After leaving the park we enjoyed an early Chinese dinner at Sun Ming Restaurant in Huntington, Long Island before most of the people headed back to the City.

I have done this hike several years ago on X-mas Day and it was well attended as well as another X-mas Day Trip for Washington's Crossing the Delaware that was well attended to.

I think running an event on X-mas Day is a good thing to do. On a Christian family oriented holiday it brings Jewish singles together who other wise might have spent this holiday alone.

October 1999 POLAR BEAR ENCOUNTER!!!         (by Janet P. Mansky)    -back to top-

After our "Lords of the Arctic" course ended, we took Via Rail' Hudson Bay" train (a 2-night trip) from Churchill back to Winnipeg, and flew home from there.

The group had a late brunch at a Brazilian outdoor cafe on Columbus Avenue before returning to the museum. Having enough of the cold, the Mosaic adventurers traveled to the tropics and saw the IMAX film - Amazon. The film traced the Amazon, from its birth in the icy heights of the towering Andes Mountains onits journey to the teeming depths of Brazil's tropical rain forest.

Many of the group members, who had not been to the American Museum of Natural History in years, enjoyed both this excellent exhibit and film.

A few folks hit the hottub the first night, but most of us turned in.  When we awoke - it was Christmas!  There is no other way to describe it.  During the night it had snowed and snowed - and was showing no signs of stopping.Everyone excitedly geared up and headed out - most to Mount Snow for alpine, and a few to The Hermitage for nordic.   All skiiers reported terrific snow, though it did get a bit difficult to see at times with all of the snow blowing around.  But we were more than willing to tolerate this!

Apres-ski, several folks enjoyed happy hour @ the mountain.   Others hit the hot tub, lounged in front of the fireplace, and read "Lulie the Iceberg."  Dan  showed off his new digital camera and everyone was quite enthralled.  Gerry indulged several lucky women with his expert massages. Stephanie treated everyone to some apres-ski nibbles that she'd brought for the group.  Dinner was served @ the inn and was very enjoyable.  Dessert was apple-crisp, which Janet thought tasted a bit like haroset.  Andrea generously served whipped cream to all who desired it.

Some time after dinner, Howie and Nissim made a beer run, which was much appreciated.  Meanwhile, Holly, Janet, Dave and Jackie headed outside for a walk in the snow (yes, it was STILL snowing).  Gerry came along too, and amused himself with "stalking" the rest of us a la Halloween.  At some point the five lay down in the snow - and just watched the snow fall in silence.  It was pretty intense.

Sunday morning dawned clear and cold.  The skiing was incredible - it was as much powder as I've ever skiied in - and I've been out west a number of times.   The quantity of snow made me think I was in Montana - but the brutal wind (especially on the chairlift) never let me forget that I was still in New England.   

Thanks to Stephanie for organizing such a great weekend - not to mention picking such a snowy one!

On Sunday we got up got up very early and headed to Italy. We ended up heading to a ski region called Vialattea. In this region many ski resorts are interconnected. We skied Sestriere and Sansicario. The weather in Italy as for the majority of the days in France was perfect. Bright sunshine with very little wind. This was perfect for wining and dining mid mountain under the sun.

The next 4 days we skied at Serre Chevalier. The skiing was very good.

With all the talk about the avalanches, we could have used some more snow. Don't get me wrong, the skiing was still phenomenal.

We stayed in one of the many base villages that made up Serre Chavalier called Chantemerle. This was a quaint little ski village with some interesting bars and restaurants. There was some night life for those who ventured out at night.

Our bus driver who drove us from the airport to the ski resort had offered to take us to his cousin's restaurant in Briancon one evening.  Briancon was the largest of the base villages at Serre Chavelier. We ended up in our own private room for dinner. It turned out to be a magnificent evening with wonderful food and wine for all.  The final day of the trip turned out to be the highlite of the trip for me. 5 of us decided we needed to find more snow so we decided to head for the nearest skiable glacier. We planned this last minute so we were very lucky to get a guide. The 5 of us plus a cab driver piled into a SMALL 4 seater and drove for about an h ur further into the mountains.  The cab ride in and of itself was a harrowing experience.

Once at the glacier, we met our guide Manu. He was a 26 or 27 year old Fenchman. The glacier was about 7100 vertical feet. Having skied for about 26 years, the glacier was easily the most amazing experience Ihave ever had on skis or for that matter, off skiis. We skied steeps of about 50 degrees. We skied fresh untracked snow. We skied chutes that were maybe 8 or 9 feet wide and 50 degrees steep. Our day at La Grave is what ski dreams are made of. This was seriously challenging extreme skiing. You name it and we skied it. Runs took upwards of 1.5 hours.

