I just moved into a house. The deck appears to be in good shape,
except that the latest coat of oil based stain is peeling quite a
bit. I'm guessing its from snow sitting on it in the winter, as I am
located in the Chicago area. At this point, its too cold for me to
strip and re-stain.

I'd like to protect the wood this winter. Would putting a tarp over
it be reasonable? I read that this may not be a good idea, as it
would cause rot from lack of ventilation. So what's worse - bare wood
with snow sitting on it, or bare wood with a tarp covering the top of
it? Obviously air would still be able to travel to some extent thru
the bottom of the deck.

I guess a third option would be to just be vigilant about scooping
snow from it, but I'm not sure how practical that would be.

Thanks!