Three and a Half Months of Snow, Ice and Rime, with Deeper Drifts.

By Ryan Steinke

Me outside on the summit near the Yankee Building.

My internship with the Mount Washington Observatory has now come to an end. Although I had an amazing time and made many new friends, this day had to come eventually. Plus, having four Ryans at the Observatory at once was simply too confusing, and things needed to calm down a bit. I arrived on the summit a few days before 2026 began and turned over the new year on the top of the instrument tower. Since then, things have absolutely flown by, and I really struggle to find the words to describe my experience. I know that I’ve loved every minute of it and I’d like to take this time to share with you how things went for me.

I started my internship with many of the typical introductory intern experiences. I learned to do the morning hut call, write and record radio forecasts, start my research project, learn how to write the higher summits forecast, and I learned how to settle in the best I could on the summit. Of course, learning things is one of the primary goals of the internship program, developing new skills and building on existing ones, and I certainly saw myself improve in each of those aspects. However, one of the personal lessons I learned is the benefit of challenging myself. This internship requires you to wear a lot of hats at once, and the challenges that come with juggling new skills can be daunting. I learned that taking those challenges head on with the best you’ve got is a great approach to many things in life, and that’s something I’ll be taking with me for sure.

We all know that Mount Washington is famous for the intense weather, and I was fortunate enough to experience some classic high-wind events. My most intense winds occurred at the very beginning of my internship, when three days into my first shift on the summit, I saw a peak wind gust of 122 mph. That remained the highest wind gust I ever saw, and our February and March months were notably calmer compared to seasonal averages. Still, I had my fair share of battling the elements of a Mount Washington winter, which I absolutely loved. Speaking of which, winter on the summit is truly an otherworldly place. Something about the inhospitable conditions and windswept snow and ice at the summit really was exciting, and I thrived in the winter environment I was provided. It certainly was the right season for me.

Partially complete Hay’s Chart from January 21st, 2026.

A wintry sunset on the summit.

My research project was also an integral component of my internship this winter. I investigated how climate change has had an impact on the maple sugaring seasons in the northeast. Sugar maple sap tends to flow in the late winter/early springtime when diurnal temperatures fluctuate above and below freezing. This makes maple syrup production highly dependent on temperature variation throughout a season and is something that is affected by changing temperatures. I used St. Johnsbury, Vermont as a sample station to analyze how maple sugaring days may be changing from a purely temperature-based approach. My findings showed that the median day of sugaring days in each season has been shifting earlier in the year by a total of about 7 days on average from 1897-2025. This project strengthened my familiarity with the research process and was super fascinating to learn about.

One of my favorite things to do in my free time during my internship was to practice and improve my photography, a hobby I have fully engulfed myself in recently. I got my start in photography a few years ago photographing birds out the window at home. Since then, it has truly become an art form I love, and my time on the summit provided me with some of the most spectacular scenes I’ve had the opportunity to photograph. From stunning sunsets to alien-like lenticular clouds, the White Mountains never failed to amaze me. There were countless times where I just felt compelled to grab my camera and head outside for the while, and those hours I spent taking photos outside were some of the most serene and beautiful moments of my entire internship.

A stunning sunrise from the summit.

The instrument tower and the Northern Presidentials on a full moon night.

Lastly, I want to thank Karl, Bailey, Maddie, and my fellow intern Kathryn, who were my crew on the summit that I saw every day and got to know so well. There are many times in life where you might work with people you don’t easily get along with, but this internship is one where I can confidently say I loved working with every person. They really made living on the summit so much more fun and enjoyable, and I couldn’t imagine my internship without any of them. Of course, I cannot fail to mention Nimbus, the guy who truly keeps the place running. He does a great job keeping us all sane, and I’m glad I got to know him. I had such a great winter, and I can’t wait to visit again sometime. Until then, see ya later!

A great photo of Nimbus.

A visit from the snowblower Cog train.