met with much student interest and is poised to be a great student resource in the future. The Dartmouth Ski Patrol helped to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Dartmouth Skiway by organizing a treasure hunt in conjunction with their annual Boardercross fundraiser for WISE, complete with a raffle, BBQ, music and demo vendors. Three ’09s, Christian Kiely ’09, Kayte Suslavich ’09, and Pete Kitlas ’09, organized the event which raised over $1,500 for the local charity.
After concerns developing for quite some time that “DOCtour” was an ambiguous name for the training program for freshmen, Directorate finally decided on a new name for the program (although it is questionable as to whether or not the new name solves the problem). We decided on “Directorites”, although the runner-up “Robocops” maintains quite the following and is more commonly used in casual settings.
Another very exciting event was the first annual DOC Gear Swap, suggested and organized by Alex Lee ’10. Students were allowed to drop off their gear and indicate an asking price with DOCtours in the week leading up to the swap, and then on a Saturday morning the doors of the Robo basement opened for sales. Before the sale, gear was stored under lock and key in one of the empty “pass throughs” in the basement next to the workshop (DOCtours stored the key in the office in Room 13). While this event received a lot of support and enthusiasm from Directorate, attendance at the swap was much lower than expected and only about 30% of the items were sold. Other things to work on next year in addition to publicity are:
The Gear Drop-Off System: It’s extremely important to have a reliable schedule the week before. Also, should students be able to drop things off the morning of? We said yes in 2007 to maximize the amount of gear for sale, although this definitely added to a little morning chaos.
Pricing: Some students just wanted to get rid of gear for as much as they could and others had a minimum asking price. We chose to indicate the seller’s asking price along side the gear (for which a buyer could purchase it outright if they were interested, similar to eBay’s Buy It Now feature) and then provide a space for people to bid if they did not want to pay the asking price. If the seller’s minimum price was not met (this value was kept secret from buyers to prevent against minimum bids) then the item was not sold. If the minimum price was met, then the item went to the highest bidder. We put a lot of thought into developing the best system, although it certainly seems like there is room for improvement here as well.
Money Exchange: We allowed students to pay in cash or with DASH, although this lead to a complicated mess when students came to pick up their earnings (particularly because we just had a envelope of cash locked in the “pass through” that DOCtours doled out from until it was gone, at which point students went to see Kathy). Keeping track of which items were sold and for how much was also difficult – due to a lack of organization, only the left-over slips of paper that people bid on were used for this.
Return of Unsold Gear: Due to an inconsistent DOCtour schedule and little-to-no pressure placed on students to pick up their unsold gear, we had to deal with students constantly trickling through Robo looking for their gear. A huge headache for people who spend a lot of time there and have access to the “pass through” (the DOC officers!). Setting and enforcing a deadline for gear pickup might help with this.
Despite a few organizational struggles, this event definitely has a lot of potential to help students buy and sell quality used gear and clothing.
Winter Weekend Fun saw some slight modifications in 2007 due to several factors. First, due to the late arrival of suitable snow conditions, we had to push back the weekend several times. This gave us only a week to advertise, organize signups, and finalize leader assignments. Next, we decided to work with Mike Silverman at the Department of Rentals to organize our weekend trips in conjunction with an “open house” and BBQ on Occom Pond on the same day. This created amplified stress for members of Directorate to work with him on planning for our equipment needs and advertising (which he wanted Directorate to take over for his event). The VPs and I recommend not combining events in the future. Also, there was some confusion on the part of students who signed up for the beginner ski trip at the Skiway about the structure of the event. While Directorate subsidizes rentals and lift passes for the weekend, the passes are only good for the J-bar, not for the ski lift. In the future it would be helpful if emphasis was placed on the course being one for people who are completely new to skiing, not looking to develop their skills (those who thought they were going to be able to use the lift ended up buying their own life passes and leaving the class).
Another topic of discussion that arose after Winter Weekend was a way to provide people on the waitlist with a way of going on a trip. While all of the clubs offer beginner trips fairly frequently, the big weekends always attract interest from students who do not typically sign up for beginner trips. One idea included sending the waitlists to the specific clubs so that they can notify interested students about trips they can go on in the coming weeks. Or perhaps this waitlist can simply become the signup list for the next beginner trip that goes out. One reason we thought that so many more students are interested in trips during the big weekends is because each club offers a trip and there is more advertising to campus. Perhaps a week or two after, say, Fall Weekend, all clubs could offer another set of beginner trips for the students who were not able to go the weekend before. Another issue of concern that arose surrounding the big weekends is the unfair nature of the sign-up times. This method clearly favors students who do not have class or other obligations at the time sign-ups start. Some ideas for shifting this method have included offering signups online, or asking students to submit a small application for the trip to give those with the least experience priority. Clearly both of these suggested methods have pros and cons, but hopefully this problem will see a better solution in the future.
The Directorate received one application for funding this term and subsequently awarded Mary (Lina) Stepick ’10 about $700 for her summer trip to hike the Pacific Coast Trail in the northwestern United States. A lack of a huge advertising campaign this term was the likely cause of so few applications. Around the same time in the term, the DOC was one of the co-sponsors for the Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival, held at the Lebanon Opera House. As with the past two years, several students volunteered to help set up the event, sell raffle tickets at the door, and clean up afterwards in exchange for a free ticket to the show. Typically the current DOC President or another student representative says a few words during intermission to welcome people to the show and say something about the Outing Club. A student speaker is particularly helpful if the event falls before Winter Carnival weekend to serve to encourage people to come out after the show and help with the final push to finish the snow sculpture.
The OPO staff and several students who have been involved with DOC summer work crews in the past (namely Chris Polashenski ’07) decided to implement a new rotating format for the crews in 2007. While the group was still working in the details as of the end of the winter, the general idea involved site managers for cabin crew, trail crew, and Harris crew and groups of students who would rotate through the sites.
Elections for the 2007–2008 DOC Directorate took place toward the end of the term in Collis Common Ground. An astounding total of twelve students ran for President and Vice President combined, and about sixty people attended to enjoy dinner, listen to a Schlitz presentation from Dominic Winski ’09, and hear the candidates speak. We decided to use a run-off system of voting, similar to the one Student Assembly uses for their elections, that required each voter to rank as many candidates as they felt strongly about for each office. Initially we only counted everyone’s first preference, and then eliminated the candidate with the least number of votes. At this point, the votes of the members who preferred the eliminated candidate went to their second preferred candidate. Example: Julie, Andy and Brian are all running for DOC office. Say you prefer 1) Brian, 2) Julie, 3) Andy but Brian is eliminated in the first round because not enough of your fellow members voted for him. Your vote then goes to Julie. This style of elimination proceeded until one Presidential and two VP candidates remained for each term. This process took quite a while to tabulate all of the votes, but in the end we hope we selected the candidate that had the greatest support from DOC members. The elected officers are: Phil Bracikowski ’08 as President for the spring, fall and winter; Jake Feintzeig ’09 as President in the summer; James Bramante ’09 as VP for all four terms; and Andrew Palmer ’10, Andrew McCauley ’09, Andrew Palmer ’10 and Dan Susman ’10 as the second VP in the spring, summer, fall and winter, respectively.
