Colby Magazine Colby Magazine

Volume 87 Issue 1 Winter 1998 Article 9

January 1998

Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here

Stephen Collins Colby College

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine

Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Collins, Stephen (1998) "Wish You Were Here," Colby Magazine: Vol. 87 : Iss. 1 , Article 9. Available at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine/vol87/iss1/9

This Contents is brought to you for free and open access by the Colby College Archives at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Magazine by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby.

The f i rst year that Parker Beverage was dean of

admiss ions he arranged a weekend program in m i d-Apr i l

for appl icants who had been accepted b u t were sti l l

try ing to decide whether to attend C o l by. F i ve fam i l ies

showed up from central M assach usetts and P ittsburgh

and points i n between.

"And damned i f it d i dn't snow," Beverage reca l ls .

" N ot j ust a l itt l e snow, a rea l b l i zzard . Fam i l y cars stuck

in the pa rk ing l ot and a l l that."

A b l i zzard three weeks after the offic ia l beg i n n ing of

spr i ng, i rrefutable ev idence of how l ong Maine wi nters

can last, i s not the sort of t h i ng that shows up i n

admiss ions v i ewbooks. It was a l most enough t o make the

perpetua l l y cheerfu l dean g l u m . B ut when fam i l ies ar­

r i ve, the show must go on. S o the admiss ions staff turned

u p the therm ostat, h e l ped push the snow-bound cars and

borrowed enough L . L . Bean boots to outf it the stude nts'

fa m i l i es for the i r campus tours. Eve rywhere the v is i tors

went they got the same warm reception - sma l l k i ndnesses

and a sp i r i t of cooperat ion that have become trade marks

of C o l by's campus c l i mate.

"Adversity can rea l l y br ing peop l e together. They saw

the sense of commun ity that was fostered by a l l th is," said

Beverage . " A l l f ive of those kids enrol led here."

T h e re are two l< i n d s o f

p e o p l e i n t h e wor l d .

T h o se w h o hate winter

and t h ose w h o s l ide d own

a h i l l o n a d i n i n g tray.

Talk to long-term Maine residents and rheir enrhu:iiasm for rhe

plca:iurcs of winter is l i kely to he tempered hy :ipecific detaib-the

sun :iett ing at 4 p.m. in December or the way the wind :iends spray

from a :mowhlowcr hack in your face and down your neck. They

may rake pride in the :ievcrity of Maine winter, hut once rhe

novelty wears off i t becomes a test of endurance: chipping ice off

windshields in February, figuring out where to pi le the snow in

March and nursing dashed hopes when that odd April bli::ard

hlm1 s in. They l i ke winter, they II' i l l tel l you, but . . .

' rudcnts arc less ambivalent . They embrace the sca::.on w i th

see m i ngly un iversal affect ion, and th win ter they w i h for i s

rhc old-fash ioned k i nd. W i mer w i th shnuldcn. on i t .

There i s some scl f-sclccrinn at work. 'tudcnrs who hate

winter don 't genera l ly apply to �la me col lege'>. nd, suggc-,teLI

manda Bl igh '97, those ll'ho can't cnpe, r ramfer. Bur nn

compla i nt s ! la ·be t hat\ i u�r part nf gcr t t ng p'>yched up for 1' lame\

lnnge,r seasnn. 1' laybc, a' rhe cnunse l tng 'raff ,uggesr,, -,clf­

cnrn.c inus , rudenr ' fear cnmpl.i 1 11 1 11g would he percel \·ed a' a -,1gn

nf n1 lner;1bd1r · . !aybe 1r\ because ,ruLlcnr, nn campu' d1m'r

hal'e rn ,hl1\·el sidewalb nr p ln11 dn 1-c11 ay, ,md c1 11 l l \·e 11 ell

in,td<ited frnm rhl' c lement' if they 11 ,mt 111, n1mplcre 1\ 1th a

he.ired held house. :\nd ma\ be rhe\ ' I I a l l be 'i ll\!llll! a d1fkrent t une when rhel' rerurn fn1m 'l'rtnl! bre.1k .m,1 Im I r lw b,1,d , 1 1 1

ream m rha r fie kl h< 1u,e, pr.K nc Ill\! !1 'r .m< 'r hL·r ,e.1,, 'n I'' ''ti'' 111L·,I

unnl the '111 \\1· mel t,.

