Well, here, I don't agree at all.
I remember the winters from when I was a child, there were warm ones, no snow at all, then there was one winter where we had to dig paths through the snow to be able to walk and the snow "walls" were taller than me.
;)
Maybe it just depends on where you lived. Where I lived, everything was predictable because every winter we made paths like this in the snow, well, not with walls higher than me, but still. Every winter the river would freeze so we could ice skate, etc. There were only one - two times when the snow surprised us extra at the wrong time - April and May, but in general everything was planned and one could prepare mentally and physically for what awaits him. I don't see that possibility nowadays.