I remember wearing stuff like that in Wyoming when I was growing up. Actually, we often skied in jeans (with long woolies underneath). The snow was dry enough that you could fall down a dozen times and not get wet. Try that out here in the Cascades and you'll be soaked, and probably hypothermic, in no time!

And you're right; unless we were getting a storm, it was generally nice and sunny. It even would be relatively warm in the sun and out of the wind!

Then there were the two winters I spent in northern Vermont. I thought Wyoming had bad winters, but Vermont was worse because it was also damp and mostly cloudy. I remember one day in very late February, the sun came out and for the first time in over threee months it actually got a couple of degrees above freezing. The icicles hanging off our roof were dripping and everyone and their kids were outside in shirt sleeves, it was so warm--relatively speaking.

Around here, winter is pretty cloudy, too, but at least it is mild!