• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 12, 2007

The Weather Channel has become the latest marketer to jump on the Second Life bandwagon by launching a virtual headquarters in the 3D online universe. Known as "Weather Island," it will offer an extreme sports park, in line with the theme of new show "Epic Conditions." It will also serve as an avenue to debut show episodes and other footage.

The Second Life initiative looks to serve as both a promotional and possibly ad sales vehicle.

The new "Epic Conditions" series aims to give viewers a front-row seat as extreme athletes take on challenging conditions. It has a limited run on-air this month, and moves to the lineup full-time this fall. An eponymous broadband channel is already up.

Second Life has 4.5 million users. The Weather Channel inclusion allows them an interactive experience to "become" an extreme athlete by skiing Mount Epic and mountain-biking the Moab Desert. Coming soon: A "big wave" surfing simulator. Weather Island will offer episode premieres--as will the broadband channel on the weatherchannel.com site--before their on-air debuts.

"With Second Life, we're hopeful we can expose our brand in an original and meaningful way," says Debora Wilson, president, The Weather Channel Companies. "We also see Second Life as a potential advertising platform for brands currently partnering with us."

Keeping with consumer hunger for social networking, Weather Island offers the chance to engage with other visitors, simulate activities and gather information about the real-world spots where the extreme sports are played out.