A cat, a wedding, and a view. 2012-08-18 18:26:33.000 - Stephen Lanciani,  Summit Intern 6,288' Wedding Describing my first week as a summit intern is slightly difficult, especially to those who may not love the weather as much as I do. To make this easier, imagine your dream job, put it in the most beautiful and unique place you can think of, then add 6,288' of elevation and a cat. Yes, the greatly beloved Marty. Having just graduated with my B.S. degree in meteorology, you can understand how awesome this job is to me. I have all this knowledge fresh

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes 2012-08-17 23:24:33.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist The rapidly changing sky from this morning. Changes have been and are occurring internally and externally here on the summit this summer and in the coming months. If you follow these Observer Comments regularly, you may have read Mike Carmon's Comment last Wednesday (August 8) about some of the internal personnel changes that are occurring here on the summit. With the departure of some employees, we are spending time training and welcoming the new employees these past few weeks and in the months to come. I'm not going to run down all

Volunteer Reflections 2012-08-17 00:21:51.000 - Pat Gross,  Summit Volunteer One image of over 400 taken. The unlikely path that led me to this summit volunteer week began last summer as I was driving through New Hampshire and, being from Maine, stopped at a NH liquor store. Finding my way into the gift shop, I picked up the book Life at the Top and the nice lady behind the counter asked me if I'd ever heard about all the stuff that happened at the top of Mt Washington. 'Check out the website,' she said. That one comment led to a spectacular

Volunteer Thoughts 2012-08-15 14:47:04.000 - Peter Fisk,  Summit Volunteer NULL When I tell people that I'll be spending a week at The Weather Observatory atop Mount Washington their reactions range from 'where?' to 'wow!'. Both groups would have enjoyed sharing the past week here with me. If you've ever considered being a summit volunteer I offer the following for your consideration: several hikes featuring spectacular views and serious exercise, sunrises and sunsets like you've never seen, gobs of comfort food, a vacation from life's normal routine, quality conversation, some new faces, and a unique crow's nest from which to view

Hiking to Spaulding Lake 2012-08-13 12:23:45.000 - Steve Harshman,  Summit Intern Adams and Madison from the Lake This being my last week on the summit, I figured I needed something great to end on. Earlier this summer I attempted a hike down into the Great Gulf to Spaulding Lake. Anyone who's been through here knows this is no easy task. The headwall is practically a sheer cliff, with an elevation change of almost 2000 feet in about a mile. While I made it down the majority of the trail alright--creating my fair share of rockslides along the way--I quickly ran

First to Last 2012-08-12 17:08:30.000 - Rebecca Scholand,  Weather Observer/Education Specialist NULL This week has consisted of a few firsts and lasts. I began my week here on the summit with firsts. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I was officially introduced to our new Director of Summit Operations Cyrena-Marie Briede and our new Director of Research Eric Kelsey. It is not that I had not 'met' them before, but this was our first real interaction with them on the summit. Both spent two nights with us to get a better understanding of summit life as they transition into their new positions.

The Final 2012-08-11 17:27:56.000 - Emanuel Janisch,  Summit Intern Cap Clouds over the Northern Presidentials The reality that my days as an intern here on the summit are numbered, are a sad thought. As I sit here reflecting on the experiences that the observatory has provided me I can only come up with one bad thing and that is that we really only got one good thunderstorm while I was on summit, however the lightning show that lasted for hours made up for the lack of storms the rest of the summer.Not only are the experiences and knowledge I gained

First Days on the Summit 2012-08-10 11:28:23.000 - Eric Kelsey,  Director of Research Building Cumulonimbus Cloud What better way to learn about the summit operation ins-and-outs than to dive right in with a three-day stay at the top. The talented and energetic summit crew has fully immersed me in everything about mountain living from instruments to summit entertainment to Marty. As a brand new employee, I am excited to be able to advance the Observatory's mission and lead scientific research into the future.My first full day on the summit as an official employee of the MWO was spectacular. Thursday morning,

Thoughts from the new director 2012-08-09 23:52:46.000 - Cyrena-Marie Briede,  Director of Summit Operations Tower at Sunset I have to admit, it's hard for me to wipe the smile off my face after spending my first 36-hours at the Summit. Mount Washington is world famous for its wind and wild weather, which I can't wait to experience, but these beautiful days can't be taken for granted, and they haven't. Yesterday was a busy day full of presentations from most of the Summit Observatory staff and was a great learning experience. As the incoming Director of Summit Operations, there is a

Changes at MWO 2012-08-08 23:57:13.000 - Mike Carmon,  Weather Observer/Meteorologist Cold Front: A harbinger of change Change is the only constant.This statement has never rung more true during my nearly four years at the Mt. Washington Observatory than the present hour. Today's shift change day was quite a hectic one, and that was due to one of the biggest changes this organization has seen in some time-the introduction of our new Director of Summit Operations, Cyrena-Marie Briede, to the entire summit crew. We spent the day detailing each of our job descriptions, in addition to the nitty-gritty ins-and-outs of summit