Although identifying silver linings can be challenging in enduring freezing weather wherein exposed skin will within minutes suffer frostbite, they nevertheless are to be found.
The weekend before last, when the mercury was recording temperatures around the -30 C mark — and even colder when accounting for the wind chill factor — my better half and I decided to venture out to the mountains for a day out on the slopes.
Since the lifts had been shut down due to the extreme cold the previous weekend, we called ahead to ensure they would be operational, and were assured they would be. Upon arriving, bundled up in a myriad of warm, protective layers, we initially were dismayed that all but one of the lifts remained closed due to safety concerns in the extreme conditions.
Fortunately, within a couple of hours and the slightest improvement in weather, hardy crews were able to get a couple of the main lifts running by about noon.
“You’re crazy,” one of the technicians told us when I asked about the lift’s status.
“No, I’m Canadian,” I exclaimed with a smile and a laugh.
By this point, most of the few people who actually had shown up willing to brave the conditions had already headed home. This essentially left the entire mountain all but exclusively to ourselves. In the end, despite the cold, which the extra layers and the odd stop in the mid-mountain lodge easily dealt with, we had arguably one of our best days so far this season.
On a less personal note, the deep freeze has also benefited the whole province. Perhaps more specifically the forestry sector, which is of course a major industry in Alberta, our own backyard being no exception.
While we might not feel like celebrating the cold as vehicles struggle to start and warm up, perhaps we should.
An unexpected, yet certainly welcome and extremely beneficial silver lining that comes as a result of the frigid weather is the annihilation of countless pine beetles. For several years, their destructive spread through our forests has wreaked havoc and caused serious concerns about the impact on our crucial natural resource.
The past couple of weeks of extreme sub-zero temperatures have in one fell swoop arguably done more to curb the pine beetles' relentless march from their native B.C. into Alberta’s forests than the many millions of dollars this and previous governments have spent over the years.
The deep freeze will not outright eliminate the burgeoning population of pests, meaning efforts to manage the situation must continue. But these conditions will play a pivotal part in drastically reducing their numbers and subsequently stemming their spread, along the way buying us some much needed time to pursue efforts to protect our forests.
So the next time you find yourself struggling through a cold spell, just remember the longer it lasts, the more those invasive insects die off and the better off our province will be.
