Dom Macioce must not be well versed in the writings of Benjamin Franklin.

If he was, the 11-year-old from Penn Hills might know the quote from the old statesman that "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

Or perhaps young Dom likes landing on his face.

Dom was one of 84 people who bought a lift ticket at Boyce Park's ski slopes Saturday morning. It was the first day the slopes were open since Jan. 8, when the weather started to warm.

As his mother, Francine Macioce, 32, watched from the patio outside the ski lodge, Dom flew off the jump at the bottom of the hill again and again. He wound up on his stomach after every jump.

That stomach got a good workout. At one point during the morning, Dom was spotted being dragged up the hill on it while hanging onto the Poma lift.

The skiing was sparse; just two runs were open and the conditions were slushy.

Those who had planned Saturday skiing on Friday had been hoping the forecasters were right and there would be a fresh coating of snow on the slopes. Even into the afternoon, however, no snow fell and the slopes that weren't open were sporting the color green.

But for Rich Debsky, 36, of Mt. Lebanon, it was perfect. Mr. Debsky, who displayed a lift ticket from Alta Ski Area in Alta, Utah, on his zipper along with Boyce Park tag, was teaching his 5-year-old daughter how to ski.

Mr. Debsky hung onto the lift with his daughter, Riley, in front of him. Then they skied down the hill. Mr. Debsky was snowplowing with his poles held horizontally below his waist. Riley had her skis in between her father's and was hanging onto the poles.

It was just Riley's second time on skis, but at the bottom of the hill, Mr. Debsky let her go. The little girl, who was bundled enough to resemble the Michelin Man, slid down the rest of the way without falling. Her smile was almost as big as her pink goggles.

"It's good family fun," Mr. Debsky said.

The snow, even manufactured snow, was white gold for Mike Tendrick, who was standing in it for hours Saturday as he helped skiers onto the lift.

"It's good to be back," said Mike, 17, a senior at Penn Hills High School, who has not worked in the recent warm weather.

In addition to helping people with the lift, Mike and his co-workers had another job -- picking up people who were uninjured but couldn't right themselves after falling in the snow or running into the fence that protects the end of the ski lift.

Luckily, Saturday morning, when there weren't very many people skiing, there weren't too many people falling, either.