For skiers and snowboarders, the East Coast was the big winner this past season, recording epic powder days and allowing ski areas to stay open into spring. But while the ski hills have long since melted, in Boston, the remnants of the record-breaking 110.6 inches of snow remain. An empty lot in the city's Seaport district still houses the last of 11 "snow farms" created when Boston needed a place to put all that snow. Once 75 feet high and over four acres, "Mt. Neverest" is now a 12-foot-high frozen mound of trash slowly melting to reveal the underbelly of winter.
It would be insulting to Ullr, the god of winter, to call Mt. Neverest snow. The mound is most certainly frozen, but the white has faded and only dirty bicycle parts, hubcaps, candy wrappers, cement, and newspapers remain. And despite the sometimes scorching summer heat, the pile hasn't melted due to a lack of rain and its thickness.
The New York Times states that on May 12, workers hauled away 12 tons of trash from the site; on June 16, it was 56 tons.
As the symbol of the winter that just wouldn't end, it seems fitting that the snow/trash pile isn't going down without a fight. On June 25, with no end to the melt in sight, Mayor Martin J. Walsh asked people to use the hashtag #BOSMeltNow to tweet their best guess of when the pile would disappear.
Let's just say it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. Daniel Nee, supervisor of the highway crews, said that the frozen mass keeps melting to a trickle. "Water coming off the mound was refreezing because this mass is so cold," Mr. Nee said. "It's its own little ecosystem."
Here's what the snow pile looked like at its peak:
You know it's a serious snow mound when the @nytimes reports on it http://t.co/jfn93s1pRG #BOSMeltNow pic.twitter.com/8t1yIMlKdj
— Jacqui Johnstone (@J_Johnstone) July 6, 2015
The snow and trash pile on June 29:
Guess when it's going to melt. It's packed ice all under the filth. #BOSMeltNow pic.twitter.com/aQYt79e0yr
— Gabrielle Farrell (@FarrellGabriell) June 29, 2015
The site has become its own tourist destination:
I made my kids pose in front of this snow pile, 6/23/15. I predict it's gone by 7/29/15. #BOSMeltNow #HarpoonTour pic.twitter.com/Rf2fIFTyXT
— Susan McDonald (@smcdonald413) June 26, 2015
The mayor's snow melt challenge:
Have you sent in your guess? #BosMeltNow pic.twitter.com/kTeCJkzFnB
— Mayor Marty Walsh (@marty_walsh) July 6, 2015
· Remnant of Boston's Brutal Winter Threatens to Outlast Summer [The New York Times]
· When Will Boston's Mt. Neverest Finally Melt? Some Guesses [Curbed Boston]
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