\Vmrer\ <lrTI\ ;1[ 1, ,1 celcbr.u,,n l'l l'nt t,,r 'cu,lent, E\ en \ e.ir

che first >n<lll trtg\!L'r' .1 pnm<1r I t.ii dcldH rh.1t m'H ,ru,lenr, rr.lt:l'

w chi I lhlxxl mem,,ne' . "Thi, 1\ L'l'ken,I rhere '' l'rl' hun,lrL· f, < ''

l el1ple ,,ur,1,lc pb\ 111\! .u11unLI .mcl ,lt,hnt: ,1tcer rhe ltr'r ,n,\\1 :· '.uJ

Perer D<\\\'11111g ·99 11,fk,\1 111\! chl' fir,r lct:mm.ue .Kcumtd.m,1n ,,n

ovemher 1 6 . now-foorhall and -,now-Fn-,hee game materi< 1 l -

1:ed on the mall . A ..,ruJcnr from FlonJ.i r,lCcLI our-,1Jc \\ i rh .i \ 1deu

camera-and pointed 1r '>tra1ghr up. And the commun1e;ir 1un..,

office waited for Prc..,1Jcnr Bill otter\ mu.ii n,1t, I\ hen he

hounJ.., up the '>tep.., two ar a r i me to make -,ure there \1 di l e ,1

photographer our to capture the magic th.it -,nu\1 wurb on ,111

already gorgcm1., campu'>.

"One th ing you can expect here 1-, rhar you arc gomg to h,11 e

ll' i ntcr," sa1J DonalJ-.on Koun,, emcn tu' [\111a Pnik-,,llr llf Geology, \\"ho came to olh) 5 11·mrer' agu an LI 1 , the unutf IL 1 ii cw,to !tan of mereornlog1cal rnna. "There\ n11t a d.1mn rhmg you can Jo about 1 r . "

Thar, 1 r turn.., our , 1 ' <l ma111r re;i-1m \rhy m,111\' 't uLlent' choo-.e to attend olhy. " I n , an D1eg11 there .ire t 1\ 11 k md' 11f ll'earhcr-hor and hotter," -,,i1J , l 1guel Leff '9 , 1\ 11!l L .lmL' ro

lame from �!cx 1co '1t\ and 111>11 L,1 1 1 -, ,11urhern C. i l 1 turn1.i home. "\X'mter I' 111\ t.1n1nre ,e,i-1111 here. l \ · 1 , 1 teLI CPlh1 1 11

!arch I ll a year II' hen there \I ,1' t1 H1' 11f 'nuw, ,111,I 1 11 \'eel 1 r . Bur I ne\ er knc\1 1 t \1 a-, gomg t11 he rh1, !.!11<xl. I'm ' \\ I ll\! nu rll ,t \ er\ .urr,1Lt 1 \·e J,muan mtern,h1p 11 1 th .1 h.111k I ll , L 11 Yl lrk r h 1, \ e.1r becau'e I Lh1n'r 11 .1nr r11 111 1" J .111u.1n herL "

"H1\\I u1l I Litle, I[ \!l'[ ur there ?" b on.:- of the rop I t \ e 1ue,r H1n, rh.n .1dm1 " 1!ln' 11ff1cer' ! telcl . p. 1rr 1ud.1rh \I hen

w11rkmg rhe w.umer d im.He,, "Rut , " ' l l I Be\ cr.1.,:l', "rhe k i-1 1>lren 1,k rh 1 , 1\ 1 th .1 rn ink le 1 11 thl· tr en:, . " And rhe1 I m't 11 .mr . 1 l uke11.um ,111,wer. "T\1 0 .111 I .1 h ,i l t teer 1'clm1 :en ! " ·,,,,n, \1 ,1ulcl r e l ! rhe m . ) . ! .1111 .ire 1nr e re,te I tn Coll 1 in p.1r

heL.lU'L' � I .l ine h.i- ,111 ex.1gger.Hl',I repur 1rn n lur hcing exot t ­L 1 l h u1 ld . "Y,>u \\1>ukln'r \\ ,lilt to p l.111 .111 . i h enture tn t he :\m.1:1 >n ) tlll.,:k .111J h,1\·e ' mcone re l ! 1 u n\ nor rL·,1 l lv r h.tt h,1 r , " fil'\ l'r.1ge ' 1 1J .

