BY STEPHEN HANDLEY, JR.
Class of 2020 @DOC Adventure Quest, Oak Hill, 2016 [Dartmouth College-Eki Burakian photo]
I spoke with OPO Program Coordinator Gunnar Johnson and Assistant Director Paul “Coz” Teplitz at the end of last season about the Nordic trails at Oak Hill. Gunnar commented, “As Oak Hill was a downhill ski area for a long time, you can imagine the trails are pretty challenging.” He said instructors and staff patrol the trails during a lull and approximately four groomers help maintain the trails. Snow reports can be found on Dartmouth’s Cross Country Ski Center site (outdoors. dartmouth.edu/services/xc_ski_center.html), as well as on www.trailhub.org and www.snocountry.com. Season passes are sold to Dartmouth students and the general public. Day passes are also available, and there’s no charge for snowshoeing. Be sure to check the Dartmouth ski center website for updates to programming and access during the pandemic.
In the summer, Oak Hill typically is used as ropes and orienteering courses, as well as for a section of the Prouty bike race. Dartmouth Outing Club students maintain the mountain bike trails with help from the Upper Valley Mountain Bike Association. “The Dartmouth Outing Club is the oldest American collegiate outing club,” said Coz. It was formed in 1909 by Fred Harris, “the man who put America on skis,” according to the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. “The Outing Club is student-initiated programming, and it is still student-run and staff-supported,” Coz said.
In the 1970s, Dartmouth experienced growing staff and complexity within the club, and created the OPO. Aside from the Outing Club, the OPO maintains educational and independent programs, some supported by staff and others by students. Apart from skiing, Occom Pond is open for skating from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Again, check the website for updates on accessibility during the pandemic.
For the traditional Dartmouth Winter Carnival race, fencing, start and finish lines, an announcer’s booth, and distance signs must be set up. Gunnar explained, “To get the season going, we open when the students get back for winter term. We generally wrap up the weekend after students leave” in mid-March. Fat-biking is also allowed, and demo days are typically scheduled. Children’s gear, classic and skate ski equipment are available for rent during a normal season. Students can earn PE credits, and some programs have included public group clinics, full moon ski tours and 99-cent ski days at Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme Center, NH with the Carnival crew.
The OPO partners with “The Skiway” to hold women’s clinics, waxing clinics, demo days and classic, skate and telemark instruction. “We partner with a number of different cross-country ski centers throughout Vermont and New Hampshire. We all kind of work together to provide either discounts or a free day of skiing at each other’s areas,” Gunnar explained.
In the Upper Connecticut River Valley region, the Ford Sayre Ski Council holds competitions for middle schoolers, teaching Alpine and Nordic skiing, and jumping. Some 140 kids were in the 2018 program on Garipay Field and Oak Hill.
For more information, call the Ford Sayre Hotline at (802) 698-0283, or visit outdoors.dartmouth.edu or www.fordsayre.org.
Stephen Handley moved to Eastman in 2015 and serves as chair of Deeryard Special Place. He has mainly worked in the food service industry and is a freelance writer for several Upper Valley publications.
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