Marty Engstrom

Marty Engstrom (April 28, 1937 – January 4, 2024), best known by his television title Marty on the Mountain, was an American broadcast engineer, weather presenter and television personality. He broadcast the weather for WMTW Channel 8 News for 38 years from atop Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Early life Martin D. Engstrom was born on April 28, 1937, in Hanson, Massachusetts to Martin Sr and Ruby (née Smith) Engstrom and grew up in Fryeburg, Maine. His parents worked at a local canning plant. He attended Fryeburg Academy and graduated in 1956. Engstrom joined the Air Force as a weapons control technician. After his service, he received a commercial radio license and took a job operating WMTW's transmitter on the summit of Mount Washington; approximately 6,288 feet high, with a record low temperature of −47 °F and a recorded wind speed of 231 miles per hour.

Career On his first day of work in 1964, Engstrom was told in addition to his regular duties of manning the transmitting equipment, he would also be required to give a daily "on-air" weather report each night on the evening news. "First day on duty, I was told, 'Get a script written, you're going to be on camera,'" Engstrom recalls. "Huh, who me? What?" After a few reports, Engstrom was told to "add a little personality" (smile at the end of each report).

Engstrom would write out his 30-second report on a small cue card and tape it to the camera. Engstrom wrote his own scripts and spent time thinking up material for each broadcast. "The weather itself would only take up maybe ten seconds,” he said, “So, I’d try to think up some sassy remark." Sometimes a technical glitch would add to the forecast; or a visit from the station's cat, Pushka, who Engstrom would famously tell: "Down, Kit-tee!" in his thick Down East accent. For many New England families, it was a nightly ritual to watch Engstrom each evening. Alton, New Hampshire resident, Gail Stevens Allard, recalls how her father would make her family be quiet during Engstrom's reports: "As soon as he gave his grin, we knew we were released from the rule of silence and we’d start to giggle." His final broadcast was on February 5, 2002. Asked what his favorite memory was about working on top of one of the coldest places in North America, Engstrom replied: "Well I think the best thing about this job always has been the view from the kitchen window, 130 miles on a clear day."

Engstrom's daughter, Anita, said that her father held a deep reverence for his time working atop Mount Washington, but he never understood his fame and popularity. "He was very humble. People would come up to him excited and say 'Oh, you’re Marty Engstrom,' and he’d just say 'Yup,'" she once said in an interview, "We’d tell him, 'Dad, you’re famous, people know who you are.'" He died on January 4, 2024, at his home in Fryeburg, Maine.