December 2009. Music by: Mark Moulin.
Mauna Kea is a very remote location. It has no public accommodations, food, or gasoline service. The observatory buildings are usually closed to the public. There are no permanent restrooms above the Visitor Information Station. The only public telephone above Hale Pohaku is an emergency phone in the entrance to the University of Hawaii 2.2-m Telescope building. Vehicles should be in good working condition with good brakes and sufficient fuel to return to Hilo or Waimea. Emergency services, including medical assistance, may be two hours away.
The road above the OCIA to the Mauna Kea Observatories is unpaved, rough, steep, winding, and dangerous. Only four-wheel-drive vehicles are permitted above the OCIA. The road can be traversed in about half an hour in good weather, but extreme caution must be exercised when driving it, particularly on the descent. Use low gear and be on the lookout for slide areas and for loose gravel. Do not drive over 25 mph. Use headlights if it is foggy. The switchback section of the road above OCIA is particularly hazardous during the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, because of the low elevation of the Sun – in several sections of the road, you must drive directly towards the Sun, so it is very difficult to see oncoming traffic. (ifa.hawaii.edu)
Duration : 0:3:23
No way to find out …
No way to find out since the Hawaiian media does not use the imaginary windchill scale.
Weather hyping must be a product of Canadian complexes and insecurity.
How cold was it ( …
How cold was it (with the windchill, of course)?
janoo, was that …
janoo, was that snow i saw?!