Dartmouth and the Debate Over Ski Jumping in NCAA Competition

Abstract

This essay details the issues that were raised in discussions about the wisdom of eliminating ski jumping from the order of events in NCAA championship competition, a discussion that culminated in 1980 when the NCAA Skiing Rules Committee voted unanimously to drop ski jumping. The event had been an integral and popular part of intercollegiate skiing competitions since 1910 when Dartmouth met McGill in the first meet. More significantly, this essay examines Dartmouth’s resistance to the ruling eliminating jumping, a resistance that was fueled not only by the school’s pioneering role in skiing but also by a complex set of cultural issues that emerged throughout the 1970s at Dartmouth and that challenged the traditional outdoor ethos of the college.