Dartmouth's Winter Prophet

BY THE TIME HE entered Dartmouth in 1907 Fred Harris '11 of Brattleboro, Vermont, was proficient not only in cross-country skiing but also in the manufacture of skis, which he made for his friends and neighbors, and in ski-jumping (he could clear 50 feet). Harris found the winter conditions at Dartmouth ideal, but his fellow students apparently didn't agree. "The winter was a distinct liability," said Harris years later. "This I couldn't understand."

On November 30, 1909, Harris wrote a letter to The Dartmouth asking, "What is there to do at Dartmouth in the winter?" He proposed the formation of a "ski and snow-shoe club" whose first meeting was in Harris's room in South Fayer weather on December 14.

In 1920, Harris wrote an article for National Geographic, entitled "Skiing Over the New Hampshire Hills," which mentioned the Outing Club. Applications for College admissions subsequently jumped from around 825 to 2,625.

The increase led to the adoption of the selective admissions process; thus Harris may have had a hand in shaping Dartmouth as an academic institution.

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