In August of 2026, RTA Outdoor Living took a leap into exploring the extremes of what an outdoor kitchen could possibly handle… by installing one on the top of Mount Washington.
Widely known as having the worst weather in the world, there’s no better location than Mt Washington for such a groundbreaking test. In this article, you will learn how a fully-functional RTA outdoor kitchen ended up on Mount Washington, gain an understanding of how extreme the weather is at the summit, why Mt Washington is the ideal testing location for durability, features of the Mt Washington outdoor kitchen, RTA’s partnership with the Mount Washington Observatory, and how to stay updated on how (and if) the Mt Washington outdoor kitchen is holding up.
Quick Links:
- How did an RTA Outdoor Kitchen End Up on Mt Washington?
- Understanding Mt Washington’s Extreme Weather
- Why is Mt Washington the Perfect Test for RTA’s Outdoor Kitchen Materials?
- Features of the RTA Mt Washington Outdoor Kitchen & Test Conditions
- RTA Outdoor Living’s Partnership with the Mount Washington Observatory
- How to Stay Updated on the Mt Washington Outdoor Kitchen… and Exciting Future News
How did an RTA Outdoor Kitchen End Up on Mt Washington?
Installing a fully functional outdoor kitchen on the top of Mt Washington seems like the most unlikely of things, yet, from RTA’s perspective… it couldn’t be more natural of a test.
RTA Outdoor Living as a company got its start right in New Hampshire, and as such, Mount Washington is a beloved destination among the company’s founders and many of their local employees, located at the administrative office in Greenland, NH.
From the earliest stages of product development, creating an outdoor kitchen that is durable in extreme climates was always a primary focus. And this year, RTA Outdoor Living decided to put that emphasis to the ultimate test. We wanted to know: can an RTA outdoor kitchen survive the most extreme weather in the world? To accomplish this, the outdoor kitchen had to be installed on New Hampshire’s own Mount Washington. And so, it came to be.
Understanding Mt Washington’s Extreme Weather
In order to comprehend why this is such a momentous test for an outdoor kitchen, you must also understand just how extreme Mt Washington’s weather is.
Here’s a few of the record-breaking conditions that have been recorded since 1933:
- Lowest Temperature: -47°F, January 1934
- Peak Wind Gust: 231 MPH, April 1934
- Most Precipitation: 130.14”, 1969 Year Total
- Amount of Snow, Ice Pellets, and Hail: 566.4”, 1968-1969 Season Total
As you can see, Mount Washington is home to bone-chilling cold temperatures, some of the strongest wind gusts ever recorded, and massive amounts of winter precipitation. Torrents of snow, ice, and hail rain down on the summit for much of the year. If an outdoor kitchen can survive the summit of Mt Washington relatively unscathed, it can truly thrive in any environment.
Why is Mt Washington the Perfect Test for RTA’s Outdoor Kitchen Materials?
Mount Washington’s terrible weather conditions might seem like overkill for testing the durability of an outdoor kitchen… but we’d argue it’s actually the perfect trial for RTA’s unique outdoor kitchen materials.
RTA outdoor kitchens are constructed with a proprietary blend of ultra high performance concrete. We frequently tout how durable this material is and how well it can withstand all manner of extreme weather conditions, especially those found atop Mount Washington. High performance concrete is intended to remain unaffected when exposed to snow, rain, ice, hail, wind, and frequent freeze/thaw cycles. Repeated freezing and thawing of water experienced during freeze thaw cycles can wreak havoc on traditional outdoor kitchen systems, so durability in this area is especially important.
And because Mount Washington exhibits the most extreme form of the weather conditions RTA outdoor kitchens are designed to resist… it is the ideal location for a rigorous durability test of RTA’s outdoor kitchen materials.
Features of the RTA Mt Washington Outdoor Kitchen & Test Conditions
The RTA outdoor kitchen installed on Mount Washington has the following features:
- Construction: Ultra-high performance concrete
- Layout: Linear side-by-side
- Finish Style: Modern stone ash
- Countertop Material and Finish: Chiseled edge concrete in cloudy
- Appliances: 2 36” Coyote CL-series gas grills
- Other Accessories: 2 36” Coyote double access doors
As mentioned previously, this outdoor kitchen was installed atop Mount Washington in August of 2026. It will remain there for about a year, until August of 2027. During this time, staff from the Mount Washington Observatory will keep tabs on how the outdoor kitchen is doing. They will report on weather conditions, provide video footage, use the outdoor kitchen, and share observations throughout the year.
In August of 2027, there will be a final review of the outdoor kitchen. This review will be used as a comparison to the state of the outdoor kitchen when first installed in August of 2026. This comparison will reveal how well RTA’s outdoor kitchen weathered the demanding conditions of Mount Washington: good, bad, or otherwise.
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RTA Outdoor Living’s Partnership with the Mount Washington Observatory
This groundbreaking test would not be possible without the stellar team at Mount Washington Observatory. MWOBS is a private, non-profit organization that operates and maintains a weather station on the summit of Mount Washington. Through their observation of Mount Washington’s weather, they perform weather and climate research and educational programs that help advance our understanding in the field of meteorology.
With such a robust and experienced team behind this test, we feel honored to partner with MWOBS on this project. The Mount Washington Observatory will provide objective, non-biased, and detailed observations about the results of this test… so we can all get a true picture of how durable an RTA outdoor kitchen really is.
How to Stay Updated on the Mt Washington Outdoor Kitchen… and Exciting Future News
If you want to keep tabs on how the Mount Washington outdoor kitchen is doing, you can access a 24/7 live feed here. You’ll notice the grills and doors are strapped down, but this is done only to prevent the grill and doors from constantly flinging open in the wind. In every other regard, this outdoor kitchen is identical to all the other RTA outdoor kitchens being shipped nationwide on a daily basis.
Beyond this, keep an eye on our YouTube channel for a future documentary about the project. This short documentary will summarize the results of this year-long project, so you can see for yourself how the outdoor kitchen held up.
But until then, check out the live feed… we’ll be watching right along with you!
