RTA Outdoor Living Leaves a Kitchen on Mount Washington for a Year

RTA Outdoor Living, a maker of prefabricated outdoor kitchens based in Greenland, New Hampshire, said on October 14 that it has placed one of its units at the 6,288-foot summit of Mount Washington and will leave it exposed to the weather for a full year, according to a company announcement distributed by GlobeNewswire.

The kitchen went up in August 2026 beside the Mount Washington Observatory building. Staff at the Observatory, which keeps its summit station occupied around the clock, will inspect the structure from fixed vantage points for cracks, chipping, seal separation, dents and appliance failures, and match what they find against recorded wind, temperature and icing data.

The unit is a 10-foot linear design with concrete panels, a concrete countertop and two 36-inch Coyote Outdoor Living grills, assembled from parts the company sells to homeowners online. Components were hauled up the Mt. Washington Auto Road, and the island was bolted to an adjacent concrete wall with stainless steel supports so it could not break loose in high wind.

The Observatory recorded a 103.9 mph gust on September 10 and a 110 mph gust on October 6. Jay Broccolo, the Observatory's director of weather operations, said he expects the kitchen to survive the winter but would be surprised if it were "completely unchanged."

RTA donated the kitchen, which will stay at the summit for Observatory use after the observation period ends in about August 2027. The company said the project is not a controlled scientific test.

This story was first reported by GlobeNewswire.