Huh? Why would you stay inside when you live in such a beautiful place? I live in the Yukon - it's -37C today and it's absolutely beautiful outside. I rode to work today, and just did a 1 hour round trip walk to the library to drop off some books. I'll go for a ~2 hour snow shoe tonight in the dark with my headlamp. I saw the Northern Lights last night, so I'll take my camera tonight.
I went to Iceland in February and we went to Gulfoss (the Golden Waterfall). It wasn't that cold, maybe -5 deg c, but with the winds (probably gusting at 100km/h) and the frozen rain it was the single most unpleasant place I've ever been. Coupled with all that was the fact we were trying to look at a waterfall which had rain and ice whipping off it directly into our faces.
It did, however, stop raining that night and we spent about an hour watching the northern lights out in the fresh snow which was magic.
Well in the full article they talk about the constant hard winds that sometimes shatter windshields and such. Also the poster who grew up there mentioned the constant rain that gets wind-blasted in your face. And so I'm thinking about somebody who was never accustomed to these things suddenly moving there because they seek some solitude.
Might not be as great as she/he imagined, that's all.
Reminds me of Harbin, on the bus trip from Changchun in the winter I watched the mercury fall from -20 to -35. It wasn't really that bad (my digital camera battery failed me at the ice sculptures, however).
Do you have a thermometer in your car? I was surprised that the buses in north east china all have this (displayed up front), as if trying to tell us how much colder it was getting :) My only experience of making that trip is in the summer.
What is weird thing about china, however, is that both Changchun and Harbin are huge cities with millions of people. How could so many people live where it is so cold...the entire huge songhua river is completely frozen over. Surreal.
For the first time in my life, yes. I just bought a new (to me) 2007 Jeep, which is why I was driving from BC to the Yukon - vehicles are much cheaper in the south.
> What is weird thing about china, however, is that both Changchun and Harbin are huge cities with millions of people. How could so many people live where it is so cold
I know what you mean, though when you live there, you live there. The Russian city of Murmansk [1] is in the Arctic Circle and has a population of 300k.
>the entire huge songhua river is completely frozen over. Surreal.
In Dawson City, Yukon they're driving across the Yukon River right now - it's part of the highway and the only access to town for the hundred or so people that live on the other side. The river doesn't freeze in Whitehorse because of the dam, though we can drive across any lake around here for the next 3-4 months no problem. Last year my 3 foot ice auger was not long enough to drill a hole for ice fishing :)
Every single new car has a thermometer built in and displays the current temperature outside on the dashboard. It's not that uncommon. I actually think it's a great safety feature for when you are driving to work in the morning and you are not sure if it's quite freezing yet or not - if your thermometer says it's less than 4C then I am more careful, but if it's above 4C then it should be fine to drive.
I've been out of the states for 10 years and haven't bought a car since '98. You don't normally see these on an intercity bus, but it was deemed important enough to have on the bus to harbin in winter, like a Chinese bullet train bragging about its current speed.
>how often are the winter weather good enough for you to venture outside?
I've never had, or ever heard of the winter weather being bad enough to stop people going outside to do activities in Whitehorse, Yukon.
I was Caribou hunting last year near the Arctic Circle at -48C, my friends were back country skiing on the weekend when the wind was severe and likely the windchill was past -60C. I ride my bike or walk to work/town literally 365 days of the year. Friends were Bison hunting a few winters back below -55C - and they were sleeping in a wall tent :) They had to wake up every hour to stoke the stove, and it took them a full day to get their snowmobiles running so they could ride ~100km on them back to the world. Not the kind of place you want to make a mistake.
It doesn't snow much here (semi-arid) so we don't get whiteout conditions.
Our local community ski will close when it's past about -30C - so we can't go skiing on the chair lift then - on those days I go snowshoeing or ice fishing usually.
Friends up in the Arctic Circle in places like Iqaluit [1] have told me they have 20 or 30 days a winter where it's impossible to go outside - it's such severe whiteout and wind you would get lost and literally die if you went outside. Nobody leaves their house for any reason on those days.
That doesn't happen here - or at least I've never heard of it ever happening, and have not seen it in my 5 years.
Huh? Why would you stay inside when you live in such a beautiful place? I live in the Yukon - it's -37C today and it's absolutely beautiful outside. I rode to work today, and just did a 1 hour round trip walk to the library to drop off some books. I'll go for a ~2 hour snow shoe tonight in the dark with my headlamp. I saw the Northern Lights last night, so I'll take my camera tonight.
Winter is actually the most beautiful season - the snow is so clean and bright, and the sun shines off all the ice crystals so beautifully. It was cold this day - http://theroadchoseme.com/mendenhall-glacier-juneau-alaska