Winter Carnival continued this week with events on campus throughout the week and activities at Keystone Mountain this weekend.
On Tuesday evening between 7 and 9:30 a.m., students went to Magness Arena to ice skate alongside the DU hockey team. There were about 100 people in attendance over the course of the evening. DUPB provided free ice skate rentals, hot chocolate and apple cider to participants. There was also a DJ playing music in the arena. Members from a local peewee hockey team also joined in the festivities after they finished practice in neighboring Joy Burns arena.
The chili cook-off was held on Wednesday afternoon on the Driscoll Bridge. The event began at 11:30 a.m., and although it was scheduled to last until 1:30 p.m., all of the chili was gone by 1:15 p.m. Amanda Carlton, graduate assistant in the office of Campus Activities and DUPB advisor, said that she was pleased with how many people came by to taste the chili.
Nine people entered the cook-off, including students and faculty members. First place went to Amanda Carlton, who used a family recipe. Aaron Schwarzberg and Amy Dible, assistant director of Student Programs and Greek Life, tied for second place, and third place went to Megan Pendley, assistant director of Student Programs and Greek Life.
Carlton said there were a variety of different chilies, including one recipe that came from Chef Rachel Rae’s 30-minute meal cookbook that was very unique.
The five judge panel who voted on the winners consisted of Carl Johnson, director of Campus Activities; Patti Helton, associate provost; Deb Tyson, director of Housing and Residential Education, and Joey Ham, a student and the vice president of Public Relations for DUPB.
On Thursday night, DUPB showed Warren Miller’s independent extreme skiing and snowboarding film, “Higher Ground” in Davis Auditorium. Christy Sports in Cherry Creek co-sponsored the film, and donated a pair of goggles and four wax and tune gift certificates to be raffled off to students in the audience before the movie began. There were approximately 75 students who attended this event.
Winter Carnival concluded with a mountain adventure in Keystone on Saturday. Buses left DU at 8:00am, and check-in for on-mountain festivities took place from 10-12. Students enjoyed tubing from 12:00-2:00 at Adventure Point at the top of Dercum Mountain. This was followed by sleigh rides at 2:30, which departed from the Adventure Center and went through the Snake River Valley. Ice skating took place from 6:00-8:00 on Keystone’s frozen lake. Busses returned at 9:00pm.
AUSA Senate sponsored the first 100 students who signed up for Saturday’s festivities, which covered the $40 cost for transportation, a meal and all activities. 170 people registered for Winter Carnival, which is a 20-person increase over last year.
Discounted condo rentals were available for those who decided to stay overnight to ski or snowboard on Sunday. Students stayed in condos in the River Run Village at the base of Dercum Mountain, and were close to the chair lifts at the base of the ski resort. The condos were also close to a marketplace with restaurants, coffee shops and stores in the village.
For the past three years, Winter Carnival has been held at the Winter Park ski resort. DUPB Winter Carnival chair Sarah McCauley decided to change the venue to hold the festivities at Keystone this year. She thought that this location would be a better choice since many students already have season passes for Keystone and may have their own accommodations there as well.
Winter Carnival is a 46-year tradition at DU.
As McCauley said, “My advisor keeps telling me that it’s the longest running tradition at DU aside from graduation.”
According to Carlton, “It was a fantastic weekend for all that attended!”