This included many breaks to take in the amazing scenery, much of which I captured on video. We did not stop for lunch. We snacked all day long on the gondola ride to the top. It was not unusual to ski a complete run and not see anyone else except at the top of bottom. The day was so amazing, a few of us are talking about going there for a week next year. Just writing this is getting the adrenalin pumping. This was truly an awesome day.

Later that day, we arrived back at the chalet just in time for dinner. All we did was talk about our day. After dinner, we replayed the videos that were taken all week long.

Yes, this was a trip that we will not soon forget.

After checking in at our hotel in Levis, Quebec, across the St. Lawrence River from Quebec City, the three of us headed into town to get our bearings. (Bill Sugerman who drove up from Queens that would join the group on Saturday and Sunday).Our first stop was Place Loto where we saw the beautiful ice castle, the center piece for the carnival.

 Winter Carnival is an annual tradition in Quebec City held during the first two weeks of February. Unlike many New Yorkers who dread winter cold and snow Quebecers celebrate the season with beautiful ice sculpture competitions, night time parades, fireworks, tobogganning, dance, ice climbing, canoe races and auto races and any other winter sport imaginable. All this in a French speaking city of over half million people that boasts an annual accumulation of twelve feet of snow!

 We walked into the walled city of Vieux Quebec to look for a restaurant for dinner and dined at Cafe Suisse on cheese and beef fondue followed by maple sugar pie for dessert. A Quebecois tradition!

 Much of Saturday was spent enjoying the festivities of Winter Carnival. The day began with a 10 minute ferry ride across the ice choked St. Lawrence River. We disembarked in the Lower Town and meandered throgh the narrow, winding streets We passed art galleries, restaurants, boutiques and an ice sculpure of a horse before arriving at the base of the cliff to board the funicular, a smal cable car that would take us up to the side of the cliff to the Upper Town.

 We walked past the Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City's most prominent hotel in thickly falling snow towards the Plains of Abraham where most of the Winter Carnival was located. The Winter Carnival featured lovely ice sculptures from all the Canadian Provinces as well as various regions in Quebec. Janet and Bill enjoyed a snow rafting ride down a big hill for a fun thrill!. Lanny and Ken watched a dancing snowman throw shovelfuls of snow on men and women dancing in their bathing suits to disco, rock and rap music as a crowd cheered them on in 15 degree temperatures.

After a light dinner of crepes we ventured back out into the cold and clambered up steep snow banks to the top of the city walls to watch the parade with its colorful floats before calling it a night.

On Sunday, the highlight of the day was a visit to Montmorency Falls. The power and drop of Montmorency Falls was awesome. A 293 foot drop is considerably more than Niagara. The frozen ice surrounding the falls in winter was a really "cool" site. We watched a buch of daring ice climbers slowly making their way up the ice wall. For the less intrepid, a hundred foot ice mound tempted many to slide the hill on make shift sleds or on their butts. Ouch!  (Janet can personally attest to this.)

During the afternoon, the group enjoyed an outdoor folk music festival and a tour of the 106 year old Chateau Frontenac.

The group made it home the next day in just 9 1/2 hours from Quebec City to New York City. Excellent drive time and a great time by all!

FEB 7 -12, 1999  QUEBEC CROSS COUNTRY SKI    (Lanny Wexler)                         -back to top-

Cross country skiing was new to Alan and Lanny who both took advantage of excellent instruction that lasted for the entire week. Our native Quebecois instructor Daniel had endless patience as he instructed us in managing the snowplow technique. Janet and May joined the intermediate group and enjoyed the run of trail whisking down powdery groomed trails through the silent north woods.

After a long days out on the trail the group enjoyed world class cuisine which consisted of a hot platter or a salad, a choice of consomme or cream soup, a gourmand’s pause, a flavored ice with alcohol, our main course could be one of seven choices which might include prime rib of beef, breast of duck, Atlantic salmon steak, veal with cardamon, half a guinea hen and a vegetarian course. We ordered red wine with every meal and desserts included maple sugar pie, chocolate mousse, fresh fruit, creme brulee   and cheese cake. Yum!

Far Hills also has a indoor heated pool and sauna.

During the week Janet and Alan headed over to Mont Tremblant for downhill skiing. They said the conditions were just superb. Pure powder, no crowds, like out West and a lovely apres ski village with lovely European style shops and restaurants at the base of the mountain.

Meanwhile back at Far Hills, Ken, May and Lanny enjoyed skiing into town as the highlight of their ski trip. Ken and Lanny really improved their skills during the ski week. Despite our small size we had a great time. Far Hills is definitely a great place for cross country skiing and its excellent cuisine.

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