Paul Wainwright Photography

the Mount Washington Observatory

For a number of years, I have volunteered in winter at the Mount Washington Observatory, located on the summit of New Hampshire's Mount Washington. At 6288 feet, Mount Washington is not high compared to many of the world's mountains. However, it has a reputation for having really terrible weather. It lies at the confluence of three prevailing weather systems, and has been nicknamed "The home of the world's worst weather." For example, the highest wind ever recorded anywhere on earth - 231 mph - occurred on Mount Washington. It is not unusual to have winds in excess of 100 mph. The highest temperature ever recorded there is only 72 degrees. For these reasons, the weather observatory on Mount Washington is an interesting place to visit. It is an even more interesting place to spend a week in winter as the summit volunteer.

To view a video of rime ice, click here: view rime ice video.

Because of the almost constant wind, I had to engineer a way to keep my camera from vibrating - or being damaged. Pictured here is my camera enclosed in a 2-piece telescoping wind enclosure, which I designed and made. For more information about this, read my article that was published in the September/October 2004 issue of View Camera Magazine: Using a View Camera at the Home of the World's Worst Weather (PDF, 67KB).

To view some of my photographs from Mount Washington, click: view photos.

The job of the summit volunteer is to cook dinner for the crew and occasional visitors. I'm not a great cook, but I've learned enough to be invited back! Here are several recipes that are favorites on the summit:

To view a video of a Dutch Baby coming out of the oven, click here: view Dutch Baby video.

To read an account of what it is like to spend a week in winter at the Mount Washington Observatory, read my article A Winter Diary from On High, which was published in Windswept, the quarterly bulletin of the Mount Washington Observatory (Summer 2003 issue).