Title: Shift Outings 

General Information about Item:

• Customary lore, tradition
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Benjamin Cape
• Date Collected: 11-12-19

Informant Data:

• The informant is Benjamin Cape.  He is 21 years old. He is from Seattle, Washington. He attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.  He is currently a sophomore or a ‘22. He studies computer science. He joined Ski Patrol his freshmen year after a lengthy application process and enjoys his time on the patrol. 

Contextual Data:

• Before AM shifts, patrollers get breakfast from the Lyme Country Store.  After PM shifts, patrollers grab beers together at a bar.  This tradition occurs for every Ski Patrol shift of the winter term.

Item:

• Before and after every shift, there are certain group outing traditions.  Before AM shifts, the  group of patrollers go to the Lyme Country Store to get breakfast to fuel up for their shift.  After PM shifts, the group of patrollers go to a bar near the Skiway to grab beers and celebrate a successful shift.
  

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “We definitely have traditions…our shifts are broken up into AM shifts where you open the mountain and then PM shifts where you close, so the AM shift will almost religiously go to the Lyme Country Store on our way up, have a nice stop, get a nice breakfast sandwich and a coffee before we get to the mountain.  Um and then the PM shift will sometimes if it’s like a car with some 21 year olds will a go to a bar and sit down and have a nice beer afterwards.”

Informant’s Comments:

• The informant did not have any additional comments on this item of folklore.

Collector’s Comments:

•  It think that the main purpose behind getting breakfast before shifts or drinks after shifts is to foster community bonding among the patrol.  The ski patrollers spend a lot of time together during their shifts and it is important that they are close, so they can better work together to help rescue people on the mountain.  One thing that I find interesting about this ritual is that the group does not get breakfast or drinks on campus. They go specifically to the Lyme Country Store and to bars in the area around the Skiway.  I think that the reason for this is to metaphorically separate their group from Dartmouth. If patrollers got margs at Molly’s after shifts, they would be any other club at Dartmouth. Going somewhere outside of campus helps to illuminate why this group is different from other groups.  It creates a special sense of community that is separate from life at Dartmouth. It emphasizes the exclusivity of the club that is so competitive to join by creating another tradition that is exclusive to Ski Patrol. I also think that the choice of breakfast to start the day and then drinks to end the day serves to show that the group is going through this shift together.  They must prepare physically for the shift together by fueling up. Then, after a successful shift, they must celebrate together. It shows that throughout the entire day, they are “in this together,” preparing together, doing the shift together, and celebrating together. It creates a stronger sense of community.

Collector’s Name: Rachel Mashal

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary lore
• Tradition
• Skiing 
• Ski Patrol