Over the last 20 years, I've done about 7 years total living and working in Canada's high arctic. Including over a year in Resolute Bay (75 degrees north). I used to have to carry around "Bear Bangers" to scare away any stray polar bears I might run across as I walked from the staff house to the airplane every morning. Heck, had one polar bear break down our mud room door to get at a box of frozen food we had stored in there.

The coldest weather I worked in was at Nanisivik airport back in the mid 90's, before they moved it to Arctic Bay. With the wind chill, it was minus 76 Celsius. I was working on an old Hawker Siddley HS748 and we had to leave one engine running to keep the aircraft powered and heated. The CAT loaders that were bringing us our freight had been running for over 20 days straight as they couldn't risk shutting them down. Even oil changes were done with them running. One loader even shattered a tire on a rock, it got so cold. I have a 3 inch scar on one of my forearms from when I reached up to put a blanket on the engine and my arm came out of the parka and touched the cold metal of the engine cowl... instant blistering and a permanent white scar.
Ya, a cold day in San Jose is perfect for me. Now if only the chicas could keep their cold feet to themselves
