The Dartmouth College Ski Team was once organized under the aegis of the Dartmouth Outing Club and is now operating under Dartmouth Athletics. This team is notable for both providing students access to competitive skiing and training internationally successful nordic and alpine ski racers.[1] The Dartmouth Outing Club hosted the US's first downhill ski race on Mt Moosilauke in 1927, and Dartmouth skiing has been intertwined with ski racing ever since.[2][3]
The alpine teams train at the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme, New Hampshire. The nordic teams train at The Dartmouth Cross Country Ski Center at Oak Hill, Hanover NH.[4]
Cami Thompson is the Director of Skiing at Dartmouth and has been a Dartmouth coach since 1989;[5] she was a US Ski Team member from 1985-1987,[6] and is a member of the US Ski & Snowboard Board of Directors.[7]
The Nashua (NH) Telegraph notes that in 1914, a group of Dartmouth students travelled to Canada to compete against McGill University in the first collegiate ski race.[9] The Dartmouth Outing Club's 1927 race on Mt Moosilauke is cited by the US Ski & Snowboard Association as the first downhill ski race in the country.[10]
By 1935 the ski team was sufficiently distinct from the Outing Club to have its own distinct captain; the first ″ski team″ captain was Selden Hannah D35, though there were ″winter sports″ captains before that.[11]
The Dartmouth Ski Team won the NCAA national championship in 1958, 1976 (tied with Colorado), and 2007. The team finished in second place in 1955, 1956, 1964, 1969, and 1970.[12] The team has finished in the top 5 of the NCAA Skiing Championship 43 times.[13]
Captains
The list of captains of the ski teams can be found here.[14]
Year
Men's Alpine
Men's Nordic
Women's Nordic
Women's Alpine
2020
Drew Duffy D21
Leah Brams D20, Lauren Jortberg D20
Claire Thomas D21
2019
James Ferri D19
Gavin McEwen D19, Koby Gordon D19
Emily Hyde D19
Alexa Dlouhy D19
2018
Thomas Woolson D17
Luke Brown D18
Zoe Snow D18
Foreste Peterson D18
2017
Thomas Woolson D17
Fabian Stocek D17
Cara Piske D18, Zoe Snow D18
Nicole Anderson D17
2016
Sam Macomber D16
Oscar Friedman D16
Mary O'Connell D16, Corey Stock D16
Anne Strong D16
2015
Ben Morse D14, Hunter Black D15
Austin Caldwell D15, Silas Talbot D15
Julia Harrison D15
Abby Fucigna D15
2014
Ben Morse D14, Mathieu Bertrand D14
David Sinclair D14
Annie Hart D14, Isabel Caldwell D14
Abby Fucigna D15
Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games
Dartmouth skiers have represented the US (and other nations) in the winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.[15]
Athletes named but did not compete due to World War II: Selden J. Hannah D35 (Nordic Combined),[21] David J. Bradley D38 (Nordic Combined), Stephen J. Bradley D39 (Nordic Combined), Warren H. Chivers D38 (Nordic Combined), Richard H. Durrance D39 (Alpine Combined), John P. Litchfield D39 (Nordic Jumping),[22] Edward P. Wells D39 (Alpine), Harold Q. Hillman D40 (Alpine)
John H. Caldwell Jr D50 (Nordic Combined),[23]Brooks Dodge Jr D51 (Alpine Giant Slalom), William L. Beck D53 (Alpine Downhill), Chiharu Igaya D57 (Alpine)
Brooks Dodge Jr D51 (Alpine), Charles N. Tremblay D52 (Nordic Combined), William L. Beck D53 (Alpine Downhill), Thomas A. Corcoran D54 (Alpine),[24]Chiharu Igaya D57 (Alpine),[25] Ralph E. Miller Jr D55 (Alpine)
Scott W. Berry D71 (Jumping), Walker T. Weed III D71 (Nordic Combined), David H. Currier D74 (Alpine), Thomas A. Reaper D74 (XC Jumping), Timothy J. Caldwell D76 (XC)
Donald M. Nielsen D74 (XC), Timothy J. Caldwell D76 (XC), William K. Carow D80 (Biathlon), Landis A. Arnold D82 (Jumping), Glen R. Eberle D85 (Biathlon), Dennis McGrane D84 (Jumping), Gale H. Shaw III D85 (Alpine)
The highest level of competitive ski racing takes place on the Alpine and Nordic World Cup circuits.
