h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

hows it going?

Not bad, all things considered. Still cold. Still dark. What's up where you are?

ooh well - the site has gone under a bit of a revamp.... Mark (the boss) has gone on holiday ( ).... errmmm I keep getting eaten by the Bugblatter Beast of Traal in the HHGG text game

All in a days work really! What sort of temperatures are you experiencing down there (I mean outside rather then inside the base!)? The weather is cloudy and clammy here.

Today is a relatively mild day, winds in town are less than 10mph and the temp is -14f. McMurdo is kind of sheltered though, across the sound it is -22F. It is partly overcast. I hope it warms up a little, I was hoping to go skiing one of these days.

this is going to sound like a pretty stupid question - but do you have decent pistes there? Oh and can you go dog sledding?

The skiing situation as a member of the US Antarctic Program is grim. The kiwis maintain a ski hill with four or five hundred vertical feet of skiable elevation but merely getting there requires a four mile hike or ski trek and an invite from the Kiwis. There are two cross country trails if you like that sort of thing. Skiing off the trails is a great way to get fired or worse yet die. The crevasses are hidden and plentiful. There has been no dog sledding since the mid 80's when it was realized that bringing dogs down here violates the Antarctic treaty. Apparently bringing non native species to the continent is prohibited.

oh yes I remember now - they bought the British dogs back to a flurry of publicity! Nothing the Brits love more then fluffy animals.

Go on give us a weather update, you know you want to really

Actually don't - that is what everyone is asking you about and it must be getting very boring!

so how long are you down there for?

And Humans are a native species?

Hmm, thats a tough one. how does this sound... Humanity is native to wherever the spirit of adventure leads us, from the tops of the highest moutains to the depths of the sea, from the frozen icescapes of the poles to the harshest sun scorched desert and even ultimately to the boundless reaches of space.
it sounds good but I'm not sure I buy it

Icerally are you really in a position to criticise considering you take one of the most destructive forces in teh modern world i.e. the car across polar regions?

Humans might not be native, but rally cars aren't exactly part of the local ecosystem either.

true it might appear that way on the surface, but this is not the type of rally with cars blasting at full clip through the forests
this is a "tread Lightly" type of event, all rally traffic past the Arctic Circle is very carefully supervised by the organizers not only
for the obvious environmental reasons but also for the safty factor
this is an environment to be absolutely respected as it will kill you.
Oh and it wasn't a criticism, just an observation!

Mine wasn't meant as a criticism - I am sorry if it was taken that way!