Why I built an A-Frame in 1980 on 2 1/2 acres of land at 4000 feet on the side of Mt. Shasta

Basically, it snowed a lot more then at lower altitudes  so coming to the land and finding 7 feet of snow in the winter time wasn't unusual. The most snow I have seen in the little city of Mt. Shasta at one time was in 1992 which is at around 3500 feet elevation and that was 12 feet of snow that winter that collapsed many roofs.

The problem became that the snow was higher than the roofs of the houses and so there was nowhere to throw the snow too to get the weight off your roof. also, you had to dig a parking place or you didn't get one because the city snow plows only plowed the driving part of the streets around town.

So, in 1980 I decided to build an A-Frame at 4000 feet for when I wasn't there so my roof wouldn't collapse before I could shovel it off. An A-Frame is so steep (as long as you use the right roofing) so snow is going to slide down off it. So, even at 7 feet of snow the weight is not bearing directly on the roof because of the steepness.

But, if you get 7 to 12 feet of snow on a regular roof of most houses it is likely to collapse the roof from the weight of the snow. So, if you get a large amount of snow where you are building and don't want to EVER have to shovel snow off your roof then an A-Frame is what you want because snow slides right off it as it starts building up.

The wetter the snow the more likely it will collapse the roof because the wetter the snow the more weight it carries. So, for example, if powder snow falls it is very very light and blows easily away in enough of a wind. But, if the snow is wetter it becomes too heavy for a roof to bear and collapses the roof often around the world if it isn't shoveled or snow blown off somehow.

Though some people use snowblowers on their roofs you don't want to do this unless your roof is built strong enough to get away with this. Another problem of using a snow blower on a roof is that it can cause leaks in your roof later in the spring from rain.

But, if you have looked at A-Frames there is no way to use a snow blower on an A-Frame even if you wanted too because the pitch is just too steep for that. But, the pitch is also why you never will have to shovel the snow off an A-Frame ever.