Dartmouth Skiway Love: How Two Student Patrollers Found Love on the Slopes

Dartmouth is notorious for cultivating life-long relationships between its students born of the most unlikely scenarios. On the occasion of the marriage of Preston Beckett ’20 and Clair Du Bois ’21, we look back at how these lovebirds first met, as student patrollers at the Dartmouth Skiway. 

Clair Du Bois ’21: Well, after the end of a three-term situationship, I had totally given up on love at Dartmouth. I was in my junior year, so I knew I was never getting married. 

Preston Beckett ’20: I was on shift and saw a skier get absolutely railed by a lift pole. Haha, not sexy though.He was losing a lot of blood. I radioed for backup and a sled. 

Du Bois: My best friend on patrol told me it was good I got the call, because the only thing that can take your mind off a broken heart is someone else’s broken limbs. 

Beckett: When she skied down towards me, my first thought was “That’s the best skier I’ve ever seen.” Then I saw she wasn’t just a skier, she was a lady skier. 

Du Bois: I took one look at the guy and said, “He’s a mess.” Then I saw the guy on the ground, too.

Beckett: She stopped to raise her goggles and her aquamarine eyes pierced straight to my soul, like the rock that had pierced his abdomen. 

Du Bois: I assessed the situation and said, “Looks like his heart has stopped – but at least it isn’t broken – unlike mine.”

Beckett: My baby jumped right in and started to tourniquet him. That red looked so sexy on her. But then it dried to an ugly brown. 

Du Bois: I said, “He’s approaching asystole.”

Beckett: I said “Um, English please?” 

Du Bois: I was so annoyed. Just what I needed, a big dumb stupid dreamy strong brick of a man.

Beckett: She said “We need to do chest compressions,” and I wanted to say  “Do you need to perform those on me? Because you took my breath away.” I almost wooed her with that line before that moron interrupted with some choking noises. Bro, read the room.

Du Bois: I took off my gloves but my hands were too cold to do good compressions. He put his hands over mine on the dying man’s chest. 

Beckett: The chest compressions weren’t working, so we had to move to mouth-to-mouth. 

Du Bois: I took off my helmet. 

Beckett: Her luscious brown locks spilled out of her messy bun like the blood on the snow. I said “Is this a double black? Because I’m in emotionally dangerous terrain.” 

Du Bois: I leaned in to do mouth-to-mouth, but so did Preston. 

Beckett: Our warm lips met over his cold ones.  

Du Bois: Preston helped me lift the body into the sled. He was so strong! But when he set the body down, the toboggan shifted and knocked me over. 

Beckett: She fell into my arms. I caught her and we tumbled onto the inconveniently occupied sled. 

Du Bois: When I heard the ribs pop under me, it sounded like the crackling fire within my own heart. 

Beckett: We slid all the way down together.

Du Bois: By the time we reached the bottom, we knew we were going to get married. 

The skier was dead on arrival. Du Bois and Beckett have been together ever since.

—25W Groupwrite