350 centimetres — and counting!

It has been piled high in our front yards, shovelled into towering banks on either side of our driveways, drifted knee-deep in our parks and open spaces, ploughed into rough rows along our sidewalks, and has caused us worry as it sits heavily upon our creaking roofs.

And in a few weeks, when it all starts to melt at once, there will be new concerns about flooding and whether our sewer system will handle the sudden deluge.

Yes, the winter of ’08 has been special — and it’s not over yet.

This year’s heavy snowfalls have come as a mixed blessing, depending on where you live or what you do for a living. It has been great news for ski hill operators, whose livelihoods depend on some cooperation from Mother Nature — and she certainly came through in a big way. It has also been good for freelance snow plough drivers; and let’s not forget the kids, many of whom have never seen so much of the white stuff, except maybe in family photo albums or on television.

But for just about everyone else, it has been a royal pain. It has definitely been bad news for the private snow-clearing contractors who charge a flat rate for a season of clearing the driveways of private homes. They got badly burned, having to work more this season than they had in most previous years combined. And how will they make up for it? No doubt by hiking up their rates next year.

In Westmount, this harsh winter has proven that even the best-organized municipalities cannot provide premium service under extraordinary circumstances. There is no problem clearing snow from our streets and sidewalks — that’s the easy part. But dumping it is another matter. With so many trucks from all the other cities and boroughs lining up at the precious few dumping sites, there has been unavoidable bottlenecking. These delays in turn spell a major slowdown in snow-clearing operations. Despite the best efforts of the City administration and its Public Works Department, the snow is remaining general all over Westmount for longer than usual — but we can all take comfort in the imminent arrival of spring and summer, when the nasty winter of ’08 will be quickly forgotten by most, to be replaced by the inevitable complaints about the dreadful heat and humidity.