Martian Skiers?

Firstly I would like to apologise for the length of time since my last post - I have been having some issues with the Blogger platform.

You may have seen Nasa's photographs from the Phoenix lander which touched down on Mars yesterday. Much has been made of the "quilted" patterns in the Martian landscape, and how they may have formed. My first impression though is that, colour aside (and the colour is false anyway), they bear a remarkable resemblance to a bumps run in any ski resort.

Okay, I am not seriously suggesting that Mars is inhabited by snow loving alien skiers, although there are some pretty big mountains over there. Perhaps I have just reached the point where I see something ski related in every news item or photo.