The winter hasnt hit us very hard here yet in NE, but I have high hopes for my coaster brake mountain bike when the going gets icy. Lots of people talk about going fixed, which may work for some but I'm not sure it's my thing. You can find low end machine-built coaster brake wheelsets for very cheap online. I'm a big guy- we'll see how long it takes for my cheap alex x101 rims to taco, but there are sometimes sturdier steel options if you dont care about weight.
Ironically, steel rims are generally less sturdy than aluminum ones. THe only advantage of steel rims is that they are cheap as dirt.