SKIREC
Up, down, up, down - bend those knees - uphill ski forward - use your poles." The ski instructor gently bellows out these words of wisdom as he checks the techniques of his pupils. Several other students anxiously await their turns to demonstrate their newly acquired ability.
On any weekday afternoon during the winter term this scene is repeated over and over. The students are enrolled in the Dartmouth Outing Club's Ski School and are taking advantage of the tremendous skiing facilities which dot the hillsides around the Dartmouth campus.
Since the founding of the Outing Club in 1909 Dartmouth has been known for its enthusiasm and leadership in skiing. As the sport gained in popularity at Dartmouth, so it grew throughout the United States. With the great upsurge in skiing as a recreational and family sport after 1950, a need arose on the Dartmouth campus for a program to enable students to learn to ski or to improve their skiing abilities. Although many students know how to ski when they arrive on the campus, others come from the South or Midwest and for them skiing is a new and fascinating sport. With sixty ski areas within a two-hour drive from the campus, skiing provides an important outlet during those cold winter months. Naturally, multitudes of girls in delightfully fitted stretch pants make it imperative that the Dartmouth man be able to ski.
To meet the increased demand for a recreational skiing program, it was decided to formulate plans for one. With the construction of the Dartmouth Skiway only thirteen miles from the campus, the stage was set.
From its inception in 1957 the Ski Recreational (SKIREC) Program has become the largest organized extracurricular activity on the Dartmouth campus. Last year 500 students participated. SKIREC is open to all students at the College. Last year 60 per cent of the students in the program were freshmen. Some students enroll to satisfy a physical education requirement, while others enroll simply to learn to ski. Classes begin in early January and continue until the end of the winter term in mid-March. The initial classes are held on the Golf Course Hill. This allows all skiers to loosen up tight muscles and permits the D.O.C. Ski School instructors to classify each student according to his ability. Students are classified in eight groups, ranging from beginner to advanced. As a student progresses, he is moved to a higher group by the head instructor. Classes are small, averaging from five to eight men per instructor. This enables the instructor to keep a close watch on the progress of each student. Students are required to attend two sessions per week, but are encouraged of course to ski as much as possible during the week.
All hands are soon skiing at the Dartmouth Skiway with its excellent facilities. Six trails provide a wide range of terrain from the wide and gentle "Papoose" to the steep and challenging "Worden's Schuss." A 3700-foot Pomalift and a 1600-foot Mitchell T-bar provide ample lift facilities to the top of Holt's Ledge and to the top of Green Pastures, a practice slope for beginners. Many students also enjoy the apres ski activities around the fire in the newly enlarged Brundage Ski Lodge, there forming new friendships and exchanging news of an afternoon on the slopes.
All forty instructors of the D.O.C. Ski School are students at the College and are excellent skiers. One instructor was captain of the 1960 British Olympic Ski Team. During the fall term potential and former instructors are required to take a special night course in first-aid and skiing techniques. Doctors from the Hitchcock Clinic in Hanover instruct the classes in first-aid, and George Ostler, program director and assistant ski team coach, lectures on skiing techniques. The instructional program is based on ExpertSkiing,. a book by David Bradley '38, Ralph Miller '55, and Allison Merrill, Dartmouth ski team coach. All instructors are required to use the same basic techniques in their classes, thus insuring that the student does not become confused when he finds himself under the tutelage of a new instructor.
Costs for the SKIREC Program last year were $5650. Two major items in the budget were salaries for instructors and expenses for bus transportation to and from the Skiway for the students. These costs were met with a $3000 grant from the Physical Education Department and the fees paid by participating students. Physical education students are assessed $7.00 and volunteers are assessed $12.00.
The low cost of the SKIREC Program is one of its major attractions. After his initial expenses for equipment and enrollment fee, the student pays only for lift tickets. All students enrolled in the Program must be members of the Outing Club, and thus may take advantage of reduced rates at the Skiway. For his investment, the skier receives instruction worth $150 and the investment continues to pay dividends until the day when his skis are stored away for the last time.
Skiing has been a part of Dartmouth life for fifty years, providing an important outlet for students and allowing them to develop a recreational skill that can be used long after graduation. The D.O.C. Ski School has played a vital role in furthering the interest in skiing at Dartmouth and can be justly proud of its accomplishments. Although the Program has yet to develop an Olympic skier, the high interest of the student body attests to its great success.
Step Number One: Beginners' Class on the golf course hill.
George Ostler (r), assistant ski coach and director of the D.O.C. Ski School, withstudent instructor Jeff Pitchford '64, of Worthing, Sussex, England, who wascaptain of the 1960 British Olympic ski team before he came to Dartmouth.
