Arctic Wednesdays 2025: Week 1 Post-Trip Blog

 “80% of the population is under a cold weather alert.”- ABC News

“Wind Chills 55 below, snow and ice in Florida: Extreme cold invading U.S.”- USA Today

 “We are a GO for this Wednesday! It will be COLD for sure, but hopefully everything below will help you get prepped and ready:”- Email from Brian Fitzgerald, Director of Education at Mount Washington Observatory. 

Ooookayyy. While I’m no stranger to the home of the Worst Weather in the World (when I was 20 I took eleven 10 year olds hiking up to Tucks on the 4th of July while it was snowing and raining. Obviously we had to turn around) I spent most of Monday waiting for news of a postponement for my Arctic Wednesday Trip. The email from Brian says we are on. Here we go.

On my drive to Mount Washington the day of the trip my car is reading -20. However, the sun is out and the skies are clearing so I’m pretty excited. We were forecasted to be in the fog, but I am hopeful that we will get a good view from the summit. 

Our Snowcat ride up is pretty uneventful, the low snowfall this year requires us to drive the van about a mile up the road. It takes a few minutes for the Observatory crew to shift this week's gear from the van to the Cat and then we are on our way.  It takes us about an hour and a half to get to the summit. The staff jokes with us that this is a new speed record. At a max speed of 8mph the Snowcat’s journey is definitely slower then Travis Pastrana’s rally car speed up Mt. Washington of 5 minutes and 28 seconds. 

When we get to the top I expect to be outside and immediately freezing, but it is one step down from the Snowcat and straight into the Sherman-Adams Visitor Center. It’s wild to see the visitors center in winter time. Various projects are set up around the space, there is a bike set up in the corner for exercise when staff can’t get outside. We continue walking and reach the Observatory entrance.

Now I may be a librarian, but weather- especially extreme weather- has always interested me. The observatory is super cool. From posters showcasing their biggest weather events, to the maps of the surrounding mountains the entire room is fascinating. We immediately check the current weather conditions. It’s -11 with a wind chill of -39. Definitely chilly, but we packed all the gear so we'll go outside!

I’m a little surprised to realize that I get to climb the observatory tower! We climb the spiral staircase until it changes to ladders. I don’t even hesitate (even though I am a little worried about getting back down the ladders), but I know the view and experience will be worth it. We go out into the cold and it's….. Fog. Luckily it was only for a moment, the air swirled around us and we would get beautiful glimpses of the mountains and the valley. This was definitely the highlight of my trip. I’ve been following the observatory and using the weather reports for years. To actually be at the source of those reports while the wind blew my coat and I looked around the mountains around me was pure joy.

Super big thanks to the Observatory for their Artic Wednesday Program and giving up their time and their space to the teachers. My students have spent the entire day asking me questions and telling me how much they enjoyed zooming with me from the top of Mount Washington!

Lexi Oliver

Library/ Tech teacher

Westmoreland, NH