Photography by Alexandra Bayer<\/strong>, Sreang Hok<\/strong>, Jason Koski<\/strong> & Ryan Young<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Bundling up against the cold. Trekking up a snow-covered Libe Slope\u2014and sometimes, slipping and sliding right back down again. Cross-country skiing on and around campus. Struggling to stay toasty in an era when\u2014amazing to modern sensibilities\u2014women students weren\u2019t allowed to wear pants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These and much more comprise alumni\u2019s fondest (or at least most memorable) recollections of winter on East Hill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With much of the U.S. in the grip of the chilly season, Cornellians<\/em> and Alumni Affairs asked you to share your winter memories\u2014and the topic clearly resonated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remember hiking up Libe Slope with my friend Dawn Wang \u201991 after a particularly cold day,\u201d says Arts & Sciences alum Rebecca Scott \u201991. \u201cThe wind whipped up; we clutched our hats, but the path became so icy that we were pretty much clawing the ground to reach the top.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyone who has spent a winter in Ithaca knows what came next: unable to hold her hat on her head, it was whipped up by a wind gust, and the two watched it tumble down the Slope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI started after it, but Dawn took my arm and said, \u2018Just let it go!\u2019\u2014as if we were in a movie, fighting for our lives,\u201d Scott recalls. \u201cWe realized how ridiculous the moment was and started laughing, which did not make it easier to climb.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read on for more memories of Big Red winters stretching back generations\u2014though many will resonate for alums of any era!\u2014accompanied by images of the current snowy season on the Hill<\/em>. (Submissions have been edited and condensed.) And be sure to leave your own remembrances in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was babysitting for a family outside Ithaca and got stuck in the snow one afternoon in January 1972. A neighbor helped get me unstuck. He turned out to be President Corson! He signed my diploma four months later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Miriam Stern Sharick \u201972<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy favorite memory involves trudging up a very snowy Libe Slope to get to an 8 a.m. freshman class. Broke and miserable, I slipped on ice and face-planted in the snow. The good part? Under my left hand, deep in the snow, was a $20 bill! I ate for a week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 John Harper \u201987, BA \u201988<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn January 1977, Ithaca experienced a blizzard. My husband, Willard Hunt, MS \u201973, and I were living on Linden Avenue. One evening, we put on our skis and headed for campus. The streets were empty and mostly unplowed. The snow was as deep as the stone walls. Only the street lights were on. We looked at the light shimmering on the snow. The only sound was our skis. It was surreal. Looking out toward Cayuga Lake, the peacefulness of this place is something I knew I would never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Linda Elliott Hunt, MBA \u201979<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I learned how to walk in snow and ice without falling. Walk heavily<\/em>, not gingerly. Turns out to be more important than classwork.<\/p>\nBetty Schultz Goldberg \u201961<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the early 1960s, women had to wear skirts to class. I remember my lower thighs and knees always being so cold. There were no tights then; you wore knee socks under your calf-high boots and an undergarment that covered the thigh area, but the knee area was not covered. Walking from Balch over the bridge, then up all the stairs to the Home Economics area, was brutal in early morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Jan DiMartino Foreman \u201965<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor a few years, Ithaca held an annual Slush Festival in February, featuring a parade that included a representative group of rusty cars. It gave us beleaguered Ithacans a chance to see (or invent) the humor in our situation. Somehow we made it through the long, cold months, and by the end of April the temperature would finally rise to 40 or so. In the second week of May, the trees bloomed and spring really arrived. And it was glorious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Margaret Nichols, PhD \u201983<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After one winter storm, I remember breaking out the cross-country skis and people flying down a snow-covered Buffalo Street on all manner of carriage.<\/p>\nMichael Richter \u201981, BS \u201983, MEng \u201989<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe University canceled finals for a day in the snowstorm of late January 1966. It was a gorgeous day when the snow stopped falling, and seemingly everyone went out to play. My sorority built a snow fort with the fraternity next door and gathered indoors for hot chocolate. My mom always said it sounded like my happiest day at Cornell. Maybe she was right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Alice Katz Berglas \u201966<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe half snow day for Valentine\u2019s Day 2007 was great\u2014other than the fact that I\u2019d already had all four classes when operations were suspended at 12:20 p.m. But it did allow for great sledding. The Tompkins County sheriff closed all the roads; my dining hall staffers on West were put up in the Statler and said they had a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Meli Mathis-Clark \u201909<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Winter survival in the \u201970s called for a coat from the Army surplus store and \u2018waffle stompers\u2019\u2014lace-up boots with an incredible rubber-tread sole. High fashion.<\/p>\nKathryn Gabinet-Kroo \u201975<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne late-winter day my junior or senior year, I was standing outside the Straight talking to a couple of friends. The subject of falling on slippery surfaces came up, and I bragged that I had gone through the whole winter without falling down once\u2014unlike my freshman and sophomore years, which included multiple falls. No sooner had I completed my bragging than an unknown force took my feet out from under me and deposited me on my derriere. The Bible says, \u2018Pride goeth before a fall.