Is it easy to adapt to the cold weather? (Denver: fit in, school)

[Water*Flower]

Hello all,

I've lived in warm climates all my life, Miami, Caribbean, Spain for a while. I hardly own any coats or closed toe shoes and "layering" is a foreign concept to me.
With that being said, Im living here in Miami, and hate it. The people are disgusting and rude and lack social grace. My last visit to Denver was in July, it was such an amazing experience, people were so friendly and welcoming. From the first day I was there walking around down town, I felt like I could really fit in......except for one thing. The weather.
Ive never lived in snow before.

-Does it make life difficult/hard to deal with?
-Since Denver is such an active/fit city, what do athletes and those who
exercise do when its snowing?
-Has anyone moved there from warm climates and felt like they made a mistake because their freezing their butts off?
-How many of you want to move to escape the snow/cold?
-Are bars and restaurants still poppin' when its snowing/slush/freezing?

Now on the bright side I love being active and hiking. Never been skiing before but Im fit and a fast learner....should I take the plunge and move, or will I regret it after the first snow storm..?

[Mike from back east]

Millions live here, no problems adapting. Low humidity, few bugs. Nice.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by Water*Flower

Hello all,

I've lived in warm climates all my life, Miami, Caribbean, Spain for a while. I hardly own any coats or closed toe shoes and "layering" is a foreign concept to me.
With that being said, Im living here in Miami, and hate it. The people are disgusting and rude and lack social grace. My last visit to Denver was in July, it was such an amazing experience, people were so friendly and welcoming. From the first day I was there walking around down town, I felt like I could really fit in......except for one thing. The weather.
Ive never lived in snow before.

-Does it make life difficult/hard to deal with?
-Since Denver is such an active/fit city, what do athletes and those who
exercise do when its snowing?
-Has anyone moved there from warm climates and felt like they made a mistake because their freezing their butts off?
-How many of you want to move to escape the snow/cold?
-Are bars and restaurants still poppin' when its snowing/slush/freezing?

Now on the bright side I love being active and hiking. Never been skiing before but Im fit and a fast learner....should I take the plunge and move, or will I regret it after the first snow storm..?

You will never adapt. It is terrible here. Don't do it. Watch out for the blue horse.



All kidding aside. I grew up in perfect 70 degree San Diego. It took me no time to adapt to the weather out here. I fell for it hard. I will probably never leave. I love snow days like today.

Sports bars are always popping here. Snow doesn't push people inside. It tends to get people out of the house. Barring a blizzard no amount of snow is going to stop residents from doing their activities.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Water*Flower

I hardly own any coats or closed toe shoes and "layering" is a foreign concept to me.

I have lived here 30+ years and do not own a coat. Coats are against the law in greater Denver. However, you are required to own a North Face jacket.
I wear Crocs 350+ days a year. No socks. As Crocs is a local company, you are required to own at least one pair. But, they are cheap.

It is snowing outside today with 8+ inches in my back yard. I am wearing shorts and a golf shirt.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

I have lived here 30+ years and do not own a coat. Coats are against the law in greater Denver. However, you are required to own a North Face jacket.
I wear Crocs 350+ days a year. No socks. As Crocs is a local company, you are required to own at least one pair. But, they are cheap.

It is snowing outside today with 8+ inches in my back yard. I am wearing shorts and a golf shirt.

LOL at North Face and Crocs. I do have North Face but I refuse to wear Crocs.

I saw two boys riding their bikes to school on my way into work this morning. Both of them were wearing shorts. It was dumping snow at the time.

[strawberrykiki]

I moved here from VA this past January. I HATE snow and I don't like cold weather, but Denver is such a great city I think it's worth it. No one really bats an eye here when it snows unless it's 3 feet! Everyone goes about their normal activities, maybe even more so. I haven't found Denver to be nearly as cold as everyone thinks it is. And even though it's cold it's almost always bright and sunny which makes it easier to deal with, for me anyway.

[80skeys]

Originally Posted by Water*Flower

I've lived in warm climates all my life, Miami, Caribbean, Spain for a while.
<snip>
My last visit to Denver was in July

Well ... July .... quite possibly the most spectacular weather in Colorado occurs in June/July. Have you ever spent a few days there in the winter? If not, probably something you need to do.

-Does it make life difficult/hard to deal with?

Seldom. Once in a while you might have to shovel out your driveway, or you might get stuck somewhere in the snow.

The real issue is that you become limited to indoor activites. If you're an active person this can become annoying. When we lived in Colorado, I couldn't go fishing during the winter (except ice fishing which is uncomfortable). I couldn't do outdoor sports, except skiing. Even going out to eat or something can be annoying during a real cold spell.

-Since Denver is such an active/fit city, what do athletes and those who
exercise do when its snowing?

Either skiing or the gym.

-Has anyone moved there from warm climates and felt like they made a mistake because their freezing their butts off?

We made the reverse move last year, from Colorado to the California coast and I can tell you I don't miss the cold winters or the crazy Spring weather of Grand Junction.

-Are bars and restaurants still poppin' when its snowing/slush/freezing?

Probably more so. But, like I said, it's annoying to have to walk from your car down the street to the restaurant if it's 10 degrees outside.

Now on the bright side I love being active and hiking. Never been skiing before but Im fit and a fast learner....should I take the plunge and move, or will I regret it after the first snow storm..?

You should fly to Denver in the winter (February, the coldest month), spend two or three days, and see if you think you could tolerate four months of that.

[woob]

Originally Posted by 80skeys

Either skiing or the gym.

alpine skiing, cross country, snow shoeing, snowmobiling, ice climbing and for most of the winter you can still run and bike. if you are not interested in a single one of these activities you should probably move to texas.

nighttime during the winter can get pretty frigid and keep you inside, but days are often brilliant.

[Count David]

I grew up in Southern CA, and saw it snow a whole two times in my life before I moved here.

-Snow lowers my blood pressure, but driving in it can suck sometimes.
-24 hr fitness, indoors working out, etc.
-No, I'd happily freeze my butt off over dealing with 9 months of 70+ temps ever again.
-I only want to move from Denver (eventually) because there are some social/cultural things I don't like about here (but it could very well be me), but other than that, when/if I ever move, it will also be to a cold/snowy place.
-Bars and restaurants are a great place to be when it's snowing

Snow/cold doesn't end "life" around here. It goes on. It's very beautiful here when it snows, I hate that it melts so fast though!

BTW, it's 22F and about 5-6 inches of snow are on the ground right now. I'm wearing my regular outfit/ensemble of a short sleeve button down shirt over an A-shirt, jeans, socks, shoes, and a hoodie. I could wear gloves and a beanie, but they are not that necessary at the moment. The longjohns and thermals will stay in the closet until it gets below zero, but yeah basically it's not that hard of an adjustment.

[BarryK123]

Easier to adapt to cold than heat. There's only so much clothes you can take off if you're hot. If you're cold, wear a coat.