Ada Graham ’08 and Whitney MacFadyen ’07
Cabin and Trail
This has been quite the jumbled year for Cabin and Trail, but throughout the thick and thin of it we have been able to provide fun and varied trips in the out-of-doors while still attempting to keep up with our responsibilities to maintain our sections of the Appalachian Trail.
After the large scale changes instituted by the Review Board in Winter ’06, a group of chubbers ventured out to Zion and Arches national parks for the annual spring break trip, which was incredibly successful and brought enthusiastic freshmen into the club. Once Spring term got underway, large amounts of precipitation dampened trailwork plans, but many intrepid volunteers braved the elements for the DOC Spring Weekend trailwork on Moosilauke. Also, the 50 blowdown challenge, instigated by the intra-DOC Vertical Challenge was a big success and did much to clear up some level one maintenance on our trail.
Concurrently, the Spring term Directorate struggled to tie up some loose ends in the Review Board changes. Discussions varied from how many patches leaders can get to whether inactive leaders should be removed from the leadership body (a very controversial decision that was later overturned by vote of the club). In retrospect from the end of Winter term ’07, many of these decisions have been ironed out over the past year and overall the Review Board has made the leadership and decision making of CnT more streamlined while increasing non-leader participation in trip and event planning.
Summer term was a typical sophomore summer, with low meeting turnout but a large number of trips still being run, including many trips to the Lodge, swimming, hiking, feeds, Harris Cabin worktrips, berrypicking, stargazing and two heeler overnights.
During Fall term aggressive efforts were made to recruit freshmen for DOC activities. Successful orientation events included a Gile Mountain Hike (which was attended by 25 people even in horribly rainy weather) and Iron Chef Trangia. As well, trailwork was accomplished over Fall interim, mainly through the efforts of Erike Sogge ’08 and Phil Wagner ’09, but helped by the involvement of some eager freshmen. Interim trailwork seems to be successful in accomplishing solid work with just a few people on informal trips, evidenced by the brushing on Smarts done in the Fall and the Winterim trailwork trip led by Laura Kamfonik ’08.
However, Fall ’06 was also a crisis term in terms of trailwork. First of all, while the Jeffers Brook timberframe privy was installed in a timely fashion in Spring ’06, the identical Smarts Privy ran into more problems, primarily mud and a long carry up to the site on the summit. A Fraternity philanthropy trip led in the Fall term was still unable to bring all of the precut timbers up to the summit of Smarts. As of right now they still remain within a half mile from the summit under the snow. Also, a feed was held with special guests Julie Clemons, JT Horn from the ATC, and Jenny from the Forest Service to discuss our trailwork responsibilities. It was decided that this coming year would be a trial year for Cabin and Trail to determine whether we can continue to maintain our section of the trail without seeking more outside help. To that end, winterim and spring break trailwork trips were planned, but the proving time will come this spring and summer terms. Hopefully, the DOC summer crew and Beaver Brook trailwork project will prove to be successful. Finally, Laura Kamfonik ’08, trails director has been actively involved in gauging club feelings toward trailwork and our confidence in our trailwork skills. Overall it seems that we are committed to maintaining our section of the AT, but much effort will need to be made to change the perception of trailwork into that of trailfun.
Other highlights of the Fall term include the Presidential Ridge Relay Race, organized by the Tufts Outing Club with Chelsea Little ’09 acting as the DOC liason. Much fun was had by all who participated and supported the race, and hopefully this tradition of inter outing club competition will continue, especially at the Lodge, which is much sweeter than the cabin that Tufts has. Another intra-DOC Vertical Challenge was held, and hopefully this becomes tradition, except with more weight given to trailwork. Finally, the CnT Constitution was revised for the first time in many decades to reflect the directorships and policies instituted by the Review Board.
Winter term saw many successful trips go out, including the Winter Grant Trip, Moosilauke skis, an Alcott Smith Hike led with Environmental Studies Division, and hikes in the Presidentials led with Winter Sports. The Woodsmens Team was also practicing in full force with a very enthusiastic group of freshmen and the large task of hosting Spring Meet.
Weekly meeting participation and underclassmen recruitment seemed to be at a low, however, throughout winter term. While all trips were well-attended, lack of interest in the leadership and trip planning aspects of Cabin and Trail might be a cause for concern, especially with fewer underclassmen coming to weekly meeting. More or less weekly lunch meetings with Julie Clemons were a good source of insight and collaboration into leader dynamics and club involvement, as well as planning for some of CnT’s trailwork responsibilities. One result of these meetings was the creation of a leader rubric by Katherine Schiavoni ’09 and Katie Amato ’07 to assess the more subjective qualities of what makes a good leader. Hopefully this will be used in future ascension decisions.
In summary this was an interesting year in terms of club structure and policies but nevertheless much fun was had in the outdoors and many efforts were made to keep up with our trailwork and cabin responsibilities. These coming terms should prove to be action packed with the Spring Meet and our trailwork goals for this summer and fall.
Yours in the Out of Doors,
Brendan Willis ’07
SPRING ’06
What Happened on the Bureaucratic side of CnT
On the first sunday of the term, 4/2/06, we had our last “old school” leader meeting/feed to tighten up changes suggested by the review board and approved in Winter ’06.
Voted to make shelters and trails one director instead of cabins and shelters.
Voted on sale of CnT t-shirts and not the patches.
Voted on Directors; Cabins: Chris Polishenski, Shelters and Trails: Ali Crocker w/ Chris Farmer assisting, Hiking: Pam Collins, Leadership development: Erika Sogge, Director-at-large: Josh Hurd
People signed up for various weekends that they wanted to lead hikes (goal was to have a hike going out every weekend)
Dates and leaders for big trips (grant, alcott, etc) planned.
On the first monday meeting, 4/3/06, we introduced the new directors, voted on officers (Feeds & fun: Lauren Altschuh, Publicity: Wendell Smith, Dinertoure: Dave Norman, Inter DOC Relations: Vic Solbert), and got people to sign-up to do main events and feeds for the rest of the term.
Chairs made budget and got it approved by OPO.
Discussion about Inactive Leaders 4/24/06
Leadership chair will keep track of #trips lead by leaders, display top leaders on the board, and nicely encourage inactive leaders to become active/determine why they're inactive/see if we could assist them in becoming active again.
