BEAM ME DOWN, SCOTTY

This week's random coordinates picked by the computer are:; Latitude: 53 8' N Longitude: 128 44' W

First Reaction

Hello, I seem to be standing half way up a cliff.

Country and region

On Princess Royal Island. One of many off-shore islands breaking up the west coast of British Columbia, in Canada, you are separated from the mainland by about a mile of cold sea.

Nearest Human settlements

By a stroke of luck or genius, you have come down less than three miles from Butedale, a steamer landing and the only village to speak of within hundreds of miles.

Nature of terrain

This is a mountainous area, in the middle of the Kitimat Range. You have beamed down into a conifer forest on a mountainside descending to the shores of an icy, nameless lake.

Altitude

About 1,000 feet.

Possible hazards

The fact that you are on a roadless, scarcely populated island in a downpour of cold, heavy rain is unpromising. Death by exposure threatens.

Useful languages:

English (if anything).

Take me to your leader

The Canadian Prime Minister is Jean Chretien

Likely weather conditions

This coast of British Columbia is virtually the wettest place in the whole northern hemisphere, with over 120 inches of rain per year. Temperatures are at best chilly at the moment, around 10 or 12 degrees.

Reasons for hanging around

Possibly to try your hand at some gold mining on the north of the island. The village of Butedale is involved in lumber and fish canning.

Getting the hell out of there

Wait at Butedale for a passing ship, otherwise walk and swim just over 62 miles to the town of Kitimat, across several icy fjords to the north. Kitimat is linked by road - ultimately - to the rest of Canada. If hitch-hiking, the nearest large towns, Vancouver and Calgary, are both around 940 miles by road. Don't expect a lot of traffic.