I'm raising a glass of brandy to my lips in your honor. Thanks for the great review, as usual it was filled with many useful thoughts. I vaguely remember cold weather, mainly that it sucks.
We can argue about advantages/disadvantages of gear till the cows come home but there is NO disadvantage to being fit in any situation life throws at you so I fail to understand why most people I know neglect this area the most.
Because exersizing is hard but reading a book or buying some techno-magical peice of gear is easy.
-Blast