26 December, 1999

Today I am making my final preparations before departing to New Zealand and on to McMurdo. If all goes as planned, I should be on the "ice" early in the new year. I think it will be a great way to start out the millenium.

Here at home, in Basalt, Colorado, we are having an unseasonably warm and dry winter. Normally this time of year there are a few feet of snow on the ground and temperatures might drop to 10 below zero. If this were the case, I think our winter would be comparable to McMurdo's summer. This year, however, is a little different. If its as warm in McMurdo as it is here, the ice cap will melt !