They played football on Beechwood Boulevard, posed in bikinis for cameras in Shadyside, threw snowballs in Point State Park and snowboarded -- at 4 am -- down "Cardiac Hill"on Oakland's Lothrop Avenue.

As this weekend's monster snowstorm made its way into the history books, Pittsburghers made the most of it, frolicking in the white stuff, jamming bars and bistros and -- once the storm passed early Saturday afternoon -- getting down to the serious business of coping with snowbound cars, unplowed side streets, downed power lines and damaged trees and shrubs.

While Washingtonians rightly swooned at the 32 inches which fell on their city -- President Barack Obama was calling it "Snowmageddon" -- Pittsburghers took their 21 inches in stride. Even as the snow continued to pelt down Saturday morning, John Ceranic was out in front of his apartment building in Deutschtown, shoveling the sidewalk.

He turns 91 in March.

"It's just something you do. I'm still going strong," he said.

The secret to his success?

"No smoking. Never smoked in my life," said Mr. Ceranic, who has vivid memories of the 1950 behemoth blizzard -- his wife's sister got married that day "and my father walked all the way from Elliott to the North Side for it. He was tough. "

In the post-storm Downtown, under a brilliant sun and blue skies, the streets were silent. Snow neatly capped parking meters like just so many foot-high hats, while three men walked down the deserted Boulevard of the Allies videotaping the blanket of white. A lone city Public Works vehicle trundled along, spreading salt.

Shadyside, however, had morphed into a fancy winter playground, as sledders in sheepskin boots and cross-country skiers caromed past J.Crew and Henne Jewelers to pack the neighborhood's trendy bars and coffee shops, to commiserate about cabin fever and tap into that special camaraderie that always accompanies a major snow event.

"It's just a different sense of community out here," said Matt Wholey, who ventured to Walnut with Alane Fahey, Howard Austin -- in snow shoes -- and their dogs, Ham and Leroy. On nearby Howe Street, Rachel Apt, 18, of Squirrel Hill, made her way on country skis -- the quickest way to get to work, she said she realized, "when I walked out my door and saw I was two feet closer to the tops of the trees."

Actually, not two feet, exactly -- a total of 21.1 inches of snow was measured at the National Weather Service's office at Pittsburgh International Airport. But it packed tremendous amounts of moisure, said meteorologist Brad Rehak -- the liquid equivalent of 1.56 inches. March 1993's monster storm, in contrast, dumped 25.3 inches on the region, but its snow was light and fluffy -- the liquid equivilent of 1.20 inches

The snow was heavy, the mood was light. Along Fifth Avenue in Shadyside, three young women clad only in bikinis giddily braved the cold to have their male friends snap once-in-a-lifetime photos of them against the wintry backdrop.

Power outages rippled through the North Side beginning late Friday night, thanks in part to downed trees. By 7:30 a.m., someone already had built a giant snowman -- taller than six feet -- in West Park on the North Side, between Lake Elizabeth and North Avenue.

The only North Side bar open for business, Jr's Bar on Cedar Avenue, was thronged with patrons seeking respite from dark chilly houses -- or nagging spouses. Some began arriving as early as 10 a.m. Saturday, telling owner Aaron Auber, "I can't stay in my house no more and talk to my old lady."

Across the street, Bistro to Go owner Nikki Heckman opened on schedule after camping out with friends in Deutschtown Friday night. Indeed, by 11 a.m., the dining room was jammed with patrons who'd walked from the Central North Side and other neighborhoods nearby.

"It was a snow party," Ms. Heckman said. "Everybody was talking to each other, drinking coffee, walking up and down the streets and having a good time."

Other businesses weren't exactly booming, though: at Bernie's Photo Center on East Ohio Street, a trickle of customers stopped by for photo and video supplies to record the record snowfall, which meant it was mostly "like having a second Sunday in the week," owner Bruce Klein said.

George Miller, owner of Jalen's Barber Shop, tied plastic bags around his legs to walk through the high snow to work, only to find few of his regular weekend customers, who typically drive to the North Side from elsewhere.

