Boise-Eagle--questions about pools (real estate, how much, houses)

[Wurzig]

I used to ski quite a bit in my younger days, but I have never lived in snow and have some questions about pools....

We have decided to move to the Boise area after our house sells here....we have a pool and like to swim, but life in S. CA is different as far as swimming goes.....

I check out real estate online.....quite a few houses have pools..... Some pools have covers.....and looking through the birds-eye views on maps, some look drained.

I am asking anybody who has a house with a pool or knowledge of pools in areas with snow: Are pools drained during the winter months if they don't have covers? (They take the chance of cracking in CA if they are drained, so for the most part, we don't drain them unless they are in areas that receive a lot of snow, such as Tahoe and Mammoth) Are pools drained even if they do have covers? Being that you live where it snows, what's the upkeep during winter months, (same as summer)? Will your next house have a pool or have you found that they are too much trouble? Do you feel that it is better to buy in a community that has a pool so that somebody else can take care of it? Just how much trouble is a pool during snowy months?

In CA, covers are used to keep heat in, keep leaves out and keep children safe, so please forgive if I sound ignorant about covers in snowy areas.

TIA