Is more snow better?

A good snow cover is important for us in Utah as is means a rich and long-lasting snow-pack that may lessen a bit the super drought we’re currently in. There are also two good things going with too much snow: We no longer need “rock skis” and we won’t damage these brand new boards! 

Yet, beyond that, record-breaking snow like this year, brings a series of obvious downsides. The most obvious one is what to do with all the snow, plowing the roads on time and making room for new snow that are a constant nightmare for our municipality. 

Driving conditions get also much trickier and walking along roads and pathways becomes more dangerous as well as the risk of slip and fall increases dramatically. Then there’s lot of wear and tear on roadways and parking lots that need to be addressed in the spring.

Around houses and buildings, things aren’t better. Overloaded roofs risk collapsing, ice dams abound and force homeowners to remove snow on roofs. 

To add insult to injury water problems don’t all originate from overloaded roofs, many come also from melting snow over a frozen ground that can only escape into crawl spaces, basements and lower spaces, requiring sump pumps and the like. 

Finally, far less sunny and pleasant days become hard to endure and end up depressing us all. Did I mention the lack of good visibility when we ski under cloudy skies and in the middle of a snow storm? 

When all is said and done, we might be better of with just half of that snow, but thank God, we don’t control the volume!