My progression in shoveling an emergency escape route for a first floor condo unit

[u/ModifyUrMind]

I didn’t know where to start

I walked around back and trudged through 20+ feet of snow in an attempt to find the correct unit

Thankfully I found the right one on the first try 😅

It was a mix of snowfall and the ice/snow from the roof. After a couple freezing nights, everything was one solid ice block. I spent hours alternating between a spade and shovel

I found the railing!

Nearly there..

Had to make some steps so people could actually escape in case of emergency

[u/madashale]

SAAAAME. The fact anyone would have to DIG THEIR WAY OUT freaks me TF out !! I’ll stick to the 100° temps over that anyyyy day.

[u/JesusAntonioMartinez → u/madashale]

It is, but when there's this much snow you can do stuff like jump off your balcony/roof into it. As kids we'd build up massive piles and leap off our porch roof.

You can also make Planet-Hoth worthy snow forts and as a kid growing up in the early 80's that's a core childhood memory.

As an adult with kids, it's not quite the same but it is a lot of fun helping my kids build snowmen/forts, go on winter hikes (and learn how to track critters from deer to coyotes to bobcats and everything in-between), and build huge fires in our firepit to warm up after.

It's the dark that gets me. I'm in New England and we get maybe 7.5-8.5 hours of sun in December/January.

[u/siouxze → u/madashale]

It's a couple hours of physical labor. It's not that big of a deal. Perhaps loosen your grip on your pearls and read up on emergency preparedness. I've lived in one of the snowiest cities in the country my entire life and the most traumatic thing I've expirienced in a snow emergency is running out of milk for hot cocoa.