We’re down in Florida this week – hiding from the bitter, cold weather in Minnesota. Some friends of mine say that I’ve “gotten soft” in my retirement lifestyle, but they are often the first ones to complain about the Winter weather.
Wintering in the Sunshine State might seem like “soft living”, but I feel like I’ve already checked enough boxes of hearty Winter adventures to last a lifetime.
My #BoldNorth resume spans more than 50 years in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I’ve lived in Winter, played in Winter, and suffered in Winter – however you want to add it up.
I’ve been out in -35 degree temperatures, -52 below wind chills, and seen +40” of snow fall in just two days. One time, it was so cold out, I hammered a nail through a board using a frozen banana!
I’ve skied, skated, curled, sledded, snowshoed, snowmobiled, biked, and been pulled on a horse-drawn sleigh through the snow and ice. As a kid (and with my son), I’ve built snowmen, snow forts, and had snowball fights.
I’ve peered through frosty skies at the Aurora Borealis, gone winter stargazing, toured sparkling ice palaces (165 feet high!), hiked through snowy woods, fished on a frozen lakes, climbed behind icy waterfalls, and once drove my Jeep across a frozen river to buy a case of New Glarus Spotted Cow in Wisconsin!
At MegaCorp, I led a three-year, multi-million dollar sponsorship of ESPN Winter X-Games. I was interested in the event after seeing so many Minnesota athletes in the snowy, frosty competition. The sponsorship provided great “business meetings” skiing and enjoying the Winter fun in Aspen, Snowmass, and Vail. (A trip to the Winter Olympics is still on my bucket list, MegaCorp Boss!)
There are a few things I’ve never done in Winter and probably never will: 1) jumping through a hole in the ice on New Year’s Day / “Polar Plunge”; 2) camping outside in below-zero weather (my son did this in Boy Scouts). While I’m sure there are people older than me that do those things, I’m going to claim I’m too old at this point!
Besides, if those omissions on my Winter resume mean that I’m now “soft” in retirement, I’ll challenge my critics themselves to take a January plunge and take a sleeping bag outside on a below-zero night.
If they succeed, I’ll toast their heartiness with a frosty beverage on my sunny Florida front porch!
What’s the craziest Winter activity on your #BoldNorth resume?
Image: (c) MrFireStation.com
MrFireStation 
X-country skiing near Montreal when the thermometers crossed at 39 below, it was actually 40 below. That was 1982 and in northern Maine it didn’t get above ten below for two weeks, walking to class was brutal.
I’ve also camped in temperatures below zero many times.
My winter challenge this year is dealing with smoke. The fire came within on mile of us. The soot and smoke is terrible and we are downwind.
I hope Klaus is ok.
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Klaus is OK – I checked in with him earlier this week. Looked like his house was spared, but likely a lot of smoke / soot damage.
-40F below zero air temperature beats me by -5 degrees. Normal people can’t conceive how cold that is. Minnesota also gets streaks of “below zero” days, but two weeks below -10F sounds like Antarctica!
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