I think it's got a lot to do with the spirit of the people, I've spent a bit of time in the north during my life & it's a whole different "ballgame"- people don't sit around as much fretting and worrying about things like they do down here. A little cold or snow or mud doesn't get them down.
Too true: When you live in a remote area you make your own amusements. Can't let a little rain stop you on the wet coast or cold and snow up north or you would never get anything done. City people have just come to expect some government agency to do a everything for them.