Top of the World

The Top of the World is a location in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia. Before the Great War, it was part of a ski resort.

Background
Prior to the Great War, the Top of the World was a famous West Virginia tourist attraction. The giant red thumbtack-shaped landmark was part of the Pleasant Valley Ski Resort, and originally served as an enormous ski lift station that included shops and restaurants on its higher levels. It was also the location of the Top of the World Radio broadcast.

After the war, many rich tourists survived at the resort and its facilities. Many of them were counting on the government to rescue them, not realizing there was no government left. Afraid of looters, they locked away their most valued possessions and divided up the key. As the supplies were running low, they sent an envoy to Charleston for help but were turned down. This led to the radicalization of the group, turning them into the Raiders, being the Cutthroats gang the one taking the Top of the World and its surroundings as their home. Becoming their headquarters and turning it into a settlement of sorts, they erected small defenses and dropped mines underneath the superstructure.

At some point prior to 2103, all of the raiders had been killed or fled the area, leaving behind Rose, a Miss Nanny programmed to mirror the likeness of Rosalynn Jeffries.

Ground level
In front of the elevator is an overseer's cache, which contains the overseer's log holotape. There are many raider styled buildings set around it. A few other cabins can be found in the surrounding area, which served as lodging for visitors pre-War but has since been overrun by super mutants.

Mezzanine level
This level was a shopping mall circular in shape on the second floor. Many windows are boarded up and the level is filled with shops, some of which still contain remnants of their products and robot employees. The shops are distributed around the circle, with hallways between each, circling around the perimeter. There is a door connecting each shop with the respective halls (between the outer perimeter hallway and the central mezzanine area). The radial hallway between the A La Chez Burger and the Peak Condition is blocked, as is the outer perimeter hallway behind the Peak Condition. There are two weapons workbenches and an armor workbench located in one of the retail spaces. There is a tinker's workbench located in the Diamond Dust jewelry store.

The stage and the clothes shack each contain a potential Vault-Tec bobblehead spawn point, with three potential magazine spawns near each shack and the stage. Clockwise, the businesses are:
 * Peak Condition - with a safe.
 * Diamond Dust - a jewelry store that was the subject of a stakeout before the Great War. There is a safe which can be opened by hacking a terminal (outside along the side of the outer perimeter hallway).
 * Matterhorn Chophouse - with a chemistry station, a brewing station, and a safe.
 * Snowflake Baubles - with two weapons workbenches and an armor workbench, repurposed into a workshop.
 * Dreamboat Yachts - with a safe.
 * Ice sculpture gallery.
 * Apres Apres Ski - with a safe.
 * A La Chez Burger - with a recipe spawn on the counters.

Observation level
The observation level is the top floor at the Top of the World. The raider robot Rose can be found here. It houses radio equipment which Rose uses to run Raider Radio. A cage containing Hank Madigan's corpse can also be found here. This level cannot be accessed until the Signal Strength quest is completed.

Notable loot

 * Holotapes and notes
 * Overseer's log - Top of the World - Holotape, in an overseer's cache in front of the elevator doors.
 * Henry's note - Note, just outside the room with the dead settlers on the mezzanine level.
 * Louis's note - Note, on the mezzanine level, in the corridor behind the art gallery.
 * Matterhorn chophouse memo - Note, on the mezzanine level.
 * Dreamboat angry letter - Note, on the mezzanine level, behind the "Dreamboat Yachts" front desk.
 * Dreamboat marketing note - Note, on the mezzanine level, on a desk in "Dreamboat Yachts" (to the right of the store entrance).
 * Dreamboat owner's note - Note, on the mezzanine level, on a desk in "Dreamboat Yachts" (to the right of the store entrance).
 * Rosalynn and David's ski trip - Holotape, on the observation level, on a console near Rose.
 * The "hook up" - Holotape, received from Rose during Strange Bedfellows.
 * Collectibles
 * Three potential Vault-Tec bobbleheads:
 * On the mezzanine level, on the ramp directly across the elevator doors, on top of a speaker.
 * On the mezzanine level, behind a storefront west of the elevator column, on the wooden shelf with a gramophone on it.
 * On the mezzanine level, near the shopping pavilion, on at TV stand near a sofa.
 * Four potential magazines:
 * On the mezzanine level, west of the elevator column, at the storefront with a gramophone, on the shop counter by the cash register.
 * On the mezzanine level, at the market stall with three stools and a pink cash register, on the small coffee table.
 * On the mezzanine level, at the stall with the lighthouse painting and a raider skull board under its tarp, on the magazine carousel by the fallen stool.
 * On the top level, along the curved wall of the control room perimeter near Hank Madigan's corpse, on a small curved side table to the left of the white leather sofa.
 * Plans and recipes
 * Three potential plans:
 * On a shelf halfway up a windmill just to its northwest (Power armor plan).
 * Next to an armor workbench near the outdoors shooting range, on a wooden shelf (Armor plan).
 * Inside an open display case to the right of the aforementioned armor workbench (Workshop plan).
 * Potential recipe - In the restaurant "A La Chez Burger" on the mezzanine level, on the left next to a sink.
 * Other loot
 * Fusion core - At the top of a windmill to its northwest.
 * X-cell - On a shelf halfway up a windmill just to its northwest.
 * Potential armor mod - Inside a tall open display case near the outdoor shooting range, near an armor workbench.
 * Potential weapon mod - Inside an open display case near the outdoor shooting range, near a weapons workbench.

Appearances
The Top of the World appears

Behind the scenes
The Top of the World and Pleasant Valley are based on the real world location of Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia. The Top of the World building has a check-in desk for the resort, lodging, and houses one of the ski equipment rental facilities.