Article by Rachel Minkovitz
Welcome back from the holiday break, Bobcats! Hope you all had restful and fun times no matter where you went and are now ready to tackle this Maine winter. I have to admit, I love this time of year at Bates. It’s the start of a fresh semester, and there’s so much to enjoy about Bates winter. I’m only a sophomore so of course, this is by no means an exhaustive look at all of the best parts of a Bates winter; just the ones I’ve found most awesome.
There’s no denying it’s cold in Maine in the winter months. I’m from the mid-Atlantic region so I’m somewhat used to cold climates, but I have a lot of friends from warmer areas, some of whom had never seen snow in real life before coming to Bates. I loved getting to see their reactions to the first snowfall, and being around their awe and excitement made me more appreciative of the snow as well. The campus looks gorgeous after a fresh snowfall, and there’s nothing quite like capturing a picture of Hathorn Hall from the Library Quad, sparkling with snow in the light at sunset. The icy birch trees are also beautiful and great for photo updates on various social media platforms (bonus points for cool Snapchat geotags). In addition to the human appreciation of winter precipitation, it always makes me smile to see dogs playing in the snow. Part of what makes Bates a great school is, in my opinion, the fact that people walk their dogs around on campus and are usually really nice about letting you pet them—the dogs, that is. I love seeing dogs jump around in snow-banks and stick their muzzles into the snow, emerging with snow beards. Of course, it’s also great to play in the snow yourself so long as you bundle up first—icy blue fingers and lips are funny to look at but no so much fun to actually have.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Puddle Jump in this article. For those of you who think that sounds like splashing around on the sidewalks after a rainy day, it’s a Bates tradition dating back to 1975 in which Batesies cut a hole in the ice that forms over Lake Andrews in the wintertime. It’s a really fun activity to watch, if not to participate in, especially since people tend to wear outrageous costumes before taking the frigid dip. Last year, I saw a lot of neon colors, some penguin ponchos, a pumpkin costume, a shark onesie (shout out to my roommate last year), several fruit costumes, and quite a few speedos, among others. There was also an attempt to ski across the water, but that, if memory serves, did not go well. Puddle Jump is part of a bunch of fun events leading up to 90s Dance put on by Chase Hall Programming Board and Outing Club called Winter Carnival, which this year has the theme Candy Land.
Bates is super lucky location-wise if you enjoy winter sports; it’s pretty easy to get off-campus to go skiing or snowboarding. The Outing Club listserv is always busy with announcements of people taking advantage of our proximity to Lost Valley Ski Area and offering rides. If winter sports are your “thing” and you’re not on the Outing Club listserv, I’d definitely recommend you get added to it. It seems like every day there’s at least one person sending an email to invite other people to go skating, ice climbing, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and other activities with them. I regularly see people skate and play hockey on the Puddle and once, for some reason, someone riding a bicycle on the frozen Puddle. It’s too weird not to be true.
There are also a bunch of arts events in the winter, including the Arts Crawl, the Winter Dance Showcase, and multiple acapella concerts. They’re great study breaks or, sometimes more accurately, breaks from study breaks. Plus, it’s good to support fellow Batesies and appreciate the time and effort they spend preparing for the events. I have yet to attend an arts event at Bates and not enjoy it. Our fellow Bobcats are so talented, and it’s awesome to get to see them perform.
Winter at Bates is really cool (pardon the pun), and I’d highly recommend taking advantage of all of the things going on around campus. Have fun, stay warm, and happy adventuring to you all!