I learned from living in Maniotoba for about 9 years that when it gets cold enough it doesn't snow nearly as much.  I'd love -25 or so weather, if it';; hold the precipitation off.  Go for it

I skied Thurs and Fri both -25 and -22 with wind.

Yhe cold will kill pine beetles! We need that in Alberta!

Winter is my favourite season!!!  Bring on the cold!!!

Okay, obviously none of you people live near a decent beach or you'd be under the covers like normal people waiting for the next nice beach day.  Only 6 months to go .

Mine to YW! I miss snow and the cold wind and temperatures so cold your ears hurt when you step outside.

I live in the city affectionately (and often not so affectionately) known as "Winterpeg."  So for me to say winter is my favourite season really says something.

sounds great to me *sigh* enjoy it twice as much for me please!

I will!!!  We've got a windchill warning as we speak!!!

windchill I miss windchill! I don't know if they'd know what I meant if I said windchill over here lol

 Alex is green with envie. How is the outdoor skating in the Peg?

Well, we have warmed up to -20 here and I am happy. That is indeed a nice amount of cold. A couple of weeks ago we had -40.......actual temperature. That was a little much. Never-the-less, I do have a good Canada Goose, downfilled Arctic parka, snow pants, good boots that are good to -35 or so and various things like a neckwarmer, mitts etc. I think I am good to go to -100. I do not want to check that theory thank you very much.

We did have a wind chill warning on Thursday and yesterday.

Oh, and I have changed my avatar to a picture of my dog in March 2007 in our backyard. She is a 70 pound lab/shepherd.

We have a lake north of us that has fabulous -30-something skating.

This is the only picture I could find. Imagine that all white and frozen over......gorgeous!

I found a second picture.......still not frozen, but you get the idea.

Cold, I like.

Cold & windy, I detest. The kind of icy freezing cold wind that stings your face as you walk down the freezing blustery streets of Toronto.

Yass - they can harvest the Icewine grapes. Too bad i'm teetotal.

I used to ski once - I had knees then.

I'm not sure how the outdoor skating is as I am anti-physical-activity.

However, I do know that a year or two ago, we passed the Rideau Canal as the world's longest outdoor skating rink.  Ha!

 Show off!

I'm more of a summer person (love outdoor swimming - and like Somegirl love beaches), but I will hope for cold weather for you in Ottawa, Alex.  Hope you will be out there skating soon.

In honor of this thread, I've changed my avatar to the one and only picture of me "attempting" a winter sport.  This is from me snowboarding last winter and this picture represents how I spent most of the evening -- falling on my @$$. 

I'm a winter lover too.!  I don't get the urge to flee south when the temperature drops.  Depends on where you live though.  It was better when I was a bit further north since it was colder and sunnier.  Sloppy and dreary isn't good.

Memories of brilliant days snowshoeing and shovelling the stuff only to have the snow plough push it all back my way again.......

One could even imagine they're on a luge track when the snowbanks are 8 feet high on the empty back roads.

Then you should move to Alberta it has been minus 20 or colder for nearly two months straight.

Alex

I live on the west coast now, where ice is pretty hard to come by but the old timers say that up till th mid 60's all the creeks and ponds 'round here used to freeze solid for about 6 weeks every winter and there was much skating activity.  Mid 60's would be about time of the downward spiral of clearcutting in BC and also, if we are to be honest about it, the time when the ozone layer was beginning to crumble.  Ah Frankenstein what a lovely boy you are!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you that I am making sure that my kids have the basics of skating down, just so that when they do visit Ottawa, they will know to make sure it is winter and that they will be able to skate on the river.  It is a truly miraculous experience.  "Oh I wish I had a river that I could skate awaaaaaay on."  Rivers and lakes are the only way to go.