While they wait for the winds to calm down Billy and Doug decide to go ahead and file their planned flights. Doug recounts a story about trying to get lower enroute from ATC to avoid icing. Lesson: there's more flexibility with altitude if you're flying off an airway; i.e., direct with GPS using the MVA (minimum vectoring altitude). Doug also refers to the published ODP at Berlin and cautions against possible lee side sink from the west. He also notes the requirement for using flight service to get their clearance at KBML.