It's the driest, coldest, windiest, highest and fifth largest on earth

Last week, when Nevada Appeal co-worker Karl Horeis wrote about his upcoming trip to Antarctica, he publicly acknowledged something I have privately known for quite some time.

Some weeks ago, when he first told me that he was trying to get accepted for a job at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica, I was completely flabbergasted and stared at him as if he were a Martian.

"Wow! That is way cool! Antarctica! That is a place that I've always wanted to visit, just to say that I've been there." I replied. "I think that it is awesome that you have the chance to go there."

Now that he has told the whole world, I'd like to publicly wish him the best of luck on his latest outdoor adventure.

As you may remember, Karl was one of the four athletes who were successful in the very first Nevada 10-In-10 Challenge.

He and Rick Gunn of the Nevada Appeal, plus Jeremy Evans and Kevin Cannon, former Nevada Appeal employees, were the four individuals who accomplished those 10 very difficult, physically-demanding challenges in the span of 10 days across Nevada.

Those challenges included such physical feats as hiking and biking around Lake Tahoe on the 165 mile Tahoe Rim trail, sand boarding off Sand Mountain near Fallon, biking the Bloody Shins Trail at Winnemucca, hiking the 40-mile crest of the Ruby Mountains, climbing Mt. Wheeler in Great Basin National Park, rock climbing in Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, and climbing Boundary Peak, Nevada's tallest peak.

During those memorable 10 days, Elaine and I tagged along as their support crew in a miserable, rented motorhome that all six of us came to name the "The 11th Challenge."

It was a memorable trip for us, but this trip to Antarctica will top even that once-in-a-lifetime experience for Karl.

As I understand it, Karl will be leaving for Antarctica about the first of October for a four-month stint at the bottom of the world. He will be there for their version of the summer season, which is just the reverse of ours, way here in the Northern Hemisphere.

When I read his column in which he told everyone about his plan to leave Carson City for Antarctica, I became curious about that faraway place that few, if any of us, have ever had the chance to visit.

So, I went to the good old Internet, looked up Antarctica and came away with a whole file-full of interesting information. I'd like to share some of that with you and here it is:

• Antarctica:

Is the driest continent on earth.

The amount of moisture received by the polar plateau is comparable to that falling on the world's hottest deserts.

Is the coldest continent on earth.

The lowest temperature ever recorded was -89C (-128.56F) at Vostik in the Australian Antarctic Territory in 1983.

Is the windiest continent on earth.

Winds flow down the coastal slopes under the influence of gravity.

Speeds of those Catabolic Winds have been recorded up to 327 kilometers (203.18 MPH).

Is the highest continent on earth.

It has an average elevation of 2,500 meters (8,202 feet).

The height of the South Pole is 2,835 meters (9,301 feet).

Vinson Massif is the highest mountain at 4,897 meters (16,066 feet).

Is the fifth largest continent on earth.

Following Asia, Africa, North American and South America in size, but it is larger than Australia.

In addition:

At the South Pole, twenty-four hours of daylight occur for several months over their summer (our winter), while there is complete darkness for several months during their winter (our summer).

The population of persons doing and supporting science on the continent and its nearby islands, south of 60 degrees South Latitude (the region covered by the Antarctic Treaty) varies from approximately 4,000 (including our very own Karl Horeis later this year!) to about 1,000 hardy souls in the winter.

A total of 37 nations have many different year-round stations including: Argentina (6 stations), Australia (3), Chile (4), China (2) and USA (3).

The continent is made up of approximately 98 percent ice and 2 percent barren rock, of which 280,000 square kilometers (174,000 square miles) are ice free, while the remaining 13.5 million square kilometers (8.52 million square miles) are ice covered.

Only one native, warm-blooded animal remains on the Antarctic continent during the winter: The Emperor Penguin.

Australia claims as its territory nearly 3.7 of Antarctica's 8.52 million square miles, an area roughly the size of Australia without Queensland.

Only four other nations (France, New Zealand, Norway and Great Britain), which interesting enough each also claim part of Antarctica, have formally recognized Australia's territory claim.

Finally:

If you're interested in visiting Antarctica as a tourist, you could take a 19-night cruise with Peregrine Adventures on their passenger liner "The Peregrine Mariner."

That trip in an "Upper Deck Twin" will cost you a mere $7,490 US, per person.

However, be aware that price does not include such things as:

Airfare (to and from), visa and passport fees, airport taxes, additional hotel accommodations, laundry, postage, drinks, medical expenses, travel insurance, telephone calls, gratuities for staff and crew, items of a personal nature, bar tabs and gift shop.

So, unless you do like Karl did and hire on to work for four months at the bottom of the world, you had better have lots of extra time and money.

I, for one, can hardly wait to see the photographs and hear his tales of yet another once-in-a-lifetime adventure in the life of Karl Horeis.

• Bet Your Favorite Pigeon

Bet your favorite pigeon that he can't tell you how many total tourists visited Antarctica during its 2002-2003 Antarctic summer season.

If he grins and says, "13,571 total tourists," he could have been one of those 13,571 lucky individuals.