My First Experiences on the Summit

2018-05-19 12:22:32.000 – Simon Wachholz, Summit Intern

Hello I’m Simon Wachholz, and I’m eager to begin my experience as one of the summer interns here at Mount Washington! I’m from Eastern Pennsylvania and I’m a rising senior at Penn State University majoring in Meteorology. Ever since I first visited Mount Washington in 2014, I’ve been dying to come back, and I’m so grateful to finally be returning as an intern. I have loved extreme weather for as long as I can remember, so there’s no place I’d rather work than at the home of the world’s worst weather.

Although Mount Washington is known for its extreme weather, this week has been fairly tranquil so far. The weather was beautiful on my way up to the summit on Wednesday. It was nice being able to see the surrounding White Mountains clearly to get my bearings, and of course, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to get countless pictures of the remaining snow drifts on Mount Washington and the surrounding Presidential Range.

Clouds returned on Thursday dropping visibility down to zero at times, but yesterday and this morning were both in the clear again which was great for hiking and taking in the stunning views of the entire Northeast.

 

View looking southwest from Mount Washington

As peaceful as this weather has been, I’m excited to witness some of the weather that makes Mount Washington famous. The highest wind gust I’ve ever experienced was probably around 70mph during Hurricane Sandy, and I can’t wait to exceed that with 85 mph wind gusts possible tonight! In the coming weeks I’m looking forward to experiencing more of Mount Washington’s extreme weather, gaining knowledge of forecasting at such a unique location, and taking thousands of pictures of the remarkable weather conditions and landscapes visible at the summit of Mount Washington.

Simon Wachholz, Summit Intern