Moosilauke Time Trial
Two times each year, the alpine and nordic ski teams complete a time trial, starting at the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge and ending at the summit of Mt Moosilauke.[31]
The course follows the Gorge Brook Trail, and ascends 2387 feet (to 4802 feet ASL) across 3.6 miles.[32][33] The course record of 36:16 was set in 2010 by Kris Freeman.[34]
Dartmouth Ski Team alumni notable for accomplishments other than Olympic Skiing
Katie Bono[35] D10. Holder of women’s record for fastest ascent of Denali in Alaska, with a time of 21:06, set in 2017.[36][37][38]
Bill Briggs D54.[39] Pioneer of big mountain skiing,[40] inducted into the U.S. National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2008.[41]
Howard Chivers D39. Inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 1973. 1942 National Nordic Combined Champion. Former captain of the Dartmouth Ski Team.[42] Brother of Warren Chivers.[43]
Tom Corcoran D54.[44] In addition to his Olympic performance and national championships, Corcoran founded Waterville Valley ski area in New Hampshire.[45][46] According to his entry in the National Ski Hall of Fame, "Tom Corcoran was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame on 1978 as both a Skisport Builder and Ski Athlete. He received the Blegen Award in 1991, the highest award of the U.S. Ski Association. In 1995, he was elected to the Rolex International Ski Racing Hall of Fame."[47]
Peter Dodge D78. Dartmouth men's alpine coach. 1989-2022[48] Dodge raced on the US Pro Tour in the 1980s and was twice awarded skier of the year honors.[49] He is credited as instrumental in the increased relevance of collegiate skiing to the highest levels of the sport.[50]
Jack Durrance D36. Brother of ski team member Richard H. Durrance D39, attempted to climb K2 in 1939. He completed the first recorded traverse of the Grand, Middle and South Tetons in Wyoming (with Butterworth).[51] He completed the first recorded ascent of the Grand Teton via the northwest ridge (with M. Davis). In 1936, he completed the first ascent of the north face of the Grand Teton (with Petzoldt and Petzoldt).[52]
Ned Gillette D67. In addition to attending the 1968 Winter Olympics, Gillette wrote a book on cross-country ski technique Cross-Country Skiing, first published in 1979.[53] In 1981, Gillette climbed and descended by skiing the Pamir peak Mustag Ata (24,757 feet).[54] Gillette was an adventurer,[55] notably rowing 600 miles across the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica. He was killed in Kashmir in 1998 while traveling with Susan Patterson, his spouse.[56]
Fred H. Harris D1911. Founded the Dartmouth Outing Club;[57] inducted into the US National Ski Hall of Fame in 1957.[58]
John McCrillis D1919. Early advocate for alpine (vs nordic) ski racing. Inducted into the US National Ski Hall of Fame in 1966.[59]
Malcolm McLane D46.[60] World War II fighter pilot, POW, Distinguished Flying Cross recipient. Rhodes Scholar, captain of the Dartmouth ski team, director of the US Olympic Committee. McLane was elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1973.
Walter Prager Coach; elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1977.[61]
Sandy Treat D46. 10th Mountain Division soldier during World War II.[64] Inducted into the Colorado Snow Sports Hall of Fame in 2010.[65]
See also
Dartmouth Outing Club alumni not associated with the ski team have made notable contributions to mountaineering. For example, in 1963, Barry Bishop D53, Barry Corbet[66] D58, Jake Breitenbach [67] D57, Barry Prather D61,[68] and Dave Dingman D58[69] all joined the first US expedition to Mt Everest.[70][71]
Passion for Skiing: The Story of the Alumni, Staff and Family, How one Small College in New England, Dartmouth College, has been Dominating the Development of Modern Skiing for over 100 Years, Stephen L. Waterhouse, 2011 (ISBN 978-0975882016)
Reaching That Peak: 75 Years of the Dartmouth Outing Club, David O. Hooke, 1987 (ISBN 0-914659-24-3)