Mountain Prominence 2013-07-14 19:02:02.000 - Tom Padham,  Summit Intern Mt. Washington Casting its Shadow to the SW Ever heard someone say a mountain is very 'prominent', but not know exactly what that means? That has certainly been the case for myself in the past, but after the topic came up this morning I decided to finally look it up. Mountain prominence, or topographic prominence, is a somewhat confusing topic but I'll do my best to explain it here.Prominence is defined as the lowest point encircling a mountain peak before rising to a higher peak than the original. In the case

Seek the Peak on the Horizon 2013-07-13 14:25:58.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist NULL Seek the Peak 2013, our 13th annual hike-a-thon, kicks off this coming Friday, July 19th!Seek the Peak is our largest fundraiser, so why not hike for a great cause?If you have not registered yet, you are not too late! Go here, and you can register yourself, or even as part of a team. There's still plenty of time to fundraise!The event starts on Friday afternoon with registration at the Weather Discovery Center (WDC) in North Conway. After you register, head on up to the kick-off party,

Life as a Summit Intern 2013-07-12 08:29:25.000 - Luke Davis,  Summit Intern Passing Storm on June 29th Adjusting to life on the rockpile has been a unique experience. While up here, you quickly become accustomed to a busy schedule. I wake up around 6AM and get to work no later than 7AM. It's time to start on the research project, which is how the majority of the day will be spent. Between data mining, which can require coding, extensive data analysis with excel, researching important external information, and producing presentable results, there's always something to do. Sometimes, I'll hit a

Incredible Experience Volunteering on the Summit 2013-07-10 17:15:12.000 - Phyllis Simon,  Summit Volunteer NULL What an interesting week I've had as a volunteer at the Observatory! In exchange for cooking dinner for the summit staff and keeping the common areas tidy, I got to spend an entire week living up here on the summit. Of course, the weather could have cooperated a bit more as we were socked in by clouds and fog on most days. I did, however, get to see a couple of amazing sunsets (one from Lakes of the Clouds) and one sunrise peeking out from behind

Volunteer Comments 2013-07-10 00:14:10.000 - Jennifer Nefedov,  Summit Volunteer Hiking down to Lakes of the Clouds. I cannot believe that a whole week has past already, and what an incredible learning experience this has been. When I first learned that the Mount Washington Observatory has a volunteer program, I took great interest in wanting to sign up. Even though my first day was a bit overwhelming, it didn't take long to get myself adjusted to my new environment. Having my own bed and a shared living room, with a television and many movies to choose from, I almost forgot where

The Mount Washington Observatory is Hiring! 2013-07-08 16:00:22.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL This month there are two positions to apply for on the Rockpile. With the departure of our former IT Observer, a Weather Observer-Technology Specialist position needs to be filled. If you are interested in an opportunity to live and work at the 'Home of the World's Worst Weather' and you have a passion for meteorology with a background in technology/computer science, this could be the opportunity of a lifetime. Please visit our Jobs page for a full description and application requirements. The application deadline is

Brief Moments of Clarity 2013-07-07 18:16:46.000 - Kaitlyn O`Brien,  Summit Intern View of the sunset from Lakes of the Clouds Hut Being socked in the fog for an entire shift gets old quickly. Luckily, conditions began to clear up yesterday and that made for the perfect opportunity to take an evening hike down to Lakes of the Clouds. Once we were all packed up, Alex, Rebecca, our two volunteers (Jenny and Phyllis), and I started down the Crawford Path. Visibility was the best we've seen all week and it was obvious everyone was enjoying the clarity! Once we arrived at

Newton's Revenge 2013-07-06 16:51:57.000 - Alex Carne,  Summit Intern Biker at the Finish Line Newton's Revenge is an annual bicycle race that is held on the Mount Washington Auto Road. This year's race took place today, as bikers began their ascent of the 6,288ft mountain at 8:20 this morning. Newton's Revenge has been considered one of the toughest hill climbs in the world, with steep grades and extreme weather challenging even the best of athletes. Bikers in today's race had to ascend 4,727ft up the 7.6 mile long auto road. The road has an average grade of 12%, with the

Two Weeks Away from Seek the Peak! 2013-07-05 17:56:40.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL July 19th will kick off our 13th annual Seek The Peak event, which is a fundraising event for our non-profit Mount Washington Observatory. With spaces still available, it is not too late to join in on the fun and participate in the Nation's premier hiking event. Registration is free, however, a $200 minimum fundraising amount is required to participate. Once this is achieved, you can be well on your way to receiving a Seek the Peak EMS Techwick Tee, EMS Erratic pack filled with

Happy 4th of July 2013-07-04 21:01:17.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Director of Education NULL Happy 4th of July! To honor and celebrate our country's past and heritage, the summit crew has decorated the weather room in red, white, and blue. While we may not be able to see fireworks in the valley this year, mother nature is trying to give us a show. Clouds have kept the summit in the clouds all day and with an approaching line of thunderstorms will likely continue this unsettled trend overnight. On the other hand, since we're a bunch of weather enthusiasts, a show from