Yuki's Nation Elects New President
 

Those who've been following this weather thread for a while know that Yuki is our official snow-measuring mascot, contributing his name to a snowstorm scale ranging from Y1 to Y5 (each Y is about 7 inches, Yuki's height.) It might even be fair to say that with each snowstorm, Yuki is fast becoming Lake Winnipesaukee's own version of the Mount Washington Observatory cat.

Well, Yuki has a new President as of Tuesday's election - The Mount Washington Observatory's cat primary, that is.

The MWO has a decades-old tradition of having a cat for a pet on the summit, and over the years their cats have become famous in stories-turned-folklore, posters (like Inga covered in frost) postcards, internet postings, books, and more.

In late December their latest cat, Nin, retired from his scratching post to live out his final years in a less-remote location, after being on the summit since 1995.

The MWO asked the Conway Humane Society to choose 3 possibilities for Nin's replacement, and posted online profiles for each on the MWO website, www.mountwashington.org.

On Tuesday while the rest of us were casting ballots in defiance of the media, over 8,000 people visited the MWO website to cast ballots for "New Hampshire's Top Cat."

The voters overwhelmingly chose Marty, a 2-year-old gray fluffy cat, over two lesser-experienced catidates.

MWO staff said they will serve as 'Electoral College' during their adoption visit to the humane society next week. New Hampshire's new Top Cat will be inaugurated with a snow tractor ride up the Auto Road next Wednesday, where he will get busy meeting the NH Park Rangers who will serve as his forbidden food smugglers, and get a briefing from his new staff of meteorologists.

In his term of office, he can expect to pose for lots of printed material in-house and external, appear in cat-lover magazines worldwide, and his staff will receive thousands of paw-stamped letters and post cards sent from other cats through their own human staff members.

For more details on "New Hampshire's Other Election", visit www.mountwashington.org.

Now THAT would make for interesting webcam viewing! :laugh:

Nin
 

For those that are not aware, Nin was the MWO (Mount Washington Observatory) mascot, and at times was in complete control of the MWO complex. Some believe the Nin was an acronym for Nine Inch Nails as the cats was very good at the scratching post and if he was not near a post, a any human would do. He took his mousing responsibility very seriously.

Nin was up on the "rock pile" for 12 years and it is believed he is 16+years of age. He is retiring to the Gorham, NH area.

For the record, I voted for one of the shorter-haired cats because Nin had short hair. But the election was not even close, so I was in the minority on this vote.

The MWO station has had a mascot cat for many decades, so the new cat, Marty, is following in a long tradition. He does look somewhat like our Yuki. I wonder if the MWO will start to report snow depths using the 'Y scale' or the potentially new 'M scale' someday? Perhaps CLA can plant that seed someday.

For those more interested in the MWO, as CLA mentioned they have a great web site www.mountwashington.org and you can join the MWO and see more of what is going on up there for a small amount of money. They also have a periodic magazine "Windswept" that makes for some great reading. It comes along with the membership. All the money goes to support the obseratory, so I guess it helps feed the cat as well.

R2B

Our family was really rooting for Wilson, he is so cute! By the way CLA, will you be going back up on Mt. Washington anytime this year? Loved the photographs you took the last time. Still check your website for your photos. I saw that there are more photos that someone took of the mountain fox. Great one next to the sign.

Marty vs Wilson
 

I was rather partial to Wilson myself. Although Marty is a handsome fellow, he will be more demanding of attention, requiring frequent brushing and pampering to prevent matting and hairballs. Wilson, on the other hand, appears to be a rough and tumble kind of guy and one who could take care of himself under the harshest conditions, weathering any storm he might have encountered on the mountain.

I think Marty is appropriate since my first recolections of cats on Mt Washington was when Marty Engstrom did the weather from the summit and a cat always walked in front of him while he was on-air!

Marty
 

Ah yes, I remember Marty Engstrom reporting the weather conditions on the mountain on Channel 8. He was a very unique individual and everyone looked forward to his reports. Wasn't that cat's name Pushka (or something similar)? It always managed to grab some of the spotlight.

Thank you! I'm not scheduled to go up the mountain this year, because I forgot to reserve myself a volunteer spot. It's gotten so popular that you have to call them in July to get a decent selection of shifts. It's hard to remember "Rime-covered Rockpile" when you're "Waterskiing on Winni."