No consequences currently exist for leaders becoming inactive. We have no reason to remove a leader's ability to lead trips, though revoking voting privileges under some circumstances may still be open for discussion in the future.
Discussion about Role of Directorate 5/1/06
Voted on: CnT directorate may now make any decision relevant to the club by a vote of its members with the exception of:
who is a leader - which will be decided by full leadership vote.
And under the following model:
Saturday: agenda blitzed out
Sunday: item discussed
Monday: minutes blitzed out, communicate
By Saturday: agenda, mentioning vote blitzed
Sunday meeting: vote
Monday: communicate results
Directorship also has the power to put any issue to a vote of all CnT's members should an issue prove too contentious or for any other reason they see fit.
Accomplishments of Council Meetings for the Term
Revamped the heeler sheet into two sections requirements and goals. If requirements and goals met you ascend. If just requirements then you can still try to ascend but the leader body has to discuss and vote on it. Also turned the long checklist section into a point system and modified some of the cabin and trip goals.
Created a Co-lead feedback form to assess/tell how a co-lead/heeler overnight went and to provide immediate feedback for the heeler. Co-leads and overnights will still be discussed at next trip planning meeting.
Voted that leaders are allowed to buy two patches and this would be maintained by the honor system, t-shirts everyone unlimited
Voted and got approved with OPO that you can have trips with less than six people but the trip has to be approved by the directorship and the cost of the trip per person would increase to make it equal to the amount earned if 6 people had gone.
Standardized the cost of various types of trips and the amount per meal
Make fliers for big events, announce ahead of time, and have longer sign-up periods
Voted that Velvet Rocks Shelter will be timber framed
Voted that the Forestry team will be called Woodsmen Team
Voted that the purpose of CnT was to have fun
Voted that the directorate quorum would require 5 out of 7 in person, simple majority rules, if tie revote or whole CnT vote
To the Future and Beyond…
Finalize heeler sheet and co-lead form
Discuss possibility of rolling ascensions
Discuss date of future ascensions
publicity chair should be leader/allowed on CnT account
Continue communicating!
Shara Feld ’07 and Allie Hunter ’07
FALL ’06
Trails
In addition to running trips that introduced newcomers to skills such as brushing and blowdown clearing, we spent the fall term holding a series of meetings about CnT's ability to adequately handle its section of trail. With help from J.T. Horn we developed a list of goals for the coming year and brainstormed ways that we could get our trailwork done. Due to unseasonably warm weather, we were able to recruit a small last-minute crew to stick around for the first week and a half of interim in order to finish up a few projects, such as removing the remains of the old Velvet Rocks Shelter and the old Jeffers Brook Privy, as well as carrying in the roofing materials for the new Velvet Rocks shelter and building a new privy crib at Ore Hill Shelter. Though we did run into a few obstacles (including vehicular issues and the decision of the weather to suddenly become seasonable), the "Winterim" trailwork team got a lot done with relatively few people, and I highly recommend that it be repeated in the future. Having a little snow on the ground makes it a lot easier to move heavy things from point A to point B!
Laura Kamfonik ’08
Shelters
This fall was eventful in the shelters division. Ira Friedrichs and Tom Bonamici designed and built a new shelter for Velvet Rocks, replacing a now-dilapidated 1938 structure built by Will Brown '36. The timberframe structure was prepared off-site and hauled in by hand early in the fall, and finish work proceeded slowly. Now (February ’07) it's nearly complete, and is ready for the next crop of through-hikers.
We also finished a new timberframe privy at Jeffers Brook shelter, and demolished the old, scary, falling-down predecessor.
The dock at Hinman disintegrated when we pulled it in for the winter; we'll need to build a new one come Spring. Note to future dock-builders—don't use blue foam without containing it somehow—it shreds and spreads everywhere.
Otherwise, business as usual. Routine maintenance.
Tom Bonamici ’07
Woodsmen’s Team
Shara Feld ’07 and I, after having attended a few forestry practices in the past, suddenly found ourselves in charge this fall after all the Older and Wiser folk had graduated. We still managed to recruit a small but dedicated team, including a good number of ’10s who are very excited about the team and especially the coming Spring Meet that we will be hosting. Three teams had a great time competing in the meet at UNH toward the end of the term. Some meetings were held and initial steps taken toward planning the Spring Meet, though many decisions awaited the return of Meet Director Josh Hurd ’08 from his fall term FSP. We began to hold weekly meetings to discuss practice plans and other issues.
Laura Kamfonik ’08
Leadership Development
Alright! So in the fall we had a bunch of people ascending: Phil Wagner, Chelsea Little, Hannah Dreissigacker, Mike Holmes, Carrie Burns, Paul Magyar
These ascendees bring a wide range of skills and persona to the club: organized leadership, enthusiasm, ability to motivate for exciting trips, winter mountaineering skills, and being a consistent member of the club. The new leaders have already led a number of exciting trips during the winter term.
Regarding ’10s. Initially a lot of ’10s in meetings, however there has been serious attrition, probably due to lack of exciting trips and generally being put off by CnT. However, with more interesting trips attendance has ramped up. Just stating it like it is.
Recommendations for the future: First of all, the heeler sheet. Take it with a grain of salt. We can and will debate it ad nauseum, but in general there will be a list of specific skills people ought to have, and then the elusive "leadership quality" which is very hard to fit in a box.
Second of all, the ascensions timeframe. I believe it would be better to have rolling ascensions, instead of only ascending people at the end of the term. This encourages people to become leaders whenever they are ready, instead of forcing them to hit the end of the term deadline or wait until the end of the next term they are on. Otherwise, carry on.
Shara Feld ’07 and Emily Winkler ’08
Harris Cabin Fall Crew
At some point during the interim between summer and fall terms, it was decided that covering the structure over before winter would significantly extend the life of the structure. Sean Mann ’05, a member of summer crew, and I were engaged to head up a pseudo-emergency crew of whoever could be hired to work through the fall. The initial term of working was to be October 1 to December 1, but as the deadline approached, this was extended to “as long as necessary”. Sean, I, Alex Dahlman ’06, Erik Turnberg Umass ’01 and Pat Martha ’05 were eventually joined by Rob Carey ’06, Marshall Swearingen ’06, Freddi Ghesquiere ’04, Anne Raymond ’06 and Ira Friedrichs.
Work began much as the summer’s had ended, with the scribing, cutting and laying of logs onto the now rectangular walls. Plans were made and amended for the construction of the roof. After a surprisingly large number of iterations, it was eventually decided that there would be a structural truss spanning the main room and posts struck onto the front, rear and interior walls and purlins to support the roof. The final plans were put together by Sean Mann and Chris Polashenski ’07 in consultation with Anthony Bramante ’06 and then sent to Chris Carbone ’97, a timberframe and log engineer with Bensonwood building in Claremont, New Hampshire. Carbone helped ensure that plans were up to spec for local and national building codes.
