NULL 2009-03-06 22:28:38.000 - Mike Carmon,  Observer NULL The theme of the last few comments has been primarily weather-related. It's true that there is a lot more going on up here than that. But the fact is, if the weather on the summit wasn't consistently worthy of our awe and ruminations, none of us would be up here in the first place. So I'm going to take a risk here and talk about weather again (but I promise to try and spice things up with a bit of drama, humanity, and a few mentions of our feline friend, Marty). I

anxious 2009-03-05 16:34:09.000 - Stacey Kawecki,  Observer Unrelated to anything, but breath-taking So, big surprise, Ryan Knapp, Senior Staff Meteorologist, talked about the weather. I guess I'm not really one to talk, considering I love to write about the weather. He also wrote about the cat, the Germans, and his forecasting abilities. That leaves little for me to write about. So, I'm going to write about our feelings. Right now, the summit staff and a few of our German cohorts are collectively feeling anxious. On a beautiful day, with a nearly calm, high-visibility day, how could we possibly feel this

Brrr! 2009-03-04 03:02:41.000 - Ryan Knapp,  Staff Meteorologist Yesterdays sunset We have a common saying about the comments up here, 'When there is nothing else to talk about, talk about the weather.' I am not having that problem. In fact, I could talk about the second group of Germans up here. I could talk about the difficulty of forecasting yesterday morning. I could write about the cat. I could write about how cold it was today. I could write about all of these but, every time I wrote a sentence, I would delete it because I wasn't sure where I

Next Week's EduTrip 2009-03-02 16:33:50.000 - Peter Crane,  Director of Programs NULL For website visitors who are considering a winter visit to Mount Washington- there are still a few spaces available on next week's Observatory EduTrip.The Thursday-Friday March 12-13 overnight trip is led by Ned Therrien, whohas extensive experience in outdoor photography, both from his prior careerin the U.S. Forest Service and his current occupation as a professionalphotographer. He has traveled far afield, throughout the Northeast and tolocales such as South America and the Canadian Arctic, and specializes incapturing images which include human activities in a natural setting. He'llshare his

Here Comes the Snow 2009-03-01 17:05:55.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Close call For someone like me, that not only loves the weather but also loves snow (a lot), the anticipation of an impending snow storm is sometimes hard to bear. With how good the operational forecasting models have gotten these days, that hightened anticipation can sometimes start as much as 3 days before the storm's arrival. However, with the way the models have been performing this winter, especially in the 3-5 day range, I was very hesitant to latch onto the current impending snow storm when it started

It was a bright, bright sunshiny day 2009-02-28 20:29:53.000 - Ali Boris,  Summit Intern Gus, Mike, Chris, and Michelle enjoying the day Today was an excellent day for outdoor activities, and we had plenty of them.This morning, Mike and I hiked down to the Lakes of the Clouds, taking advantage of the fresh, crunchy ice with our crampons. The undercast slowly melted away, and we were left with a spectacularly blue view of the valley floor. The walk back up past Tuck's and the summit cone was brisk, but we successfully made it back for the next hour's observation. We

LLBean Hiking Trip 2009-02-27 18:31:16.000 - Mike Finnegan,  IT Observer Here on the summit the winter is filled with trips; day trips, EduTrips, climbing trips, among others. Last night we had an unusual hiking trip up here. It consisted of 6 LLBean folks and a guide, Nick. LLBean is a major corporate sponsor of the Obs and we are extremely grateful for all they do for us. They allow us to use and test their gear, both on and off the mountain, which saves us from having to use personal gear all the time while allowing them to implement suggestions

Lots of New Snow 2009-02-26 20:51:14.000 - Brian Clark,  Observer and Meteorologist Some sleds just don't hold up on Mt. Washington When I left the summit last Wednesday February 18, we had only recorded one day with snowfall of greater than 2 inches since January 28th. For Mount Washington, this is definitely a bit of a snow drought. The amount of snow that then fell during my week off is a great testament to how quickly things can change on this mountain. From February 18 to February 25, a total of 31.6 inches fell, including 16.2 inches in one day

NULL 2009-02-25 03:01:31.000 - Steve & David Craig,  Summit Volunteers NULL It is truly with a sad heart that I realize our volunteer week has come to an end. Some of you, out there, know me from the Mt. Washington forums as 'Trekker'. My son, David, and I have been fortunate enough to have experienced a full week of Mother Natures awesome winter, from here at the top of the world. It's been an intense week, allowing us, at times, an opportunity to wander around the summit, checking out the fascinating rime formations, with great views extending, seemingly, forever. At

Castaway! 2009-02-24 11:37:24.000 - NULL,  Stranded Germans Stranded! Cast away on Mt. Washington can be fun. After a great week here on the summit with sunshine, snow and winds up to 95 mph we should have left on Saturday. But the world's worst weather likes us and we like Mount Washington as well. So we extended our time here for a while because the snow cat didn't make it up. After a week of experiments in cold weather conditions we are now getting into what it is like to be an observer. Who are we? We are a group of