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	December 31st through January 3rd, 2010

After arriving just after sunset on Thursday, we cleaned off a small area of the bar's deck and had a campfire. The air was cold but we had seen nothing yet. The real cold was coming.

The northwoods has a bit of snow.

Almost a 20 inch average on the deck.

With skiing slated for Saturday, Friday's main task was to check out the ice thickness.

There was only about 3 inches of snow covering the lake. The ice is 9.5 inches thick with the top inch very "airy". Plenty to support the forts of next weekend's annual Lake Lucerne bottle rocket war.

The moon was setting in a clear sky and the sun was still down before we left for Brule. It was really cold. Sub-zero type cold.

The sun was just up during lift ticket attachment time. It was colder in the UP than at the lake.

It was colder at the top of the hill. An employee told us that it was -18°F that morning. The 20 mph wind out of the north did not help.

The lifts were also cold/empty much of the day.

Brule has put up new signage in the last 2 weeks.

Other than the brutal cold, the conditions (snow, crowds, sun) were great. Just a note about the runs at brule. Most of the blue runs are great. I'm not a great skier but on the blues I can maintain control. I can turn, stop, not feel that death is imminant, and even take pictures. On most of the blue runs.

We never went down "Otter Slide" before this weekend. It's listed as blue and because it ends close to the lodge, we took it on our last run of the day. Several thoughts went through my mind as we passed the point of no return. The first was maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Then if there was a way to bail to a lesser run. There wasn't. After plowing the first part of the run all I could think was this things a freaking cliff. Only it wasn't the word freaking. Did you ever get that feeling that death was imminent? Otter Slide. More like Otter Destruction! We lived and gained great speed but won't be taking this run again until I become a better skier or last rites are offered at the top of the hill.

We'll be back next weekend for the 19th Annual Lake Lucerne Bottle Rocket War. Fort building will be mostly on Saturday, with maybe a bit on Friday but work signs point to no. The Bar will be opened after the war and flaming shots used to thaw the combatants.<br><br><br>-Nemo

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