Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. probably didn’t have sledding in mind when he encouraged Wellesley’s founders Pauline and Henry Durant to construct the College’s buildings to “accentuate the glacial topography” of the campus. But the result is the ideal landscape for winter fun, and sledding down the steep hill by the Severance residence hall is a favorite Wellesley tradition.
For decades, Wellesley students borrowed plastic trays from the College’s dining halls to speed through fluffy white clouds of cold powder to the snow-covered meadow below. The tradition is still known as “traying,” though the dining halls no longer supply the trays. Instead, resourceful Wellesley students repurpose sheets of cardboard, trash bags, plastic file folders, and other materials into makeshift sleds.
Severance Hill draws students from all corners of campus, all majors, all classes—even the most serious scholars take a break to fly recklessly down the sharp incline, snow caked in their hair and smiles on their faces. Traying is some Wellesley students’ first experience sledding, so you may find a New Englander giving tips to her Southern Californian roommate, or a Canadian student cheering on a friend from the Caribbean. Faculty and staff bring their children, and even Wellesley town residents join the fun. The happy shouts echo across campus, against the quiet stillness of the snow.
Photographer Joel Haskell recently captured the joyful winter tradition.
