Ace skier Steve Blodgett screamed down the mountain to take first place in the slalom and fourth in the downhill at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival in Hanover this weekend.

Blodgett's performance -- and fast skiing by Greg Peters, Willy Draper and Peter Gagarin -- put Harvard's Alpine team in an over-all third place, behind Dartmouth and Middlebury, in the best known college winter carnival in the East.

The showing made Harvard a strong contender against Middlebury for the second place Alpine spot in the Northeast.

Willy Draper and Peter Gagarin placed 11 and 12 in the Dartmouth slalom. Greg Peters finished 8 in the downhill, where Gagarin landed 17. The best three out of five entries for each team counted in the scoring.

The combined results for the slalom and down hill put Steve Blodgett a half second behind Middlebury's B. McCollom and ahead of Williams skier Dave Rikert. Peter Gagarin finished 13 in the combined results, and Willy Draper, a sophomer placed 21.

But the Harvard Nordic team fell behind, finishing sixth in cross-country and seventh in the jump. In individual showings, Jim Sise and Ben Barnes finished 15 and 19 in a field of 37 cross-country entries.

Jim Sise and John Mitchell placed 23 and 24 in a field of 33 jumpers.

The final four-event team scores for the whole Carnival left Harvard in fifth place, behind Dartmouth, Middlebury, Williams and Vermont, and ahead of St. Lawrence, New Hampshire and Maine.

Coach Charlie Gibson is honing the best team possible for the Williams College Carnival and Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association Championships in Willamstown this weekend. The team is aiming for third or fourth place.