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5 tips for surviving the Arctic from a soldier who lives there

Talyn

SAINT
Founding Member
Much of the same applies to the PNW and Rocky Mountain regions in the winter, and when dealing with bears & moose in those parts of the country.

5 tips for surviving the Arctic from a soldier who lives there

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BTW - While the upper tier states in the Midwest & New England states have nasty/dark winters and have their winter-time idiosyncrasies the mountainous areas in the PNW & Rockies add another group of complications similar to things further north.

Any travel through any of the Upper Tier states in the winter requires added awareness & prep, and undertsnading on how winter works in the Upper Tier.
 
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BTW - While the upper tier states in the Midwest & New England states have nasty/dark winters and have their winter-time idiosyncrasies the mountainous areas in the PNW & Rockies add another group of complications similar to things further north.

Any travel through any of the Upper Tier states in the winter requires added awareness & prep, and undertsnading on how winter works in the Upper Tier.
Very true.

A while back, my wife & I went to visit my in-laws in Hamilton, MT for Christmas. It was a lot cheaper to fly in to Spokane, so that’s what my wife booked.

I asked her about driving conditions…her response was “it’s all interstate…it’ll be fine”.

When we went through the pass between ID & MT, where they were blowing out snow 6-7 feet deep, I looked at her and said @donyou see why I was a little concerned about driving?”.

Mountains are a whole lot different than the plains…
 
I read the article and it seems to me like it's more "How to survive being stationed in Alaska as a Service Member" than it is "How To Survive in Alaska" or even "How To Survive In The Winter."

I live in Colorado. The last winter I worked it started snowing in early October and the snow continued until mid June.

I don't remember what year it was but right after I got married Colorado got hit with the kind of blizzard that only happens once every 50 years.

It dumped four feet of snow in a day. The governor issued a shelter in place order I don't remember the exact wording but they said that they would be citing people for being out on the streets.

I worked for a carpet cleaning company at the time and about a month after the blizzard I had to clean a house that was being sold the owners of which had got stuck in the snow a mile from home. Apparently the husband tried to get home to get help and the wife stayed in the car. He got lost in the snow and Frozen death she died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

I think about that every time it starts to snow.

My first Duty Station was Germany. I was in a Field Artillery unit and it seemed like we only went to the field in the winter. We lived outside in the cold for 30 days at a time. I'm not going to lie it was miserable and we were equipped for it.

Colorado Springs has a sizable homeless population. I'm not sure why but we do and every year we really only have one or two of them that freeze to death. So you can live outside in the snow and survive you just have to be equipped for it and you have to be smart about it.
 
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If you love the outdoors and enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, etc. then Alaska is a slice of heaven on earth. If you are not an outdoors person, then Alaska is hell on earth. The cold here in Alaska is different than the lower 48. I am warmer at -25°F in the interior of Alaska than I am at 10°F in Anchorage, Alaska. I am warmer at 10°F in Anchorage, Alaska than I am at 25°F in Columbus, Ohio. I think it has to do with the cleaner air and the humidity.
 
If i remember correctly got chilly in September and stayed that way until memorial day.
 
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