Antinos
Slut for Spinners
One of Michigan's biggest traditions is MTU's Winter Carnival. The idea is to give the students a few days off from classes to relax and enjoy the snow and the outdoors. As the years went on, it became the perfect time for everybody to get wasted.
A major part of Winter Carnival is the statues. Dorm halls, fraternities/sororities, organizations, and teams work on snow statues. Some statues are month long projects while others are over nighters. The statues are made by putting up rectangular forms and filling them with snow. Water is then added to melt and refreeze the snow. The forms are removed and the snow is shaped with machetes, hatchets, shovels, and the like. There's some pretty awesome statues that get built:
The majority of Carnival takes place during the All Nighter. Most of the statues are built on the Wednesday night of Carnival and many get absolutely drunk off their asses. Lots of booths are set up with food, drinks, and giveaways and one of the fraternities built a sound system for their statue. Of course, there was an all night rave.
Another large Tech tradition is Broomball. Broomball is a game similar to hockey - the major differences are the size of the rink, no ice skates, and instead of hockey sticks, brooms are used to hit a ball. Games are as dynamic as the weather. The ice will sometimes be like arena ice and other times will be coated with hard packed snow, allowing you to run.
As always, hockey is big up here. This weekend was no exception. Unfortunately, we tied the first game and lost the second, but the games were still fun. We did get to see Steve Yzerman, former Detroit Red Wing, at Friday's game though:
To finish Carnival, there was a light parade down Mt. Ripley and a firework show:
It was a great time to get together with friends and family and relax for a few days. I'm sure next year's Carnival will be just as good as this year's.
EDIT: Fixed the photos.
A major part of Winter Carnival is the statues. Dorm halls, fraternities/sororities, organizations, and teams work on snow statues. Some statues are month long projects while others are over nighters. The statues are made by putting up rectangular forms and filling them with snow. Water is then added to melt and refreeze the snow. The forms are removed and the snow is shaped with machetes, hatchets, shovels, and the like. There's some pretty awesome statues that get built:
The majority of Carnival takes place during the All Nighter. Most of the statues are built on the Wednesday night of Carnival and many get absolutely drunk off their asses. Lots of booths are set up with food, drinks, and giveaways and one of the fraternities built a sound system for their statue. Of course, there was an all night rave.
Another large Tech tradition is Broomball. Broomball is a game similar to hockey - the major differences are the size of the rink, no ice skates, and instead of hockey sticks, brooms are used to hit a ball. Games are as dynamic as the weather. The ice will sometimes be like arena ice and other times will be coated with hard packed snow, allowing you to run.
As always, hockey is big up here. This weekend was no exception. Unfortunately, we tied the first game and lost the second, but the games were still fun. We did get to see Steve Yzerman, former Detroit Red Wing, at Friday's game though:
To finish Carnival, there was a light parade down Mt. Ripley and a firework show:
It was a great time to get together with friends and family and relax for a few days. I'm sure next year's Carnival will be just as good as this year's.
EDIT: Fixed the photos.
