Sunrise In The Snowcat

2015-01-21 18:09:11.000 – Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist

Today is Wednesday, which means that today is shift change day for the summit staff. However, it wasn’t a typical Wednesday shift change. Other than having some special guests join us today, which I’ll talk about later, I’m actually referencing the deep drifts that needed to be cleared along the Mount Washington Auto Road for us to reach the summit. For this to occur, our transportation coordinator started working before sunrise, to remove the 6 to 8 foot snow drifts that have covered the road the last few days. While it was an early start to the day it did give him a unique and beautiful vista for the morning sunrise.

After a few hours of working to clear those drifts, he was able to get about a mile of the worst section cleared. Then he had to return to the base to pick up my shift mates and I, and our special guests from Revision Military to bring us to the summit. Luckily on our way to the summit we were able to work with Mount Washington’s State Park snow cat to clear the rest of the road. Together, between the observatory and the Mount Washington State Park snow cat, clearing the rest of the snow drifts was much easier. Not to mention that it also made the ride for all of us passengers in the back of the snow cat much more comfortable and expedited our trip.

Michael Kyle, Weather Observer/IT Specialist