Count on Winter

23 Average n u mber of days each

year temperature fa l l s below

zero i n Watervi l l e

165 Average number of days each year

temperature goes below freezing

75" Average yearly snowfa l l

i n Watervi l l e

140" Record annual snowfa l l i n

Waterv i l le ( '70-'7 1 )

-32. C o l dest temperature recorded by

National Weather Service i n

Watervi I l e ( 1 . 20. 94)

330 N u m ber of season ski passes

purchased at The Seaverns

Bookstore

1, 206 C u ps of hot choco late sold in the

Spa last w i nter

22,000 Cub ic yards of snow PP D c lears

from eight m i l es of s idewalks in

an average w i nter

8 .5 N u mber of m i les i n the Campbe l l

C ross-C ountry Tra i l

3 . 5 Average number o f baseba l l

games postponed each "spring"

33 N um be r of m i les that Co lby is

c loser to the equator than it is to

the orth Po le

As a rudent worker in admissions and financial a id , Leff ha� heard the

questions when prospecti\'e student "i i t Colby. " I t ' the parent� who rea l l y

worry. For them i t ' a real concern," he said.

arah Heath '9 came from Albuquerque, .M., over howls of di bel ief from

her friends and relari,·es there. Her father, who grew up in Binghamton, .Y . ,

rook her to LL. Bean at the start of her first year. "He got me the warmest j acket they make, because he was really worried about me. I t 's under my bed now in a

pla tic bag," he said, despite the early now and cold . " I 've gotten rough. I can

handle it," she said, noting that she's learned to pace her elf dressing for the

weather and now saves the heavy coat for after the holiday break.

Maine native Matthew Ru s '96, who transferred to Colby from Brown

Univer ity and now works in admissions, first came to look at Colby in J anuary.

"[ arrived in the middle of a bli::ard and was absolutely del ighted. You couldn't

have created a more entic ing scene for me," he aid. "Everybody up here was really

fired up about the torm, and I kept thinking, 'they're probably getting rain and

leer down in Providence.' I waded thigh deep in snow into the arboretum, all the

way down to the stream. I had a blast."

People who ha,·e spent winters on Mayflower Hill talk about that physical

relationship with now-wading and wallowing in it , j umping into drifts and

piles, making snow angels, shaking pine trees and having it sift down into their

collar . In 1 97 1 two first-year students in Foss-Woodman decided, on one of the

coldest nights of the year, to a cend the hill behind Runnals Union just to rol l

in the now. o-ed naked snowbarhing, they might call it today. Their retreat wa

so hurried that Jack lost a shoe part way down the hi l l and ended up nursing a

minor nip of frostbite while J i l l survived unscathed.

Frank Apanraku '7 1 , a Colby trustee and an eminent surgeon in Chicago,

recal l leaping out a window in Woodman into snow so soft that he had to swim

through the drift to find the door back into the building. That was in 1 968-rhe

fir t year the native of Lagos, Nigeria, ever aw snow. Apantaku adm its he chose

Colby from a college guidebook in part because he thought it would be warmer

than ew England colleges. He had looked for "Maine" in an aria , he says, and

ended up staring at a c ity at the southern tip of Florida.

"I'm not dy lexic," he aid. "I'm still trying to explain how I could have made

such an error. I honestly thought I wa look ing at the rare of Maine." The punch

Months during which Watervi l le has not recorded a frost : J une, J u ly, August

M o nths during which students are not on campus: June, J u ly, August

l ine arri ved in a fact sheet that came after he was a cepted. "Lo and behold there

was something about m inus 20 degrees."