Frank Battista was luckier. He awoke at 5:45 a.m., took care of his dog, shoveled off his car and then drove from his Mexican War Streets home to help open up Aldo Coffee Co. in Mt. Lebanon at 7:15 a.m., where he's a barista.

It's a good thing he did: business was extremely brisk, thanks to a mix of regulars and others who'd trudged though snow-caked and largely deserted streets to find the lights on and coffee brewing inside.

"Our phone was ringing off the hook," he added. "We should have had, like a ski report, you call in and we say 'We have five lifts open.' "

For all the people without heat and power overnight, "This was a warm place to come to, that had coffee," Mr. Battista said. "Everyone's been very friendly -- just happy to have a place to go to."

That was in the morning. By last night, Houlihan's restaurant in Mt. Lebanon was one of the few area restaurants open, jammed with customers seeking warmth and light and hot food -- although a skeleton waitstaff meant only about a third of the tables could be opened up for diners.

Elsewhere, rituals of everyday life continued despite power outages. The normally very busy Giant Eagle Market District in Bethel Park lost power but stayed open, under dimmed lights, using generator power for the registers.

In the East End, an impromptu football game broke out on Beechwood Boulevard, which was closed at Luster Street in Squirrel Hill because of downed power lines. Some residents griped about unplowed side streets, but the mood was generally cheerful, with Jewish residents shouting, "Gut Shabbes!" at each other, in reference to the Sabbath.

Most stores were closed, but Pamela's Diner, usually mobbed on Saturday mornings, was open. At Allegro Hearth Bakery, sales staff tried to fill bread orders for shops, restaurants and other venues -- only to learn that most were closed and didn't want the bread, which included a huge, two foot-long challah, intended for a wedding that was canceled.

The storm-generated good humor had already translated into good deeds in South Oakland Friday night, after a section of Forbes Avenue near the off ramp of the Parkway East ground to a standstill when cars, trucks and buses became stuck trying to get up the hill to the light at Craft Avenue.

After being stranded for hours, they were finally rescued by about a dozen students living on Ophelia Street, who left their houses to help the stranded motorists, pushing, shoving and finessing at least two dozen cars up the hill while laughing and joking about the great "cardio" exercise they were getting.

The festive, we're-all-in-this-together mood bloomed into a full-fledged snow carnival at around 11:15 p.m. Friday, when several hundred Point Park University students headed down the Boulevard of the Allies into Point State Park for an apparently spontaneous play session, building snowmen and tossing snowballs in eight inches of snow.

Plenty of sports and entertainment events were canceled, but some soldiered on. The popular monthly reading series at 305 Gist Street, Uptown, went on as scheduled Friday night, with lines forming at 6:45 p.m., and some book lovers bicycled through the snow so they wouldn't miss it.

The show also went on at Robert Morris University in Moon, when during a basketball game against Saint Francis University, the power went off briefly -- to "oohs" from the audience. Generator-powered floodlights clicked on, the teams shot baskets to stay warm, and ten minutes later, all the power was restored -- except for the score board. So, officials resorted to a flip-card scoreboard, like the ones used in an elementary school gym class.

Meanwhile, down in "Snowmageddon" -- that would be the Nation's Capital -- the Duquesne men's basketball team's game at George Washington University yielded a win over the Colonials, 70-63, but not before the team's bus got stuck in the snow on the way. Coach Ron Everhart's staff quickly cobbled together a convoy of SUV taxis to shuttle the team, support staff and equipment to the university.

Afterwards, the team boarded their (now-unstuck) bus to head back to Pittsburgh and were making their way through the Washington streets -- only to get stuck again after making it a little more than a mile.

A tow truck was summoned, but never arrived, so, after sitting on the bus for over 90 minutes, taxis again were called, the players' staff and equipment picked up and the team returned to their hotel, where they stayed Saturday night -- hoping to return to Pittsburgh this morning.

Yeah, good luck with that.

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