Most ancient glabrous one:
I think the posts in reply to your question explain it. I only log one once a day so I am a latecomer. A snowthrower will throw the snow 20 feet, a 2-stage model even further. But yes, eventually you run out of room. My personal experience only goes to 3-4 feet of snow, and that starts to become life-threatening for the unprepared. So what do they do with 8-12 feet? There is a state of emergency in that area around Oswego that got snowed on for eight days straight. The emergency has been extended another five days. The national guard is shoveling snow there. In a city, it becomes more acute as to what to do with the snow...they load it up into dump trucks and dump it somewhere. Intersections become dangerous as you cannot see around the snow piles. Road signs get covered. Fire hydrants dissapear. Heck, cars dissapear! I once saw a city bus with the front half completely buried by snow in Buffalo, NY after a 4-footer. It had crashed into a snowdrift, been abandoned, and got covered by snowplow snow.
The other thing those people up in Oswego are doing is shoveling off their roofs. Snow is heavy and can damage the more shallow roofs. Plus, the show underneath is melting from the heat of the house and running down to the gutter and freezing. Left to its own devices, the ice will get up under the eves and damage the house.
So the survival lesson for lots of snow around here is to stock food, fuel and water, and keep up with the snow if possible. Houses around here have a regular door that opens to the inside and a storm door that opens to the outside. Try opening that door from the inside with 4 feet of snow in front of it <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. The other big reason to keep up with the snow is that the snowplows that are clearing the streets are dumping huge piles of dense snow in front of your driveway. If you ignore it, you are trapped.

Right now we are having a big nor'easter in my neck of the woods. 2-3 feet predicted. Spent a hour digging out this morning, and I expect to see my driveway blocked when I get home tonight, and will spend another hour digging out tonight.

Few days ago two water mains broke from the cold and we were without water for a few days. First time I had to use my water stash. Wife doesn't think I am so crazy anymore. It pays to hang out here!