Most can agree that getting around after a heavy snowfall in Bend isn’t fun or ideal—despite how much we like to tout how good we are at driving on snow and ice-covered streets compared to newbies from California. Plows have trouble keeping the streets clear, sidewalks quickly become unusable (or they’re non-existent)—and some of us can’t even avoid the snow by staying inside our homes. Remember the roof fails of Snowpocalpyse 2017?
What are Central Oregonians to do when errands need to be run, but roads are too crapt-astic to traverse by car or foot? Well, as we saw this past winter, for one, some out-of-the-box thinkers donned cross country skis and snowshoes to visit shops in downtown Bend and to get around town. One reader even shared a photo of a snowmobile parked outside of Spoken Moto, where vintage motorcycles usually reside in the summer months (we don’t recommend driving unlicensed vehicles on city streets, but we enjoyed the laugh).
So, the next time you step outside after a particularly heavy snowfall—and start questioning your life decisions when scoping out your car on the street, parked under 2 feet of snow—remember there are other options that don’t require a snow shovel… just strong(ish) legs.
This article appears in Best of Central Oregon 2019.
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