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

Marooned 2009-02-23 02:23:10.000 - Mike Carmon,  Observer NULL A typical shift at the Observatory averages about 5-7 staff for the week. During the winter months, however, we receive guests of all sorts: EduTrips, Climbing Trips, Day Trips, and this week, a group of students from Germany. Even though one would expect the summit of Mt. Washington to be a place of isolation, there is no hint of that in the winter at the Observatory.Some would call it an ironic parallel to our last shift, when an EduTrip remained on the summit for an extra night because of winds topping out

Off weeks 2009-02-21 11:46:36.000 - Jordan Scampoli,  Summit Intern NULL Believe it or not, members of the summit crew actually do things on their off weeks. To some, they are weeks off work, others they are simply weeks off the summit. To me it is a great balance - every Wednesday when I'm at home I'm ready to come up to the summit and 'enjoy' the company of my friends up here and the weather. Then every Wednesday after a week on the summit I am ready to get away from my friends and spend some quality time with me.