The colleges of New England cannot escape the dark, cold weeks of winter. Long ago, they decided to celebrate it, and the tradition of collegiate Winter Carnivals stretches back more than a century. Carnivals are a time-tested celebration of the winter season, the arrival of winter snow, and the activities that the season allows: sledding, ski jumping, Alpine races, Nordic events, ice sculpting, bonfires on the quad, and the tradition of campus-wide snowball fights. Over the years, carnivals have also evolved into a weekend of hi-level ski competition among New England colleges. That tradition continues this weekend at the Harvard Carnival (with Nordic events staged at Craftsbury, Vermont).
Cross country skiing is a sport enjoyed at the junior level by skiers in clubs, school teams, and ski academies. But what comes after high school for talented and driven high school skiers? For many, the answer is college skiing. In collegiate ski programs from Fairbanks, Alaska to the coast of Maine, NCAA Division 1 skiing is a wonderful development asset for American skiing. In 2020, the Stifel U.S. Ski Team wrote that “[We value] the collegiate circuit for providing high-level competition, increased domestic density, and an enduring pathway for athletes to continue to develop their skills in the sport of ski racing.”
The Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association (EISA) is composed of eleven colleges—Bowdoin College, Bates College, Colby College, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, University of New Hampshire, Williams College, Middlebury College, University of Vermont, Saint Michael’s College, and Saint Lawrence University—competing with each other over six Carnival weekends with the ultimate goal of sending skiers to the NCAA championships. While two of those twelve races in 2024 are sprint races, the NCAA championship has traditionally consisted of two distance races, and is hosted by a different college at a different venue each year. This year’s NCAA championships will be staged in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and hosted by the University of Colorado.
Winter Carnival on ESPN+
On Friday, February 2 (10am ET), cross country events from the Harvard carnival can be live streamed on ESPN+ using this link. Only this first day of racing (15 k Classic Mass Start) is available for streaming. All other results—and live timing—for EISA races can be found on Bullitt Timing.
College skiing became FIS sanctioned in the mid 1990’s, and has since become a competitive circuit where future international stars hone their skills against stiff competition. The EISA carnival circuit has been highlighted by names like Ben Ogden, Rosie Brennan, Sophie Caldwell, Julia Kern, and many more. Now in the middle of the 2023/2024 season, the EISA circuit travels to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Craftsbury, Vermont for the Harvard Carnival on February 2-3. Up until this point in the season, Dartmouth has been the dominant force on the carnival circuit, posting impressive results and an as-yet undefeated season from Stifel US Ski Team athlete (and Dartmouth student), John Steel Hagenbuch. FasterSkier intends to provide recaps for the final four Winter Carnivals of the season (Harvard, Dartmouth, Williams, and Middlebury). Stay tuned for results that are likely to include future stars of American skiing.
ESPN+ Harvard Carnival viewing LINK
Wyatt Teaford
A lifelong resident of the State of Vermont—and graduate of Stratton Mountain School—Wyatt Teaford is in his first year on the Bates College Ski Team.
