You’ve heard all of the stories - how terrifying a Colgate winter truly is. Temperatures regularly dip into the negatives, snow falls ad nauseum and paths are so icy and slippery that falling on them is something Colgate students just understand to be normal.
It’s true, winter at Colgate is a truly frightening thing. As a guy from central New Jersey, I’m no stranger to the cold or snow. But unless you come from a place as far (or further) north than Hamilton there is nothing that could have truly prepared you for a Colgate winter - and that’s something I learned the hard way.
Allow me to begin by explaining the seasons in Hamilton. Spring is virtually nonexistent, lasting for maybe a month or so and with temperatures that are still borderline winter-like. The next season, summer, is fairly normal. It lasts for about three months from late May up to late August, and as most students probably know from the first week or two of the fall semester, the temperatures can get quite hot. Fall is a beautiful thing in Hamilton, inciting the gorgeous orange and red leaf colors, but it is quite short-lived.
Enter winter. The rest of the world would have you believe that winter begins on December 21 in 2015. I’m here to tell you that, for Hamilton, it begins as early as November 1, give or take a week or two before or after.
The temperatures routinely dip below 32 °F around that time, and that means snow is liable to fall as early as then. Understand this - once the snow starts to fall, whenever it does - it will not go away until April.
The snow is gorgeous! The trees are pretty with their newly adopted white coloring, Whitnall Field is brilliant in its blanket of snow, and the village of Hamilton feels so very warm and cozy with the town Christmas tree erected in the center.
Yet, for all its beauty, the snow and the cold are things that you quickly begin to loathe. Gale-force winds forcing snow into your ostensibly warm and cozy jacket hood becomes old pretty quickly. Seeing “DANGER: FALLING ICE” signs on the sides of just about every building on campus only serves to reinforce how genuinely tough winter is here. Getting emails from the administration warning students not to go outside on certain nights because temperatures are that low only seems like insult to injury. And as Marc Maggiore '18 once wisely noted, it seems as though the sun doesn't exist.
Yes, it’s a long and cold winter - but don’t be dismayed! Here are some tips to get through the winter with as much of your dignity as possible.
Dress appropriately! Heavy jackets and the ever practical Bean Boots are common on campus for a reason - they work. When it comes to winter, nothing is off limits to stay warm. Scarves? Go for it. Russian trapper hats? Beautiful.
Set up your class schedule to minimize your time outside. Though not always possible, registering for classes that are back to back and in the same or nearby buildings will reduce the time you have to spend outside.
Tunnels. Legends speak of a certain system of tunnels that link Wynn, Ho, Olin, McGregory and by extension, Lathrop. Are the legends true? It'll take a bit of exploration to find out ...
Stay warm, Colgate.