Apantaku's father, who was stronger in geography, told his son, " [ think it i

true. You're gett ing very c lose to th orth Pole there in Ma ine. ome. To ee

what you're gett ing into, let'- stick your hand in the freezer for awh i le ."

'tudent t i l l immerse themselves in winter, even if no current one would admit

to leaping from window or co-ed naked escapades. Leff had a story about wearing hip

waders to res ue a sinking nowmobilc from East Pond. "There were ten of us th igh­

dccp in ice water. l thought ! was going to lose my legs. It was wonderful ."

After m is-ing la 't winter when he pent his jun ior year at the London chool

of Econom ic , Leff was cager to cro s-country ski agam. "The colder the better," he

said. [ uring h is two previous J anuary here he would set out from campus with a

friend j u t as the sun went down, intent on gett ing lo t i n the woods for an hour

or two. "It was a daily event during Jan Plan. A ri tual . "

" [ had no idea what l wa gett i ng mto, comi ng from lex1co 1 ty . But I 've mid

my brother all about it and he' applymg early dec1s1on to olby," Leff said.

Skat i ng on Johnson Pond has been a tradit ion , 1nce the pond was built , though

this yl'ar, bccausl' the pond is being restored, Phy. ical Plant crew don't have to worry about putt ing out the warm i ng hut or kcepmg the ice c lean. "'J hen \\'e

drained the pond \\'C found hundrcdsofconcrcte blocb that 'tudcnt. u,eJ for goal-,

and there \\'ere do:ens of ho key pucb m the dram 1t,clf," said Dean of the ol lege

Earl ,'mith .

,' ll'ddl'rs tend to favor e1ther the h i l l 1n front of thl' llttcrs' hou'c ( The

Prl'skkntial Range, a. soml' to\\'mpel)ple cal l 1 t ) llf ,\ run that l'nd, up on the

Lorimer hapel la\\'n. Russ said thl're\ an ,b\ mmetric,1! arr,m!!ement ot tree' llll

th ' -hapl'I l,rn n because lme of h1, rl)l)mmate' uprl)l)ted l)ne l)I the pl.mted

sapl i ngs that bllKl 'd the sled run . ( :\ fe\\ year' ,\gl) cl ini n!! 'en 1-6 !!lH \\' 1"'. and bought trays that \l'lHl 't . l ide, effect I\ l'h endm!! the pr,Kt1ce l,f "tr,\\ mg" dt)\\ n

l)lby h i l ls. )

m far fwm cam1 us, meml,er' l)I thL' � h1tmt,Hneerin!! 'lub pr.Kt I -c 1<.:l'

c l 1mbmg <lt the [ e\' l l 's h,m, ,1 rl'Ch prl'c1p1ce ne.u rhe l1 ld Cl1J[>, '"-1 'll pc. "The rnck 1s me' rntren lc'r seric1us c l 1ml 111!! 1n the 'ummcr," ,,11d L1n,,n l'c hr,m ··r, ,mc

)f the foundcrs of thc c lub, "l-ut thcre» a k'r l'I \I .ltcr th H -lm1e, l)Ut md m.1kc ' ,\

grc<lt curtam l,f ice. I le gged ,1 lc1t l,f hl1urs l'll therL' "

"I arrived i n the

m idd le of a b l izzard

and was

abso l ute ly de l ighted.

You cou ldn't have

created a more

entic i ng scene for

me," said M att Russ

'96. " Everybody up

here was rea l ly fi red

up about the storm,

and I kept th ink i ng,

'they're probably

gett ing ra i n and s leet

down i n Providence.'

I waded th igh deep

in snow i nto the

arboretum, a l I

the way down to

the stream.

I had a b last."

·------ -

Ski Colby

Skiers who remember the Colby Col lege Ski

Area should be prepared to ignore "no trespass­

i ng" signs and carry a machete if they want to visit

the h i l l . Deep in the puckerbrush, the remains of

the T-bar l i ft look l i ke something I ndiana Jones

might investigate, and the trai ls are discernible

only because poplar trees choking them are sl ightly

smal ler than surrounding forest.