\u2019 I am living proof!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Dave Bridgeman \u201965<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWinter finals junior year, the temperature was probably 10\u00b0 and it was snowing. I was living in Collegetown and had an exam on the Ag Quad. It was a very long walk. I had a beard and mustache; when I arrived at the exam, they were hanging with icicles. There was a scene in Doctor Zhivago<\/em> in which he walks in after a similar hike in the cold. I felt like I looked a lot like him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Stephen Goldberger \u201969<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI left my car parked at Hasbrouck Apartments and went home to Europe for Christmas break. After two weeks away, it was a complete ice block, only found based on its position. Digging it out was challenging\u2014not to mention starting it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Joaquin Barallat, MS \u201986<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne day, walking from Malott to the Engineering Quad past the A.D. White House, I heard a \u2018snap\u2019 and saw a tree branch fall from about 40 feet up, with a squirrel desperately hanging on. The two hit the ground with a resounding thud. The squirrel shook himself and staggered off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Dave Bowen \u201976<\/em> , MBA \u201977<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn January 1968, I walked to and from a final on the Arts Quad from my room in Donlon. At that time, I always wore a short skirt with boots that came to my knees. It was -25\u00b0. By the time I got back to the dorm, my legs were beet red from the bottom of my skirt to the top of my boots. That experience changed my entire perception of fashion, and slacks became an important part of my wardrobe. It wasn\u2019t long before I switched to jeans. It mirrored the rapid change in the world from fall 1967 to spring 1971.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Carolyn Lockard McMaster \u201971, MBA \u201973<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n “When I was living on West Campus, I would cross-country ski on Libe Slope whenever it snowed. Back then, not very many at Cornell must have seen wooden skinny skis and three-pin toe clip bindings, because I got the strangest looks from people negotiating the Slope.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Daniel Youngtae Cheung ’79<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the 1950s, \u2018co-eds\u2019 didn\u2019t wear pants to classes; we wore skirts. There were many days when I walked from Clara Dickson to my sorority on Wycoff Avenue to Goldwin Smith dressed in my camel-hair coat, red-and-white Cornell scarf, and zip-up boots, with bare legs\u2014and nearly froze.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Judy Singer Bercuvitz \u201960<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I recall (very) chilly nights walking back to Collegetown after working at the Statler\u2014it’s why I live in Florida now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\nJack Keefe \u201960<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn a sunny, 15\u00b0 winter day, with the ground covered in a foot of snow, I made it to Connecticut Hill on my skis. My body wishing to bathe in the sunshine and no one else on the trail, I decided to take off all clothing, except my socks and boots. The 10 or 20 minutes of glorious sunshine was wonderful; after I put everything back on, several other skiers appeared. They\u2019d missed the show\u2014one that, with high-powered binoculars, possibly could have been seen from campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Dennis Winters, MLA \u201984<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDuring the Blizzard of \u201993, Cornell closed the campus as midterms were in full swing. The county closed the roads and visitors were stranded. I remember students using items such as mattresses and cardboard boxes to ride down Buffalo Street\u2014crazy times! I even went skiing down Libe Slope, along with hundreds of students using cafeteria trays.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Robert Maryott, MBA \u201994<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy first encounter with the Ithaca winter was memorable, if not exactly fun. I had gone to an early morning biology class and lab on a mild fall day, and didn\u2019t emerge until afternoon, when I found a foot or more of snow on the ground. I lived on West Campus and had no winter footwear. While some paths down Libe Slope had been cleared a bit, I didn\u2019t risk them; I felt safer on the snow-covered grass. I got a ride to Collegetown that afternoon to buy a pair of desert boots, which served me well that winter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Kathy Coleman Weinberg \u201974, JD \u201977<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have a car, so I took the Greyhound bus back and forth from Ithaca (via Binghamton and Scranton) to suburban Philadelphia. One year, there was a huge snowstorm on the day I was scheduled to head home for Christmas. I had been looking forward to seeing my family and worried I wasn\u2019t going to make it. The fully loaded bus headed out, though, and plowed through deep snow to arrive practically on schedule. I was never so glad to be car-less (and car-free!).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Anne West \u201989<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was there on February 2, 1961: 25 below zero, the coldest temperature ever recorded in Ithaca. It was scary. I think back on that and never complain when the temperature drops to single digits.