The previous storm resulted in enormous piles of snow on either side of the end of our driveway. This is a classic result of trying to move the snow out of the way but putting it somewhere that actually isn’t super convenient. Backing out of the driveway became sort of a guessing game.
I spent Sunday chopping up the snow piles and moving them, a shovelful at a time, over to the front yard. When the new snowfall started, I kept up this trick. Instead of the classic lifting-and-throwing maneuver that quickly clears the snow, I patiently carried each shovelful a few yards away to the front yard.
Health benefits To be sure, doing it this way took a lot longer. But I didn’t get winded or overly tired. Apparently it’s the combination of lifting, twisting, and holding your breath that puts us at the most risk for a heart attack. Carrying the snow a few yards gave me an “active recovery” break before throwing the snow.
Ain’t no mountain high enough The other problem was that eventually all the piles of snow got too high to easily clear. I tried going up the back steps with shovelfuls of snow so I could just dump it over the edge, but this took a frightfully long time.
Instead, I used my shovel to tamp down a “bench” like structure all along the front part of the pile of snow I was building up. This allowed me to just dump the new snow on top of the low “bench” instead of trying to pitch it all the way over the mountaintop.
Envy of the neighborhood Now, despite our 15.7-inch snow total on top of the earlier Super Bowl weekend snowfall, the whole end of our driveway is clear. (We’re not actually the envy of the neighborhood, but what a fun subtitle).
But don’t listen to me. Here’s what an actual doctor says about careful shoveling.