As a result of the redone plans, we were forced to engage college forester Kevin Evans to secure further trees. These were cut and hauled into the site. We then began reinforcing the walls with wooden pegs and some threaded steel rod. We placed and bolted together the two tie beam logs and Sean and Ira Freidrichs, a local craftsman, timberframer and honorary permanent undergrad and DOC member, set to work establishing a system for scribing the necessary drawings onto some very large logs. It was slow work, but the final result was breathtaking. Meanwhile, the rest of us set further posts in the kitchen and on the interior wall and milled plate logs and purlins to be ready once the truss was up to set the rest of the roof system. During this time, work on the chimney was restarted and stopped a few times, based on whether we had too much or not enough labour on site at any given time. Finally the truss was ready to raise. We set up a gin pole and lashed it to the tie beam. We then attached several mechanical devices to the truss, which was amply braced and raised it into place. It was then scribed down and the through tenon was pegged into place.
We then set the middle section of purlins, moved the skyline cable and set the rear wall posts and purlins. The front section was more troublesome, since the cable could not be set directly across the middle, but with some makeshift ramps and rolling, we were able to set the front section, largest of the purlins. This work was done with great assistance from some members of summer crew during winter break. After Christmas, as most of the crew had atrophied, it became obvious that no roof system would be completed without monumental effort by the outing club community. Many blitzes were sent out and in the first week of January dozens of volunteers, student, staff and alumni descended on the work site. With great aplomb, tongue and groove pine boards were nailed to the purlins, then advantec OSB was used to create an overhang and the whole was covered with reinforced poly sheeting, then strapped down. The names are many and I shall try to get all of them, but special thanks to Helen Wilbur ’05 for organizing and preparing food for most of the larger days, Donald Cutter ’71, Dave Sargent P’05, 08 &11, Larry Hathorne, and Eric Sailer ’61 for providing sweet old-dudeness and some standard of quality.
Also thanks to: Owen Cadwaller ’07, Mike Beilstein ’05, Cliff Orvedal ’05, Kylie McEvoy TH’07, Jonah Kolb ’06, Max Young ’06, Josh Hurd ’08, Peter Gadomski ’08, Charlie Guthrie ’07, Sam Routhier ’07, T. Denton King ’10, Melina Marmarellis ’07, Sharon Martinson GR ’07 (and daughter), Jeffrey Bate ’07, Naomi Heindel ’07, Dunya Onen ’07, Nathan Raines ’07, Peter Cooch ’07, Shara Feld ’07, Victoria Solbert ’07, Jeff Wagner ’06, Megan Paradise ’08, Putnam W. Blodgett ’53, Susan Allie Hunter ’07 (and Beary), and many others who know who they are.
After that, various supplies were moved inside, the windows and doors and wall openings were largely boarded up and the more expensive tools were brought back to Hanover to prevent loss. The roof has survived the winter months and is quite dry inside. Looking forward to its restart in the summer!
Respectfully submitted,
Rory Gawler ’05
Stats
Number of meetings: 9
Number of trips or outdoor activities: 47
Number outdoor classes/practices: 11= Tuesdays Are For Trailwork + Trailwork seminars + Chainsaw Class
Number of indoor seminars/lectures: 4- Risk Management, Group Dynamics, Signmaking, How to Become a Leader
Number of Feeds and Fun: 10 feeds, no fun (just kidding)
Number of hours:
Students: 2114
Other: 25
WINTER ’07
Trails
Academic pressures, the option of more epic winter adventures, shorter daylight hours, and a large amount of snow later in the term kept trailwork trips to a minimum during the winter term. Instead we turned to indoor skills workshops. While JP Lewicke ’07 managed to stir up a good deal of interest in sign making, my two axe hanging workshops did not get much of a turnout. Afternoon Woodsmen's Team practices turned out to be excellent opportunities to clear blowdowns on nearby trails. A survey went out to assess the levels of skill, confidence, and enthusiasm in current leadership with regards to trailwork. Hopefully, the results will help us plan more effective trips and strategies in the spring. JP will be leading a Spring Break Trailwork Trip, in which there seems to be a good deal of interest. Our plans for the spring include rallying the troops to embrace more “Trailfun” trips and possibly some kind of epic work trip like last year's Fifty Blowdown Challenge.
Laura Kamfonik ’08
Shelters and Cabins
During winter there are few scheduled maintenance jobs, which make it a great term for a new leader to take over the job. The only real issue of note this winter was the firewood at Great Bear. Some of it had been cut too long for the wood stove and renters were complaining about it. The wood that was too long was a very small percentage of the total amount in the pile and renters just need to learn to be more discriminating in their firewood choices. A couple other cabins ran low on some minor supplies (GB, Hinman, Ritchie Smith, and Nunnemacher because of ski patrol). Both Larry and Kathy tell me that they are very appreciative when CnT has a member working on the cabins each term, and I recommend that we try to continue having a leader or leaders on cabins every term. Some of the responsibilities are simple enough for even heelers to take charge since often no one actually has to go to a cabin to re-supply it (since renters can take supplies).
On the Shelters front, Tom Bonamici ’07 finished Velvet Rocks roof this winter, and I don't believe there is anything else to report. During the spring, it will be important to make sure ever shelter gets visited at least once so the maintenance check sheet can be filled out.
Phil Bracikowski ’08
Leadership Development
We had one person become a leader this term, Susan Dunklee ’08. Susan had fulfilled almost all of her requirements during the previous term and no heeler overnights occurred during the winter. Heeler skills events such as sign-making and tool hanging were held with attendance primarily by current leaders as well as some ’10s. Winter sports related workshops such as ski waxing clinics and beginner skiing on the golf course were very popular. One ’10 co-led the Alcott hike this term, which was good to see. Risk management and group dynamics seminars were held as usual with primarily ’10s in attendance, three to four people at each.
Katie Amato ’07 and Katherine Schiavoni ’09 worked to compile a rubric for the qualitative evaluation of heeler skills that may be used as a guideline during discussion of ascensions. In addition, the winter term directors voted to allow qualified ascendees to obtain a leader card halfway through the term. Ascensions will still occur only once at the end of the term, but this midterm review would allow individuals to begin leading trips sooner after they have completed the necessary requirements.
Trips of all varieties were well attended this term. However, the majority of heelers on these trips did not attend meetings regularly or become involved with other aspects of the club. A goal for the future might be to keep up this enthusiasm for trips, but also to build a more solid group of heelers and to incorporate them more fully into the club.
