Title: Ski Patrol Initiation Ritual

General Information about item:

• Customary Lore, Initiation Ritual
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Anonymous
• Date Collected: 11-5-19

Informant Data:

• The informant would like to remain anonymous, but has shared that he is 19 years old and was born in Western America. He attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. As a first year student, he has just joined Ski Patrol. Skiing is a big part of his life and he skis often outside the college. He is a pre-health student. His love for skiing and hope to learn outdoor emergency care drove him to join Ski Patrol at Dartmouth College

Contextual Data:

• Ski Patrol is a very tight knit community that needs to prepare its members for the team based rescues that will take place. This initiation ritual would occur the morning after ski patrol applicants are informed that they have been accepted into the organization. New members would be informed by email that they will have a fun time in the morning, but will not be given specifics. This ritual involves all members of Ski Patrol.

Item:

• This ski patrol initiation ritual begins with a morning pickup. The upperclassmen on the team go to the new members dorms and wake them up at 5 AM. They tell them to put on a crazy costume, but do not give any other instructions about what is to come. Then, the new members are put into cars and are told that they will be driven to Canada, which is a lie. During the drive, the same song is played on repeat. The upperclassmen tell the new members that they will need to choreograph a dance to this song. About 10 minutes into the drive, the upperclassmen turn the car around and bring new members to a parking lot on campus. At this parking lot, the new members have 10 minutes to practice their dances. Then, the new members are driven to a random gas station parking lot. Here, all patrollers, both upperclassmen and new members, perform the songs they choreographed while standing in a circle. Finally, the upperclassmen buy the new members breakfast.

Transcript:

• “For Ski Patrol, we did this fun thing when we first started where they [upperclassmen in ski patrol] came to our rooms and woke us up at 5 AM on Monday morning. We weren’t told where we were going and we put on crazy costumes so I was wearing a shark onesie. And then we got in a car and we were told we were driving to Canada, but about 10 minutes into the drive they turned around and brought us back to campus to a parking lot. They made us listen to the same song three times in a row in the car and told us we had to choreograph a dance. At the parking lot, we had about 10 minutes to practice our dance and so we practiced our dance in our animal onesies in the dark. And then we were driven somewhere else to a gas station where we then had to perform our dance in front of the rest of the patrollers, who were also creating a dance. And so we all stood in a big circle in a gas station parking lot and danced to our songs. And then they bought us breakfast”

Informant’s Comments:

• Interpretation: “It’s a good activity to help people get to know each other as patrollers. We’re going to have to spend a lot of time with each other and be in high stress situations. We’re going to have to trust each other and be comfortable with each other in the future. So I thought it was just a funny thing where we have to do something kind of embarrassing in front of each other just so we can… it’s like bonding cause now we all saw each other do something silly”

Collector Comments:

• Interpretation: I agree with the informant’s interpretation. New members most likely feel nervous joining Ski Patrol. The older members have known each other for a long time while the newer members are still getting used to college life. This initiation creates a common experience between all members of Ski Patrol before they engage in the high stress situations of the organization. It is meant to make members feel comfortable in Ski Patrol and encourage bonds between members. This ritual also exhibits characteristics of rites of passage. Driving away can be interpreted as a separation rite of passage because it symbolizes a separation from the general Dartmouth culture. Practicing the dance with other new members is the transition rite because it is a stage in between where one is not truly aggregated with the other patrollers but is still separated from non-patrollers. Dancing in a circle with all patrollers is the incorporation phase as both patrollers and new members are performing the same activity together. Furthermore, the circular shape symbolizes inclusion. Interestingly, many groups on campus have some version of this morning pick up initiation ritual.

Collector’s Name: Nisha Patel

Tags/Keywords:

• Customary lore
• Initiation Ritual
• Ski Patrol Initiation Ritual