Party on my Roof

With the weather turning to Spring, my thoughts turned to an out-side run.  And as those thoughts started to seep into my brain, I realized that looking at the temperature that the high of +5 this week... yes,  +5 as in the warmest it has been since October,  that it was time to take the snow off the roof before it got to melting or I could get some ice dams forming with the sudden thaw.

You would think that scraping the run would mean that I would not be getting some serious exercise, well you are wrong.  With the snow 2feet deep at some points and becoming heavier by the second as it turns from crystal powder to thick wet snow and blanketing the hole roof, it was a real event to get it all off the roof.

From the peak to the eave is quite a distance - some 20 ft.  You cannot just push it all, you have to do it in stages - three to be exact.  All the while, you are constantly engaging your core as you push, but more-so to keep yourself form falling.  As with any kind of work with ice and especially on a slope, there is a great fear of falling.  We have all heard the stories that a standard roof is high enough of a fall to hurt yourself.  In fact I know of a divorce that resulted from a personality change that happened because of a fall from clearing snow.

So for the better part of two hours, I battled the snow.  At some points it was up to my knees and seemed that I would never get it gone.  I took off my toque, my jacket, my gloved and my jacket I was so hot.  I was very pleased with the result, even though I am certain I may have shovelled of a shingle.... oops.

Now for the fun bit... all that snow on the roof was now on the ground.  It was wet and it was heavy and once it was a bout 4 ft deep it weighed a ton and packed down something fierce.

I fired up the snow chucker and it took me over an hour just to remove the pile that had formed around the house.  It and to be moved, as you do not want snow build up near your home as it can easily seep into your foundation this time of year, as people often forget that cement is porous.

Well you would not believe how hard it was to get though that snow.... 'specially when it was 4-5ft deep in sections where I was dumping the snow in the same vicinity.

You can see above that the snow is almost up to the roof in the front and in the back, I had to clear it and it was well over 2ft above the snow chucker.

The wheels were spinning and the snow was getting thrown well across my yard and I had to be careful not to get it into my neighbours, as we all all trying to keep the sides of our house clear.

By the time I was done clearing and putting down the drains I had been at it for just over 4 hours.

Like  I said, the 10k run would have been soooo much easier.