Week 2 Pre-Trip Report: Dylan Harry

Posted on behalf of Dylan Harry, Teacher, Fryeburg Academy:

As I take these moments to reflect on my upcoming trip to the Observatory on Mt. Washington I feel a thrill that is very different from the usual thrills of teaching high school science. I feel like the golden age mountaineers of the Alps must have felt, justifying my thirst for adventure by conducting research in the mountains. John Tyndall was one such figure, having claimed an early ascent of the Matterhorn while researching glaciology and the particulate nature of matter. For Tyndall, striving to reach the top of a mountain was literally and metaphorically related to scientific endeavor. Perhaps this parallel can explain my enthusiasm for the work of the MWOBS scientists and technicians; they labor in the extreme climate of Mt. Washington to contribute to our understanding a complex and changing climate.

In truth, my attempt on Mt Washington via snow cat will not go down in mountaineering history, nor will my novice weather observations contribute significantly to the study of meteorology. However my participation in the first iteration of the Arctic Wednesday Program may end up being noteworthy! In our preliminary meetings there was a lot of energy as the OBS staff and local teachers expressed a resonant desire to inspire young people and to connect them to their community and environment. Additionally, many teachers and the educators from the OBS team expressed a commitment to experiential education. Most of the people in the room had dedicated their lives to these ideas, and it was humbling to engage in discussions about the potentialities of the Arctic Wednesday Program.

I will be traveling up the mountain with Joel Rhymer, another Fryeburg Academy faculty and director of the Outdoor Learning and Research Center. Joel and I teach separate classes but we often share equipment and ideas- most recently we discussed the educational value of building a quinzee snow shelter. Naturally we were excited by the idea of bringing the experiences of the MWOBS scientists to life for our students.

In my field science class, students have been collecting weather observations, studying the snowpack, and checking the higher summits forecast. They recently demonstrated their skills by accurately predicting a snow day! I was lucky enough to supplement our weather unit with a visit from OBS educator and outreach coordinator Will, who introduced my students to the science and instruments of the observers as well as the challenges posed by hurricane force winds rime ice.

In this age of information it can be difficult to cultivate a sense of mystery. I try to incorporate this into my classes with discrepant events- intentionally confusing events that draw students into thinking about a phenomenon. For example, I start the semester off by asking students to observe a cheese stick in a candelabra, then I take a bite of the cheese stick, forcing students to admit that it is probably not a candle. When we look at the weather report on Mt. Washington, it is sort  like a discrepant event because the current summit conditions are often so different when compared to the weather in Fryeburg. One day it was actually ten degrees warmer on the summit than it was in Fryeburg which led us to discuss the dynamics of cold air settling into the low points of the landscape. The accessibility of the weather data on Mt. Washington lends itself to all sorts of lessons.

I am looking forward to making an attempt on Mt. Washington on Thursday. I say “attempt” because I know that there are no guarantees with regards to the violent and sometimes unpredictable weather on Mt. Washington. The last time I was inside the observatory I was taking shelter from a thunderstorm that had caught me halfway up the Pinnacle Buttress in Huntington Ravine. In my work for Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing School I have already spent three days on Mt. Washington and most recently I experienced low visibility and sustained 70 mph wind. I brought back a couple of photos and videos from my climbing trips but I am hoping to dedicate much more time to documenting my adventure this Thursday.

Here is a photo from a recent adventure on Mt. Washington, observing the clouds from above.

Dylan Harry

Science Teacher, Climbing Instructor