J ust two mi les from campus, the slope offered

250 vertical feet and two trails, each about a

quarter-mi le long. Colby operated the ski run

from 1948 to the early 1970s, when it fe l l victim

to the upscale aspirations of Colby skiers and tight

Col lege budgets. By the mid-l 970s students had

more money and cars to get to Sugar loaf, and the

Col lege had other budgetary priorities.

According to Donaldson Koons, the h i l l was

operated private ly i n the 1930s, when trains

wou ld br ing people north from Boston to ski

there. It was one of the early l i ft-serviced h i l l s

i n N e w England.

Colby took the slope over after World War I I

and the Outing C lub, 400 members strong, did

most of the work to get it into shape, insta l l ing a

1,400-foot rope tow and bui lding a 20- by 30-foot

cabin with used lumber. The rope tow, run off an

old truck engi ne, was instal led in 1948. The c lub

also bui l t a 35-meter ski jump. ( That was about

how far jumpers flew, not the height of the jump.)

The area got a major upgrade and expansion

in the early 1960s, and a dedication ceremony

i n 1964 i naugurated l ights for night ski i ng and

a 1,200-foot T-bar that could haul 1,600 skiers

each hour. In 1965 the A lumnus descr ibed an

e ight-man crew, headed by Ansel G r inda l l, who

ma1 nta 1 ned the slope. "The snow makers, who

work from about n i ne-th i rty at n ight unt i l the

middle of the fol lowing morning, have kept the

ski area operat ional ."

" I t was state of the art," said G r i ndal l ,

reti red d i rector of bu i ld ings and grounds.

hri" Gates '9 has a passion for winter photography anJ th<Jt\ how he

got roped in { l iterally) to photograph ing c lub member, there la�t ye<ir.

"When it's really cold you have to keep your camera in your iacket �o the

bauerie don't free:e, and then when you take it out the lens fogs up," he said.

A fanatic alpine skier, Gares was budgeting more time for winter camping anJ

ice c l imbing this year. He hoped to spend the n ight in a snow cave anJ to scale

/\ laiden's Cliff in the Camden Hi l ls . "You have to deal with winter here, o

you might as ll'el l get into it ," he said.

Mau Russ di co,·ered Mt. Phil l ip in nearby Rome his first winter at Colby

when he climbed it on nowshoes by moonlight with the temperature lurking

between :ero and ten below. One of his fondest memories of several return trip

was ll'hen his snowshoeingcompanion'scarslid off the road. The fir t four-wheel ­

dri,·e \'ehicle that came by stopped, and the driver said, " I j ust got a new row rope

last weekend and I '\'e been dying to try it out."

"All we had to pay him with was a hanJful of those chocolate coins covered

in gold foil, and he thought that was great," Russ said.

The Mountaineering Club and the Outing Club, now Colby's biggest

student organi:at ion, sponsor more ambit ious trips. For Linsay Cochran ,

training on the De\' i l 's Chair was preparation for a February ascent of Mt .

Karahdin last year. On that excursion she and four other Mountaineering

Club members skied 15 mi les haul ing toboggans to a base camp. They

cl imbeJ the Pa mo la Ice Cliffs one day and then reached the summit of Baxter

Peak the next. "The weather was beautiful," she saiJ. Above :ero and sunny,

but with a holl' l ing wind at the top.

tudents don't have to venture out unaccompanied or unequippeJ.

"We've got 20 sets of cross-country skis, boots and poles, and they're all checked out after any n ice storm," sa id Outing Club officer Peter Downing.

The club also is expanding its col lect ion of telemark skis for tra in ing trip and

more ambitious backcounrry ski trips. The first relemark ing c l inic was held

at ugarloafon the ll'eekend before Thanksgiving. "Last year, every t ime we'd

have a trip it would be ful l , so we started early th is year," Downing said.

Despite his exotic destinations (four Jays backcountry ski ing on the

Gaspe peninsula and seven Outing lub trips to Mt. Washington last winter

"plus a few on my own") , Downing said some ofh is best memories are cen re red

on campus. "When you get enough now that you can ski on the roads-that's

my favorite time of the year."

