The weekend skiing started Friday with Elaine Lehman futilely trying to show Fred Burgess how to ski with class at the Cascade cross-country center. The two were the first to arrive at the Philo House in Lake Placed and got directions to Cascade from the informative cleaning crew preparing the structure for the onslaught of Kick n' Gliders. Elaine, decked out in a refined but muted ensemble that included a mink cap, skied flawlessly while Fred, attired in his garish red windbreaker and green pants, flopped repeatedly while skiing down the hills. But, he saved his best pratfall while trying to show a father-daughter team how to climb a glacier-like trail leading up from a marsh. Regardless, Elaine and Fred concluded Friday's experience was worth their 6:30 a.m. start for the journey from Harrisburg...

As others drifted into town, we gathered downtown to witness the opening ceremonies of the Empire State Games and to enjoy the fireworks finale to the ceremonies. Dinner, that night, was at Cameron’s.

To meet the needs of a variety of skiing skills, we drove to the vicinity of Paul Smith’s College Saturday morning. There, the ambitious group skied the nine-mile portion of the Jackrabbit Trail from Lake Clear to the Visitor’s Interpretive Center (VIC). Meanwhile, the rest of us proceeded directly to the VIC to ski the lovely 4.5 mile Esker Ski Trail. After lunch we skied a couple of miles back into the Jackrabbit to meet the ambitious party on their way to the VIC. The skiing conditions were great, but the last couple of miles of the Jackrabbit were littered with blow-downs that made for slow going and a few challenging moments. While most of us were skiing these trails, Jan and Linda spent the day zooming down the trails of Whiteface.

Returning to the Philo House, a few of us took advantage of the outdoor hot tub. Dick Ruben even jumped out of the tub a couple of times for a “refreshing” roll in the snow. Later, we pigged out on the traditional Lake Placid pork and sauerkraut dinner prepared by the Stines. We all retired early that evening … like the bunch of tired puppies we were.

It rained and sleeted steadily on Sunday morning and Fred was the only Kick n' Glider who accepted the challenge of trying to keep up with Dick Ruben, skier extraordinaire, at Mt. Van Hoevenberg Cross-Country Center. And Dick made him pay and pay -- as Fred concluded after less than four hours of perspiringly pursuing Dick up and down the Olympic trails. He decided to borrow a crowbar, pry open his wallet and buy an entire new package of skis, boots and poles. He hopes that will enable him to ski closer to Ruben-speed. The pair reported the trails were surprisingly good despite the freezing rain and sleet. They even managed to ski much of Porter Mountain before Dick had to return to catch an early ride back to Pennsylvania.

The rest of us plied the shops of Lake Placid and watched Empire competitors glide down the luge run on skeleton sleds at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. Candy even managed to get picked up by the police, literally! She slipped on an icy pavement and was helped to her feet by an officer who was making the rounds urging local merchants to de-ice their walks. After such a tiring day, we met at The Cottage on the shores of Mirror Lake for cocktails and tales before returning to the Philo House for a delicious ham dinner prepared by chefs Jan and Linda. Later that evening, we were treated to another round of fireworks, this time to open IBM’s corporate games.

Monday was for the Olympic trails of Mt. Van Hoevenberg. We broke into groups, depending on ambition and ability, and skiied a variety of trails. Just enough snow had fallen since rainy Sunday to dress up the trails and we had a great time. Returning to the house, several of us made use of the hot tub while the kitchen crew, led by Nancy & Dave, prepared a delicious dinner of spaghetti and salad.

Tuesday was going home day for the few remaining Kick ‘n Gliders. But, not before we had one last taste of Esker Trail at the VIC.

Despite the dreary weather on Sunday, we all had a great time. Lake Placid’s snow conditions were the best we’d had for several years. We can hardly wait to return to this Adirondack wonderland!

Attendees: Bill & Sandy Stine, Dave LeRoy, Nancy Kauhl, Steve & Laurie Schwalb, Candy Ney, Elaine Lehman, Diana Depp, Jan Diehl, Linda Smith, Fred Burgess and Dick Ruben.