At What Age Should You Stop Shoveling Snow In North Dakota?

Remember Ground Hog's day?

Last week's 17 to 24-inch snow event sure seems familiar.  Seems like only yesterday we were dealing with a series of April blizzards that had many of us doing the unthinkable.  Shoveling or snow-blowing wet April snow.

Fast forward 8 months and here we go again with winter.  You can't help but feel like this is going to be like an old fashion winter with cold and a lot of snow.

Looks like this past week's blizzard will certainly help with our pre-blizzard drought conditions that most of North Dakota were experiencing.  It had gotten so dry, and with so much vegetation from our wet spring, serious wildfire concerns were out there.  That should not be a problem going forward this winter.

If there was one silver lining with last week's record-setting snowfall accumulation is that the snow was light and fluffy.  That's good and bad.  Good in the fact that it was much easier to shovel than last spring's wet heavy snow.  It's bad in the fact, that it's going to blow around easily when we get some wind.  That wind is coming, by the way, this Thursday and Friday where blowing snow is going to be a problem. I wouldn't be at all surprised if on Thursday we have some sort of watches or warnings issued as winds will be close to ground blizzard conditions.

That means more snow drifts to shovel and move.  That got me thinking.  Let's say you're not very active, could shoveling be dangerous for your health?  More on that in a moment.

Shoveling snow.  Something that is just part of life if you are a North Dakotan.

For many of us, it was one of our daily chores growing up as kids.  Something that was expected of us.

Then came along snowblowers to make the job a whole lot easier. 

That has evolved into blades on 4-wheelers and even on trucks.  Some people are really living in the lap of luxury with their own Bobcat, which they use for shoveling the driveway.

What about shoveling for people out of shape?

Shoveling snow for people who are out of shape or have heart issues can be very bad for their health.  "Widowmakers" as some people like to say.

So, at what age should you avoid shoveling snow?

According to the Chicago Sun Times, there is an age you might want to consider passing the torch on to a younger age group to shovel your snow.  One doctor says 45 is the age you should stop in the article.  Another doctor says 55.  I'm guessing that would be a range (45-55) to consider either buying a snowblower or paying the kid down the street to shovel your snow.  Especially wet and heavy snow.

Stay safe my friends.