Don Koon,, for many year' rhe ad\'l ',or of rhe Out i ng lub, rem lb rhe hl i::ard of ' 52 a rhc

morher of Warer\' i l lc 'n°'''·rorm'>. " I r c losed a lmo-,r C\'Cry road 1 11 \'(/arcr\' d le and tr cur off rhe

ol lcge enr irc ly. The din ing halb ran our of m i l k and bread, -,n rhc -,rudcnr-, hauled -,urrl 1e' ur

from town on roboggam. We nmnclcd ou r of the "1uth door of rq t h rough a dnfr . And 1t '' a'

one week before � lorri l l A\'enue, where l l i"ed , wa' rlowcd out ."

The t i m i ng of t he bl i::ard , which hcg;rn sudden ly nn a Sunday C\'en ing, and the l 1 m 1 rar 1om

of rhc older rlo\\' r rucb combined to make that 3 3- inch snowfa l l the mo>t t rouble nmc 1 11 the

la,r half cenr ury. Rur Koom\ memory bank i ' a ll'a lk - 1 11 frce:cr fu l l of mcrcorolog1cal C\ Cnh.

" In 1 992 rhe k id-, ll'crc -, k i i ng off rhc roof of my ham 111 1dnc) ," he '>aid. "And h. 1ck 1 11 1 968 there ll'as so much snnll' rhc dog """ on rhe roof. "

While he counh ll' inrcr \' iC\\'' of rhc nort hern l 1ghr, among rhc 'rccracular C\'Cll(' of h1,

year:-. ar olb " �hn, Gare' rcal i :c, rhar cont ra-,ung acrl\ 1 ( 1c-,, l i ke rhe conrra-,r 1 11g � lame

sca:-.on:-., add nchncs' ro rhc olby experience. "<.. nc th 111g \\ 111rcr doc' up here," ,,11d G.nc,, " 1

gi \'C you a grc;Hcr aprrcc iamm of bc111g ll'arm, 111,1dc, dnnk1 11g a cup of C<lffcc \nth \ nur fncnck"

Kc,· in Land i:, '98, from acramcnto, a l if. , r ramfcrrcd ro .ulh afrcr a 'cmc,rcr ar 'LA.

"I remember 111 J <1 11l l<H\' ' ' r r i ng 1 11 my aparrmcnt uur rhcre and 1r ""' 75 degree' nur 1de. I ,,1 1d,

'Th is is cra:y. There\ no c l 1 ma rc 1 1 1 �al iforn1a. ' The fir,r \\ Cck I 11 ,1, here I (<l<lk ,1 ,h, m cr ,md

m · hair fro:c :,ul id ,1n rhc \\'<l\ t<l rhc d111111g hal l . I rh,iughr c h,H '' ·" rhc co,ilc,t th1 11g."

t\ I 1gucl Leff, h 1:-. ro,imm<He, ,,1\ , he e\cn I 1 kt·, fr�·e:mg r,1 1n ,md 'kcc bec.iu,c , i( r hc '' ,1\ rhc

r ree:, lnok ·nated I ll ICC. " l \ e he.ire! J'C<lpk '<I\ , ' \'\'c ,h,itdd 111\l\ L' c,1lh (\) C,ild1irn1.1, <lr

><lmcll'hcrc \\'arm . "' Lett '"'"· " Rue rhcn 1 r '' ,itddn ' t I c \ilh " -�

H igh on w i nter Above, Br an Post '97,

Steve Mease l l e '98, L i nsay C ochran '97

and Soren Peters '97 on the summit o f

M ount Katahdin

Opposite page Colby c l i mbers chal lenge

the ice covered face of Dev l 's Chair

near the s ite of the o l d s k i s l ope.

l<ev i n Land is '98, from Sacramento, Cal if., transferred to C o l by after a

semester at U C LA. "I remember i n January s itt ing i n my apartment out

there and it was 75 degrees outside. I sa id, \Th is is crazy. There's no c l i mate

in Cal ifornia.' The fi rst week I was here I took a shower and my ha ir froze

so l id on the way to the d i n i ng hal l . I thought that was the coolest th i ng ."