Madison chronicles the blizzard of 2009 with video and photos

There's nothing like the first blizzard of winter to bring out the spirit of childhood. While snow removal and navigating roads are a primary focus for many folks riding out the storm, finding and making fun amidst the drifts is also on the agenda, particularly around the UW campus in downtown Madison.

For example, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz

That's nothing compared to what's being planned for Wednesday evening, though. A Facebook group started in the midst of the storm announces an afternoon snowball fight on Bascom Hill, one pitting the traditional campus cohorts of Lakeshore and Southeast dormitory residents on either side of its slopes. This rumpus is only the latest of several such battles on the campus landmark in the last couple of years, with the previous big melee held last January in the hope of setting a new world record. Discussion amongst this new group's 6,000-plus strong members focuses on similar hopes.

The building of snowmen is another favored method for spiting the storm, and there was no shortage of these frozen figures to be found around town this morning. Many were built through the night -- on the Capitol Square, in yards, and even in the middle of the street. "Fueled by the excitement of a Wednesday snow day, the residents on Gilman St. decided to cause a little trouble," proclaims one downtown denizen in an introduction to a video capturing some of this mid-blizzard fun. "Nature gave us snow, we gave the world great snowmen... until the snowplows came along."

Here is the video clip.

More middle-of-the-snow-covered-street action was to be found throughout downtown. A video clip submitted to CNN iReport shows a boisterous crowd rolling a gargantuan snowball more than six feet in diameter down West Gilman Street and into its intersection with University Avenue.

There are many other videos of the blizzard shot and shared online, including a pair (here and here) capturing the conditions at both ends of Langdon Street, a longer clip offering a suburban perspective, and another scene that finds one very happy (and likely cold) reveler dancing in the street.

More are certain to be on the way, including those capturing the big campus snowball fight, and are already being requested for broadcast by cable networks. Have fun out there!

These scenes made the video posted by Regent Co-op fan Ann Althouse this morning look pretty dull. Still, her video view of the glistening blanket of snow at dawn by video, interrupted by a lone snow blower, represented what many of us saw as we sipped our coffee this morning and contemplated a run to work.

Isthmus contributor Phil Ejercity predictably took to the streets with his camera last night, capturing some memorable scenes, as did Bo Mackison, who paid tribute to the snow plowin' men and women. Another Isthmus photographer, Peter Patau, caught a dramatic scene after dark.

And it wouldn't be a snowstorm in Madison if someone isn't spotted on a bike. Photog Kerry Hill gets a nice shot here.

Kristian Knutsen and Jason Joyce contributed to this story.