Ten Years on the Rock Pile: A Collection of Stories, Some Hilarious, Some Tragic, about Life at the Summit of Mount Washington

Mount Washington, located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, is the highest peak in the northeastern United States. It is often cited—by its inhabitants, no less—as the home of the country’s worst weather, a claim supported by the mountain’s long-held record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth’s surface (231 mph on April 12, 1934). As a transmitter supervisor for WMTW-TV, Lee Vincent traveled regularly to the summit of Mount Washington. Soon enough his reports from the peak began appearing in a column in a local paper—and just as quickly captivated readers near and far. 


 

These columns—with their accounts of the everyday lives and unusual exploits of the individuals who chose, against all odds and most notions of common sense, to call Mount Washington home—are gathered in this book. As entertaining and engaging as they are informative, these reports from the summit form an invaluable record of life happily lived in extremity. Accompanied by remarkable photographs and candid snapshots, they also document the experience and insights—and after Vincent’s diagnosis with a virulent form of cancer, the valiant last days—of someone who had seen the mountaintop and reported back for the edification and delight of those lucky enough to read his columns and books.

Lee Vincent (1935–77) built and operated a TV station in Litchfield, Maine, before his job with WMTW-TV, where he hosted a short TV clip five days a week noting the weather atop the “rock pile.” Guy Gosselin, who worked for the Mount Washington Observatory in a variety of roles, is now a life trustee of the observatory.