Katherine Schiavoni ’09
Woodsmen’s Team
The team rallied to winter practices and sent three full teams to the winter meet at McGill University in late January, where we had a great time despite cold weather. Lauren Lesser ’10 tied for third in Axe Throw, and respectable results were achieved in many other events. The women's team made a valiant effort in the scoot load despite the scoot's being taller than Alix Lawrence ’10, as well as the sudden creation of new rules by a grumpy French judge. With the return of Josh Hurd ’08, planning for the Spring Meet began in earnest. Responsibilities were assigned, the rules were finalized, and invitations were sent out. Shara Feld ’07 took steps toward getting some of our damaged axes professionally reground, trees were identified on Oak Hill for us to fell for practice wood, and the Winter Carnival snow shovels were pressed into service to unbury the practice area after the enormous mid-February snowfall. We loosely set the teams and events for the Spring meet and continued to hone our skills with advice from alums such as Ben Honig ’05, Dave Kotz ’86, and James “Pork Roll” Taylor ’74.
Laura Kamfonik ’08
Spring Meet
Spring Meet is coming along for bore. Things are getting in place and all is right on track. The budget will be tight this year with a few large ticket items, chief among them new V-Chop stands and high wood prices, but we are still solvent. Over spring break we plan to get some major work done on the time-intensive tasks such as tree-felling, chop-making, deck-building, and other things. We have been working closely with chubber alumni, and they have been helping out quite a bit both with practices and planning. The first month of spring term will be when the shit hits the proverbial fan, but we’re doing all that we can before then to make sure nothing is too out of control.
Josh Hurd ’08
CnT Club Leadership
Spring ’06
Chairs: Allie Hunter ’07 Shara Feld ’07
Hiking Director: Pam Collins ’07
Shelters and Trails Director: Ali Crocker ’06 Chris Farmer ’08
Cabins Director: Chris Polashenski ’07
Leadership Development Director: Erika Sogge ’08
Director at Large: Josh Hurd ’08
New Leaders: Katherine Schiavoni ’09 Dominic Winski ’09, Phil Bracikowski ’08
Summer ’06
Chairs: Erika Sogge ’08 Meg Paradise ’08
New Leaders: Kathleen Onufer ’08 Tyler Frisbee ’08
Fall ’06
Chairs: Brendan Willis ’07 Erika Sogge ’08
Hiking Director: John Paul Lewicke ’07
Trails Director: Laura Kamfonik ’08
Cabins & Shelters Director: Tom Bonamici ’07
Leadership Development Directors: Shara Feld ’07 Emily Winkler ’08
Director at Large: Katie Amato ’07
Woodsmens Team Captain: Shara Feld ’07
New Leaders: Carrie Burns ’08, Mike Holmes ’08 Hannah Dreissigacker ’09, Chelsea Little ’09 Phil Wagner ’09, Paul Magyar ’09
Winter ’07
Chairs: Brendan Willis ’07 Emily Winkler ’08
Hiking Directors: Meg Paradise ’08 Tyler Frisbee ’08
Trails Director: Laura Kamfonik ’08
Cabins & Shelters Director: Phil Bracikowski ’08
Leadership Development Director: Katherine Schiavoni ’09
Director at Large: Katie Amato ’07
Woodsmens Team Captain: Shara Feld ’07
Spring Meet Director: Josh Hurd ’08
New Leaders: Susan Dunklee ’08
ESD
Redefining ESD
Taking Environmentalism Out Where It Belongs
Since its beginning as the first and only environmental organization on campus in 1969, ESD has constantly needed to re-evaluate its role as a diversity of student environmental groups have sprung up. Over the past year we’ve been carving out a niche for ourselves. Realizing that so much of environmental activism these days takes place in conferences, meetings with administrators, and computer work, ESD is focusing on experiential environmental learning and using the outdoors as more than just a playground.
Meetings
As one of the groups that participates in the Sustainable Dartmouth roundtable, most meetings took place in the context of the weekly Sustainable Dartmouth gatherings.
Leadership
Now that ESD is focusing on trips and outdoor activities it helps to have at least one of the chairs as a certified DOC leader to arrange the logistics. ESD has no process of its own for certifying leaders, but this hasn’t been a problem because many of our members are cross-listed with other clubs, especially Cabin and Trail.
Ruth Hupart ’08
Spring 06
Co-chairs: Tom Glazer ’08 and Ruth Hupart ’08
From April 17 through April 21, ESD participated in an Earth Week celebration arranged by Sustainable Dartmouth (most schools only have an Earth Day but we went all out). Around 20 students signed up to carry their trash around for a five-day period at the end of which we converged on the Green to weigh and compile the trash. It was quite a sight. This event saw the debut of the “Ask Me Why: Earth Week at Dartmouth” t-shirts. Credit goes to Allison Smith ’06 for brainstorming the motto and to Sarah Hackney ’06 for designing the shirts.
In late May, Tom Glazer ’08 and Ruth Hupart ’08 led a trip to the Global Living Project at Barra in East Corinth, Vermont. This largely self-sufficient homestead was sustainability coordinator Jim Merkel’s former home and is now lived in and maintained by Rowan Sherwood. The trip participants learned about how the homestead supplies itself and helped Rowan in her garden and with collecting wood. This trip inspired a project (currently in the works) to send a firstyear DOC trip to Barra that would consist of organic farming, nature hikes, and general chores required for the upkeep of the homestead.
The Sustainable Move-Out, a Sustainable Dartmouth initiative organized by Sarah Hackney ’06, Tom Glazer ’08, Ritchie King ’06, Tom Bonamici ’07, Marissa Knodel ’09, Diana Jih ’09, Tara McInerney ’09 and Ruth Hupart ’08 successfully came to pass. Items that would likely have been thrown away were collected at drop points all over campus and brought to storage trailers in Thompson parking lot in preparation for the Sustainable Move-In sale at the beginning of fall term. ESD’s involvement helped secure the DOC truck for this operation.
Summer 06
Co-chairs: Tom Glazer ’08 and Ruth Hupart ’08
ESD led about six work trips to the three Move-Out trailers, packed with refrigerators, lamps, and bric-a-brac, to clean the merchandise and make them ready for sale in the fall. On two of these occasions we were joined by Denis Rydjeski, Betsy Eldredge, and other volunteers from the Upper Valley Sierra Club. On another occasion members of Alpha Theta co-ed fraternity volunteered with refrigerator cleaning.
Stats: 6 worktrips
~100 student (including Alpha Theta)hours
~24 volunteer (Sierra Club) hours
At the start of the summer ESD also provided free movie tickets to “An Inconvenient Truth” when it was playing at the Nugget. There was explosive demand for these tickets.