<\/p>\nLen Libenson \u201963, BCE \u201964<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have a vivid memory of a blizzard that hit Ithaca the afternoon before the final exam for Commercial Law. My studymate and I had spent several days reviewing intensely, and I swore I\u2019d walk from our apartment at Gaslight Village if the roads were not cleared. I think I even put chains on our Pinto station wagon to avoid having to review those notes, cases, and statutes all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Alan Young, JD \u201978<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe winter of 2002\u201303 was wild, with swings between 20\u00b0 and 60\u00b0. I remember going into an afternoon art history lecture in Goldwin Smith when it was sunny and in the high 50s\u2014and by the time it ended, the temperature had dropped into the low 30s and it was full blizzard. I had on jeans, a sweater, and a cute pair of heeled boots. Getting back down the Slope, I fell at least five times. By the time I got to the door of Lyon, I was covered in snow and sore all over. I went inside, took a hot shower, put on winter clothes and my actual boots, and headed back up for an evening class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Katie McMillan \u201904<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWinter break 1978. Staying at a friend\u2019s apartment near North Campus, working in a lab. Rented cross-country skis on Friday; woke up Saturday to the Blizzard of \u201978. Skied out the second-story window. Not a track or sign of life on the whole campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Dave Gross \u201980<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy freshman year, I\u2019d \u2018borrow\u2019 a tray from the Straight cafeteria and slide quite quickly down the snowy Libe Slope. The best thing was seeing two fellow freshmen, in short pants and T-shirts, standing up on their trays and riding them down the hill. Both admitted to being California surfer dudes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Don Danila \u201969<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy sophomore year, I made the terrible decision to live in an apartment near the airport, with only my bicycle for transportation. At one point that winter, there was four feet of snow on the ground. I remember trying to walk the four miles to class, giving up after a mile, then walking the four miles to a party later that night. Priorities!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Victor Carfi \u201980<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was the winter of my freshman year. I had showered and climbed up Libe Slope to have breakfast in the Ivy Room. As I sat eating, I noticed water running down my forehead: my hair had frozen on the walk and was melting!<\/p>\nRichard Gibson \u201968<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cI attended when women were not allowed to wear \u2018trousers\u2019 on campus proper. I lived at Pi Phi and took one particular class on the Ag campus, about a mile and a half from the house. We wore heavy wool skirts with wool knee socks. I can remember rushing into the lecture hall, sitting down, and hearing the skin on my knees cracking and splitting. Gross! Followed by the pins and needles of the thaw\u2014double gross! I am delighted that things have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Margaret Willers \u201967, MBA \u201971<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe first snowstorm of my junior year began one evening in late October 1969. It was one of my roommates\u2019 birthdays, so we were having a small party at our house on Snyder Hill Road. Around 10 p.m., we all jumped in our cars, drove to campus, and played touch football on the deserted, snow-covered Arts Quad as the snowflakes fell all around us. It was a magical, quintessential Cornell experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Ira Casson \u201971<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOn a particularly icy night, I was walking up the Slope. Being from California, I did not have proper shoes, so I had no traction. I got to a certain point and was stuck. Another student noticed my ridiculous predicament, and called out, \u2018Do you need help?\u2019 I gratefully accepted, and he pushed me up until my feet could get a grip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Seunghee Ha \u201992<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDecember 1974, I was sitting in my favorite spot in Uris Library: in the stacks looking out over Libe Slope. A student slipped and fell and slid all the way\u2014but his slide rule beat him to the bottom. This was before we had pocket calculators and when freshmen lived on West Campus. Had to be an engineering nerd with that slide rule; I have fantasized that it was Bill Nye \u201977.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Melissa Yorks \u201975<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy sophomore year I was living on North Campus. A large snowstorm rolled in, causing Cornell to temporarily shut down; the streets of Ithaca were also closed to allow for snow removal. A local pizza restaurant ran a radio ad indicating that they were delivering pizzas via snowmobile, so several of us ordered a few to see if this was real. Eventually, a snowmobile came to the dorm with our (lukewarm) pizzas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Chuck Geber \u201973<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI lived in Lyon Hall and had to trek to MVR and the Ag Quad for most of my classes. I remember one day making it about halfway up Libe Slope, losing traction, and sliding all the way back down to the bottom! I have a vague memory of a rope handrail-type system being set up one winter, and pulling myself up hand over hand with ice underfoot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Kirstin Ross Preuss \u201992<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI learned how to ski, at least somewhat, at Greek Peak. No one wore fancy ski pants at that time. My jeans would get so wet from falling off the lift at the top or on the way down the bunny slope\u2014my legs were numb and so pink! I went on to learn more and ski many times since, but I could never forget that first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Adrienna \u201cA.M.\u201d McVicker Reing \u201987<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Published February 5, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alumni recall sudden blizzards, cross-country skiing to campus, bundling up, trudging up the slippery Slope, and much more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":65609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[64390,47125,18283],"footnotes":""},"categories":[224],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-65468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cornelliana"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/2025_1439_SH_070-A-1024x576.jpg\")
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