BY alex piazza
BELLAIRE -- Bill Truscott takes the road less traveled.
That's because he's one of the few motorists brave enough to tackle northern Michigan road conditions during a blizzard.
So don't tell the 16-year veteran of Antrim County's Road Commission that his job's easy.
"We always get teased that plowing roads is easy," said Truscott, 38, of Bellaire. "Everybody looks at it as just driving a truck. But it's not fun working on the side of a slippery road in 10-degree weather. That's what we call 'white-knuckling' it."
Truscott churned through snow piles at 6 a.m. Thursday, and paved the way for hundreds of drivers across northwest Antrim County.
A winter storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on northern Michigan caused several traffic accidents. Harsh driving conditions even bested some local salt trucks.
"Everybody ends up in the ditch this time of year," Truscott said, "I had to dig myself out twice on Wednesday."
The storm has since blown northeast into Canada, but that doesn't mean the snow will let up.
Strong winds and cold temperatures are expected to produce additional lake-effect snow this weekend, said officials at the National Weather Service station in Gaylord.
Wind gusts will remain around 15 to 20 mph, which also could cause excessive drifting, said NWS meteorologist Jeff Lutz.
But Lutz said the brunt of the storm is over.
"(Tonight), we'll be seeing the downhill of things," he said.
Another winter storm system is expected to move into northern Michigan on Sunday, but Lutz said "it's nowhere near the one we just had."
The storm deposited enough snow in Harbor Springs to prompt officials at Boyne Highlands Resort to open their slopes today.
"Mother Nature has given us a nice shot in the arm," said Joe Breighner, Boyne Highlands area manager. "Ten days ago, it looked like doom and gloom."
Breighner set an opening date earlier this week as the storm loomed. He arrived to work at 5 a.m. Thursday to ensure the ski resort's 390 snow guns worked effectively. Temperatures have remained below freezing, allowing Boyne Highlands to produce more than a foot of snow.
Rick VanTongeren also was busy Thursday preparing for opening day at Mt. Holiday Ski Area in Traverse City.
"There's always loose ends to tie up before opening day," said VanTongeren, Mt. Holiday's executive director.
A majority of those loose ends involved shoveling, plowing and making snow.
"Because of our water reservoir we have here, we were pumping as much water through the guns as we could," he said.
Mt. Holiday will open at 1 p.m. today.
