Day 1: I arrive to the summit via Bombardier snowcat and am greeted by dense fog and bitter cold temps during total white out conditions. The summit was literally in the clouds and visibility was basically none.

Day 2: Winds are Hurricane force and I attempt to become a member of the century club. Click here to read blog about the “Century Club” attempt.

Day 3: Winds die down to around 50mph and we are still in the fog. I documented groups of hikers that had just made it to the summit via hiking all the way up and took some interested photos of cold looking  hikers with icicles hanging from their beards.

Day 4: A Perfect Day !! Winds calm down to around 10mph and we are out of the clouds and fog.  Visibility is great and I can see all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The cobalt blue skies make for an amazing contrast on everything that is covered in white rime ice. This was my best Photography day on the summit and the only time I actually saw the sun during sunrise or sunset.

Day 5: Winds are up to around 50mph and once again we are in the fog with total white out conditions. I actually never went outside on this day. I already shot outside on 3 of these white out days and figured the photos would look exactly like the other photos, White ! I had shot over 1500 photo and put my camera gear through a lot so I stayed inside where it was warm and started editing photos and video.

Day 6: Winds are averaging about 40mph and we are in the fog. The snowcat comes up the mountain for shift change and I hitch a ride down the mountain.  I arrive to my rental car only to find it buried in snow and ice.

I had many memorable moments on the summit but I think the most interesting was seeing the rime ice that covered everything. Rime ice happens during freezing fog and it so brittle it’s like powder. You can gently touch it with your hands and it will crumble away. Rime ice will attach to any and every object it can including the instruments on the observatory so the crew has to climb to the top of the tower every hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to chip off the ice that forms on the instruments so they get accurate weather data. No matter how strong the wind is they have to do this and I followed Ryan Knapp when he had to do this in winds around 85mph and it wasn’t easy. He had to brace himself against the metal railing and use both hands to swing the crowbar to chip off the 3 inches of ice that had formed since an hour ago. Of course they don’t have to do this in the summertime.  I have great admiration for what these guys are doing and would highly recommended going to the summit of Mt. Washington during either the summer months or winter. In the summer there is a train that goes all the way to the summit and during the winter you can go on an EduTrip to achieve the summit via snowcat. I will put some links below to learn more. Also, you can become a member and receive quarterly magazines all about the summit and view weekly Obscasts which are short videos the guys put together that are usually comedy skits. Also, you are donating to a great cause by helping fund the daily operations of the observatory and all the experiments that are tested.

I’d like to thank Ken Rancourt, Paula Shappell, Brian Clark, Ryan Knapp, Steve Welsh, Wayne Peterson, Matt Morin, and Mike Finnegan for being so helpful and accommodating. And I can’t forget the great volunteers Charlie and Jeannine that made the groups warm meals every day and looked after the living quarters.

Mt. Washington Website

Membership Page

COG Railway to the summit

Conway Scenic Railroad