I’ve lived in mountain towns in excess of 7k elevation. Air starts getting thin, and it gets colder than %*#*. Snow, ice and all that misery.
Look for the sweet spots in the south between 3800 and 5k. A whole lot less misery!☺
Yep. We are at 2,200 feet here in North Idaho. This is the “Inland Northwest” where weather is still moderated by the Pacific Ocean. The winter temps are fairly moderate here. But, once you get over the mountains to the east of us and into western Montana, it gets a LOT colder.
I lived at 7,500 feet in Pinetop, AZ for the fall-winter-spring of 1975-76. It was darn cold up there. Just south of us was Hawley Lake, AZ which regularly got featured on the Today Show for having the coldest temps in the lower 48!
Our little town had a limited snow plowing budget. When the budget ran out in February, the road plowing simply stopped! I got real good at putting chains on and taking them off.
Forgot to mention that my dad thought about buying a place on the golf course in Pinetop, but his doc told him moving to 7,500 feet in his late 50s wasn’t a good idea for his heart.