Fall 06
Inactive
Winter 07
Chair: Ruth Hupart ’08
CnT and ESD cosponsored the Alcott Smith nature hike in February. It was arranged by Dan Susman ’10 and Ruth Hupart ’08. As with all of Alcott’s trips this one was highly successful. The participants included outdoors enthusiasts and people who hadn’t been on a DOC trip since freshman year.
Stats: Alcott Smith nature hike
~99 student hours
~9 hours from Alcott
The idea for a firstyear trip to Barra was brought to Trips director John Shellito ’07 and Rowan Sherwood to start the planning process.
Looking Ahead
This year is shaping up as a critical turning point year in action on climate change. What with climate change activities and Sustainable Move-Out work trips, ESD is looking to some busy and exciting times in the months ahead.
Farm and Field
NOFA Conference – October 2, 2007
We had a great turnout this year. Five undergraduates and friends accompanied by one Scott Stokoe made the pilgrimage to Randolph, Vermont for the annual winter conference of the Northeast Organic Farmer’s Association Conference. There, we participated in an array of workshops including workshops on growing grains in Vermont, starting localvore communities in your community, soil science, cheesmaking, and more. We all left the conference with inspired ideas and full bellies (after taking part in New England’s largest potluck lunch).
Winter Event – February 23, 2007
This year’s schedule
3:30-4:30 Nature walk with naturalist Craig Layne
4:30-6:00 Decorate a wall hanging for the white farmhouse, Learn how to make Kimchi (Lead by Diana Jih), Tree identification workshop (Lead by Scott Stokoe)
6:00-7:00 Potluck
7:00 Live music by Wagtail (a group from Central Vermont fusing traditional Celtic music with world beats!).
John Wachter ’10, Mark Davenport ’10, Diana Jih ’09, Hannah Rossman ’08, Iona Woolmington ’07 and Nick Garcia ’07 have been extremely helpful in organizing this event. Attendance was somewhat less than previous events. This could have been due to the event being somewhat closer to the end of the term as well as a busy evening on the rest of the Dartmouth campus.
Meetings
As is typical of winter, our membership has declined for the season. In an attempt to increase meeting attendance, we moved meetings to 5:30 on Thursday evenings instead of 12:00 on Tuesday. This resulted in more social meetings and a slightly higher attendance but Thursday nights make the week a little hard to plan for. I think Tuesday evenings might be the ideal meeting time for next term. We were having potluck dinners every other week to keep the excitement for meetings going. I think this was a successful mission.
Stats
Meetings: 72 student-hours
Work Days: 40 student-hours
Events: 80 student-hours
NOFA: 56 student-hours
Total: 248 student-hours
Hannah Rossman ’08
Ledyard Canoe Club
Ledyard Spring Trip 2006, organized by Scott Andrews ’07, was a great success with 20 Ledyardites descending upon Asheville, North Carolina for 10 days of whitewater fun. Running trips on rivers ranging from the beginner Nanthahala to exploring new intermediate/advanced runs on rivers such as the Watauga and the Cheoh Rivers, brand new paddlers were introduced to the excitement of whitewater kayaking while intermediate paddlers had the chance to build upon skills and experience. We enjoyed the company of Outdoor Programs Assistant Director, Brian Kunz, as well as Ledyard alums, including Molly Malone ’05 who now calls Asheville home. The trip went very smoothly with the exception of being snowed out on our last day, aborting a run of the Nolichucky in favor of a movie theater for some indoor bonding.
The spring term started out with elections for the 2006-2007 year, electing President Sarah Garcia ’07, Vice President Jeff Bate ’07, Secretary John Beardsley ’08, Treasurer Scott Andrews ’07, Members-at-Large Sarah Hughes ’07 and Eric Klem ’08. Spring was a busy term for Ledyard. Hanna Farrar ’09 successfully organized the annual Mascoma Slalom Race, paddlers participated in the Wells River Rumble, a creeking race organized by a Ledyard alum Jolyon Rivoir-Pruszinski ’00. We ran four beginner and one intermediate whitewater kayaking PE classes as well as two beginner and one intermediate weekend whitewater kayaking trips. Ben Koons ’08 ran the annual DOC Challenge, organizing a great turn-out of teams in a race with three legs—whitewater canoeing, running and flatwater canoeing. In late May the annual senior and alum Trip to the Sea, lead by Sam Naney ’06, was a great success, despite unusually wet and at times cold weather. The trip was met with great hospitality by alumni all the way down to the mouth the Connecticut River. The rental business opened for the season under the direction of Sarah Garcia ’07. The spring-summer interim saw the return of many Ledyard alumni, including the class of 1971 returning for a pancake paddle during the commencement-and-reunion period.
The summer term was headed by Eric Klem ’08 as summer-term president and Anna Schumacher ’09 working as the junior summer director for the business. There were many opportunities for intermediate paddlers to get out paddling with weekend trips going out to rivers such as the Penobscot and the Kennebec in Maine and the Ottawa in Canada. The Sophomores from the Source trip, lead by Zoë Acher ’08, was a great success with over 30 people going. A lot of new interest in kayaking was encouraged by the four PE classes and two beginner trips that were run. At the end of the summer, First Year Trips got going to welcome the class of 2010. Grant Croo 2006, consisting of Scott Andrews ’07, Emily Harding-Theobald ’08, John Beardsley ’08 and Anna Schumacher ’09, ran trips up in the Second College Grant. Things went smoothly and for many freshmen this was their first experience with Dartmouth and Ledyard in particular.
After holding a Freshman Pancake Paddle at the beginning of orientation, roughly 20 intermediate and advanced kayakers headed up to Canada and New York to fit in some boating while the freshmen became acquainted with Dartmouth. We went to the Ottawa, Racquette and Beaver rivers. The weather cooperated fall term, raining a lot and allowing the intermediate and advanced paddlers in the club to get out creeking fairly often. In between all these trips, club members found the time to run a number of orientation events, five PE classes and three beginner trips, attracting a good amount of interest from the freshman class. Anna Schumacher ’09 stayed on as the fall business director and the business closed for the season on October 12th. At the end of fall term, Sarah Garcia ’07, David Strauss ’08, Zoë Acher ’08, Katie Ammons ’08, Emily Harding-Theobald ’08 and Anna Schumacher ’09 traveled to Costa Rica for 21 days of beautiful whitewater kayaking fun in the sun. Their trip was generously funded by the Davis Kirby Adventure Fund and the Schlitz fund.
Winter term, as always, was somewhat quieter for Ledyard. We had well-attended pool sessions three times a week and participated in the intramural ice hockey league. These activities allowed us to maintain and even build upon the freshman interest from the fall.
