If you’ve ever been on the road in Los Angeles on a rainy day, or perhaps driving in Atlanta in the snow, you’ll get it. Any sort of forecast can make heads spin across the city limits. But if it’s a Sunday, you’ll make it to church, especially if you’re the pastor or integral to the building’s opening. So what happens in a place where the extreme is the normal? The people in those places press on as well. Here’s what church can look like in the snowiest places in America.
Yosemite Community Church
Yosemite Valley, California
Population: 337
Average snowfall: 65″
Built in 1879, the historic chapel is the longest publicly used structure in the park. It’s now the home of
a congregation.
Mount Republic Chapel of Peace
Cooke City, Montana
Population: 77
Average snowfall: 80″
For the winter, Cooke City, Montana, really is the end of the road. For decades, the eight-mile stretch of highway connecting Cooke City to traffic from the east has not been plowed. Cooke City sits just northeast of Yellowstone National Park.
First Baptist of Valdez
Valdez, Alaska
Population: 3,805
Average snowfall: 330″
Valdez, Alaska, the snowiest town in America, and the nearby Thompson Pass (pictured), gets up to 900 inches of snow yearly.
