I live near Shreveport, LA, which is not far from you, and we pretty much get the same weather you do. My IG pool has never been closed in its 8-year life!! You'll find that your chlorine consumption goes way down when the water gets cold, and algae can't grow nearly as fast, either, so it doesn't take as much time or bleach to maintain it over the winter as it does over the summertime. I just decrease my pump run time to 3-4 hours a day, and don't get upset if I miss a few days here and there--but anytime the air temp is supposed to go below 29 degrees I just run the pump overnight, and keep it running until the air goes back above 30. It has worked very well for me--and it's really nice in the springtime to just wait for the water to get warm enough to swim in, and not have to worry about cleaning up a mess from over the winter!!

I don't cover mine, because I don't have any trees around it, but if you have trees or animals/people that are likely to get into it over the winter, then I would use a cover of some type. Definitely remove your ladder.

Just my $.02...

Janet