The past year was a very successful one for Ledyard. We have many members of the class of 2010 excited to become involved with the club and have a great rising senior class preparing to take over the leadership of the club. We continue to kayak in exciting places and remain in contact with our strong alumni base. Our clubhouse remains on the banks of the Connecticut River, welcoming members back on their return to Dartmouth.
Mountaineering Club
The year started off with Spring Trip to Red Rocks, Nevada, led by Jeff Burns Woodward ’06. Over 20 club members participated.
Spring Term saw many beginner trips to Rumney and Rumney vans, as well as a trip to Cathedral/ Whitehorse. It also marked the DMC’s first victory in the Vertical Challenge.
Summer Term was fairly quiet for the DMC. Of note are a number of ascents of hard routes at Rumney by talented climbers and a deep water soloing trip to Lake Champlain, a possible first in DMC history.
Fall Term was a return to normal activity with DMC presence at Rumney, Pawtuckaway, Cathedral/Whitehorse and the Gunks. The Gunks trips are always a highlight of the term among many climbers. Fall term also saw several presentations, including “Benedictus”, a film about historical climbs on Cannon. John Varco made an appearance on behalf of Mountain Hardwear and BigUp Productions, despite fundraising setbacks, presented two climbing films—“First Ascent” and “Dosage Volume 4”. Finally, a Hamilton professor gave a presentation called “Forgotten Giants”, on the history of Himalayan Mountaineering.
Of note from this term was a crisis with the funding for the Big UP Productions after EMS could no longer sponsor the event—make sure you have funding to host events before committing!!!
Although Winter Term got off to a slow start with no ice and a bit of climbing at Rumney in the early weeks of January, a cold snap brought in the ice within a few weeks of starting winter term. Mike Holmes ’08 did a phenomenal job leading the popular Tuesday Ice Clinics. In addition to two beginner trips to Holts in late January, the club ran a beginner trip to the Flume during reading period. Winter was a slow season for climbing comps, with neither Williams nor Middlebury hosting their customary competitions. Nevertheless, the DMC did send a contingent to the Hampshire comp, where James Joslin ’05 took second and Gabriel Martinez ’99 took first in the men’s advanced category. In addition, the DMC hosted an intracollegiate comp for Dartmouth students, and an intercollegiate comp for students from other schools in February.
Several new ice screws were purchased in addition to restocking helmet and harness supplies for the Top Rope Locker. In addition, the DMC created a new leader classification, the toprope ice leader category, to increase the number of beginner trips the club could offer.
Grad student Valerio Vitti gave a slideshow about his adventures climbing the Mexican Volcanoes in February.
Many thanks to Addie Smith ’07 for keeping the DMC functioning, to James Joslin and John Joline for helping the climbing comps take place smoothly.
Linden Mallory ’07 and Addie Smith ’07
Officers
Spring Chairs: Wiley Bogren ’07, Remy Denton ’08
Summer Chairs: Remy Denton ’08, Mike Holmes ’08
Fall Chairs: Mike Holmes ’08, Vic Solbert ’07
Winter Chairs: Addie Smith ’07 Linden Mallory ’07, Lizzy Asher ’09
Fall Leader Coordinator: Addie Smith ’07
Spring Gear Monitor: Jake Feinzig ’09
Summer Gear Monitor: Addie Smith ’07
Fall Gear Monitor: Lizzy Asher ’09
Winter Gear Monitor: Harrison Davies ’09
Stats
30 Feeds
3 Leader Meetings
5+ movies, slideshows, and presentations.
2 VC victories
12 Vans to Rumney
8-16 Beginner Trips to Rumney
2 Gunks Trips
2 Cathedral/Whitehorse Trips
2 Beginner Ice Trips
1 Intermediate Ice Trip
5 Ice Clinics
Estimate of Total Hours: ~15,000 hours
Notable Ascents
Ben Chapman ’09
Mt Rainier
Remy Denton ’08 and Max Hopkins ’09
Crimson Chrysalis, 5.8+, 10 pitches, red rocks NP
Lizzie Asher ’09
Rumney: Gold coast 5-13c/d, Predator 5-13b, Tin men 5-13a, Muscle beach 5-13a, Butt Bongo Fiesta 5-13a, Maui Wowie 5-13a/ b?
Heuco tanks: First female ascent Free Willy V10/V11, Eckstein V10, Loaded with Power V10, Big Nose Millie V9/V10
James Joslin ’05/Th’07
Rumney: Dynosaur 13a, Tin Monkeys 13a, Stoned Monkeys 13b
Hueco Tanks: Big Nose Milley V9/10, Loaded with Power V10, Predator V10, and Free Willy V10/11
Gabriel Martinez Th’07
No Shit 13c, Journey to a Mushroom Planet 13a, Dr. No 14a
Andrew Palmer ’10
Butt Bongo Fiesta 13a, Muscle Beach 13a, Suburban Surfer 13a, Thin Man 13a, Journey to a mushroom planet 13a, Predator 13b, Rhythm X 13c, Riviera 13d
Katey Blumenthal ’06 and Andrew Flynn ’07
Tetons: Grand Teton via the direct Petzoldt ridge in mixed conditions
JeffBurns Woodward ’06 and Vic Solbert ’07
Yosemite: Freeblast (IV, 5.11b, the first 12 pitches of the Salathe wall), full moon ascent of Snake Dike on Half Dome
Jeff Burns Woodward ’06 and Andrew Flynn ’07
Squamish: The Grand Wall at Squamish (IV, 5.11a A0)
North Cascades: North Ridge of Mount Stuart (IV, 5.9)
Expedition Fund
Katey Blumenthal ’06 and Andrew Flynn ’07: climbing in the Tetons (Summer), see above.
Mike Holmes ’08 and Kelsey Noonan ’08: Climbing in the French Alps. Bad weather and poor conditions limited much of what they had planned on climbing.
Ski Patrol
In 2004, Jessie Seymour coined the phrase “march of progress” to describe the great strides that the Dartmouth Ski Patrol had taken in the years preceding. Now, a mere three years later, it is clear that the DSP has continued on that march. We have significantly furthered alumni relations with the publication of an annual newsletter and the development of a Friends Group alumni endowment; we have created a working organizational handbook; and we have begun the arduous process of funding and building a new on-hill patrol headquarters. These tangible achievements have also come alongside less visible improvements in commitment, skill level, and general professionalism.
The 2006-2007 DSP Board of Directors recognized that in order for the progress to continue, we needed to identify the exact strengths and weaknesses of the club. We did this by opening up a dialogue with other members of patrol to examine the directions in which progress had been made and to identify new avenues for improvement. We outlined a main set of goals to steer our development over the coming year. These goals included reinforcing the importance of training, inspiring a sense of purpose, improving the social cohesion of the club, and strengthening our alumni base. On the heels of such successful seasons, we took the opportunity to use the well-developed framework to create a more dynamic, more effective, but all the while highly enjoyable organization.
