Obviously for Northern Hemisphere folks here. Where I am, it has been mostly below freezing, a little snow but not enough to pe pretty or good to play in. It’s mostly indoor activities. I work out at the gym, play board games, have random get togethers with friends. What do you do?
It doesn’t snow enough. I own snowshoes. I also like to winter camp. I just got back from some time on the shore of lake Erie. I’d love to do winter mountaineering but I don’t live near mountains and haven’t been able to take time off of work for travel.
I live in Cleveland and began backpacking in Pennsylvania thirty years ago during the coldest, snowiest winter since the 70’s. My buddy and I rented cheap snowshoes that were awful, that summer i mail ordered a pair of Atlas snowshoes when they first became available. I think I’ve used them twice since. That’s why every time I hear someone griping about the winter, my suggestion is to buy skis or snowshoes because it’ll never snow enough. Or to put it another way; buy these and you’ll realize how infrequently we have snow on the ground. This winter has been an exception though, same thing with three years ago.
I too wanted to be a mountaineer! My friends and I even took a class on Mount Baker. It’s a lot like being on a chain gang. You are tied into a rope with a few others and if you don’t move in unison it can be frustrating. I settled on doing some pretty heavy duty backpacking, way more chill. Now I fly fish and just like backpacking, Ohio isn’t the best place for it but I’ve learned to get over what I call "the grass is greener syndrome ".
Yeah I’ve been in Ohio for a couple of decades now. I travel to the Smokies and Rockies as often as I can, also MI and PA but work has been a challenge recently. I have lived out West and internationally and in the Midwest. I’ve learned to not let my location get in my way too much. My ice axe and crampons still call to me sometimes though.
I bought a snowblower, so we never have a big snowfall again. Actually I just used it last week for the first time this year. In 4 years I’ve had maybe four total uses …. No more snow
Got a new snowblower also thinking the same thing would happen to me but I’ve gotten quite a bit of use out of it already.