Tell us your cold winter stories. (1 Viewer)

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The Basket

Senior Master Sergeant
3,712
1,884
Jun 27, 2007
For it is now the season.

Please advise on your winter woe and tales of survival in winter weather.

Extra points if true. So we can learn from your experience.
 
Last century...-22°C. Came off our last day shift and went to buddy's to drink our body weight in beer. I was walking there so dressed accordingly: sweater, winter parka, toque, snowmobile gloves and 40 below boots. Left his place several beer later and the moment I stepped out the door I was hit by snow and a howling wind which dropped the wind chill significantly. His place was only about a 10 minute walk from mine so I pulled my parka up over my head leaving a gap so I could look down. My plan was to cross the street and looking through the gap, follow the curb to my house. After an appropriate amount of curb watching, I looked up to see how far I had to go and was stunned to see that I couldn't recognize any of the houses nor the area I was in. I kept walking and looking but couldn't recognize anything. Time to panic. After a bit more walking I looked up and was standing across from my house. It had taken over half an hour to walk home and to this day I have no idea where I had gone
 
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Geo, your story resonates with me. Found myself walking into the cabin years back and suddenly realized that I didn't know where I was. It was snowing heavily and I was anxious to arrive. But ... I followed my footprints back to the point I had turned left instead of right .. and was fine. But panic is very easy to feel. Never helpful.
Great story, yours.
 
Dec 8 1974, Teheran Iran, 18" of snow in one night, airport roof collapsed while us kids were home alone. Helped the landlord shovel the roof of the apt complex.

Also, drove through a late winter blizzard in Donner Pass in Mar 1993. Never seen that much goddamned snow in my life. It broke trees, blocked highways, and clogged wheels.
 
Went hiking with college friends in that Catskills when there was still snow. Decided it would be a great idea to have a beer party in my tent. Woke up in the middle of the night by said liquid that had soaked through my sleeping bag. Panic. Spent the rest of the night with a rain poncho on in my sleeping bag. 😴
 
First week of September 1959 a teen at the USAFA from the south of the USA rediscovers winter. At breakfast formation in summer kaki uniforms, to the west over the Rockies, is noted the very violent rolling of clouds. Just as if one were rolling up a huge grey blanket. At noon lunch formation, very noticeable cold wind, about 20-25 degrees F. lower temperature. At dinner formation, p-coats over kakis, it is snowing with ice forming. After dinner, in rooms, it is noted the power lines have accumulated ice about 12 inches in diameter. After the power fails, the speaker announces the backup generator will be started. The backup generator powers the lights for about five minutes.. The speaker announces the second backup generator will be started. The lights are back on but with a very noticeable A/C ripple. The speaker announces the second backup generator will be shut down to protect it and be patient for repairs to be made. After about 15-20 minutes in near darkness inside, the speaker askes for volunteers to shake snow off the newly planted trees along both sides of the North road. Being from the south, I was not a volunteer. Besides, as a reader of military books since an early age, I knew "never volunteer for nuthin." As I watched from safely inside, the spectacle soon developed into a very large snowball fight in which two sides surged back and forth capturing and recapturing the north road. After about two hours, the warriors began to tire and filtered back in and went to bed.. Years later, I recognised the mark of leadership as the trees did not need preserving, but what to do with around 3000 young men under 24 with no studies to keep them busy.
 
I spent the winter of 1992 working in Newfoundland as part of a team constructing a fabrication facility for the Hibernia offshore oil platform. One morning was particularly cold, and after arriving on site from camp I remarked to one of the local ironworkers just how much colder winter felt here by the ocean. He replied in that unique accent or theirs: "Yes bye. Dere's only one ting here on da rock dat we takes off our longjohns fer." "What's that?" I asked. He winked and said "JULY!"
 

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