The fun began with our annual Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) class. Training Officer, Ben Schiffman ’07 and Director, Matt Fulton ’96, guided the enthusiastic 15 OECers through 100 hours of high-pressure backboarding scenarios, the details of delivering oxygen, non-critical splinting, and the occasional femur fracture. Dr. Reed Brozen, director of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team, also left the hectic world of emergency medicine to deliver a lecture on wilderness first aid.
We charged into the fall and Dartmouth’s new class of ’10s responded to our zeal with equal enthusiasm. We interviewed over 80 freshmen, a record high, and selected 35 to participate in the ’10 apprentice program. Along with drawing an impressive, calligraphic DSP sign for the bonfire, they brought new energy to the mandatory training requirements for the fall and winter. CPR training was well-run despite the logistical difficulties posed by a new course format and the fall refresher was much improved from years past. We altered the structure used during the 2005 refresher to create a more organized weekend of training. We spiced up the annual routine by integrating the Blood Borne Pathogens training into the event and found that establishing a more regulated schedule for each set of OEC scenarios greatly increased the efficiency of the day. Thanks to an additional moulage kit, we were even able to simulate real-life calls. Matt Fulton painted bruises and attached sausage intestines on our new apprenti with true artistry. The one breakdown of the event was due to inadequate communication between the organizers and station leaders. I highly recommend that next year’s board take the time not only to map out every aspect of the event but also to inform the station leaders what they will be responsible for with regard to evaluation techniques as well as timing.
Over the fall, we also reconnected with Meathead Films, a ski movie company dedicated to East Coast snow. Assistant Director Conor Frantzen ’08 organized a viewing of their new film, “Snow Gods.” Any east coast skier would have been proud.
When the ski season finally hit and we returned to the Skiway on December 30, we were met by a disheartening mound of mud. Dirtway would have been a fitting title. Nonetheless, through rain and mud, we overcame the less-than-optimal conditions and continued to strengthen our skills and patient care standards. Our three-day candidate training event and “winter skills day” both went smoothly and patrolling shifts were effective and enjoyable.
Tuesday, February 14th, our season took a turn for the incredible. The following day, Dartmouth College had a snow day for the first time in decades. During the next month, Ski Patrol skyrocketed. All the ’09 candidate patrollers passed their vest test and became certified National Ski Patrollers. The Hepatitis B vaccination was made available to patrollers at no cost. The DSP Member Handbook was put through an extensive revision and the 33-page document nearly doubled in length. The now 60-page handbook establishes a standard of care that well-reflects how far Ski Patrol has come in terms of professionalism and skill. We won a skiing event at the highly competitive Patrol Olympics against long-time rival Middlebury Patrol. We also created an endowment committee to organize the Friends Group Account that was established during the fall. Alyson Guillet ’08 was named the committee’s student representative, Ben Zabar ’04 was named the alumni representative, and Karen Keane, a volunteer from within the Upper Valley community, filled the position of community representative. Together with Matt Fulton, they have drafted a solicitation to generate support for an inaugural project to construct new on-hill Patrol Headquarters at the top of both chairlifts and lessen the financial burden the organization has on the patrol volunteers.
I believe Ski Patrol has become the fundamentally better organization that Seymore envisioned. Similar to any call on the mountain, this success has rested on both strong leadership and effective teamwork. Ski Patrol is greatly indebted to the work of our patrol director, Matt Fulton, who has driven this organization through thick and thin. The changes are similarly tied to every patroller willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. The pursuit of excellence is never-ending and improvements rest on the initiative made past the estimated 6,500 hours of community service work. Thanks to everyone who has continued to push the organization forward. In particular, I would like to thank the entire board: Assistant Director Conor Frantzen ’08, Training Officer Ben Schiffman ’07, Secretary James Austin ’07, Alyson Guillet ’08, and Erin Windauer ’08, Treasurer Adam Platz ’08 and Jon Scherr ’08, Equipment Officer Eric Trautmann ’07, and Apprentice Liaison Joanna Patterson ’09.
I am excited for the future of the organization as I pass over command to Alyson Guillet ’08. I have confidence that she and Assistant Director Blaine Morriss ’08, Training Officer Conor Frantzen ’08, Secretary Marki Grimsley ’09, Treasurer Kayte Suslavich ’09, and Equipment Officer Will Hanson ’09 will push Ski Patrol onwards on that march of progress.
It has been a pleasure to serve.
Elan Leong Guterman ’07
Winter Sports Club
Co-chairs: Jake Feintzeig ’09 and Chris Farmer ’08
Spring and Summer 06 Winter Sports Club was inactive. Fall 2006 was mainly a planning term. I worked on preparing for the January 07 trip to Mt. Katahdin in Maine, and stimulating interest in WSC by sending out blitzes. Shara Feld ’07 created a ski waxing station in the DOC Workshop. With funding from CnT and WSC, the ski waxing station was fully functional throughout the winter. Many thanks go out to Shara for getting this project going.
During winter 2007 WSC was active. We ran two trips and had three meetings. First we went to Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine (with a shakedown hike/snow school on Mt. Mousilauke). We successfully summited, and everyone enjoyed the great conditions, weather, and wildness we found in Baxter. The second trip we ran was a Presidential Traverse. After spending a night in Billings Cabin, we attempted the traverse Northbound, and made it all the way to Mt. Jefferson before bailing. Both these trips were really fun, and I would definitely recommend they happen again. Special thanks go out to Andrew McCauley ’09 for co-leading the presidential traverse, and Mark Davenport ’10 for general enthusiasm for WSC.
Winter terms seem to always be busy, and we did not accomplish all the goals we had set. Next year, I’d like to run more trips. I’d really like to see a Franconia ridge hike, a backcountry skiing trip, and two snow schools in addition to Katahdin and Presidential traverse. This would bring WSC from the somewhat-forgotten-club status to a fully active club. I also think it is very important to create a WSC leader document. Hand-selecting qualified leaders definitely worked this term, but I think a more organized system would allow for more trips. The last thing I hope will get done next year (or before) is creating a WSC gear locker in the basement of Robinson to store sleds, tarps, Katahdin maps, etc.
Stats
16 hrs. – Katahdin Meetings
56 hrs. – Mousilauke Shakedown Hike/Snow school
588 hrs. – Katahdin trip
8 hrs. – WSC Trip leading meeting
8 hrs. – Presidential Traverse meeting
216 hrs. – Presidential Traverse trip
892 total student activity hours
Jake Feintzeig ’09
