There's a nod at the comment. Arriving in the middle of an ice storm isn't anything he would consider to be particularly enjoyable, especially when it would have meant being both wet and cold - and without much by way of changes of clothes besides. And being cooped up inside has never been anything that he's tolerated well. Not in absence of anything to do anyway; by certain ways of thinking living in a spaceship is nothing but being cooped up. Even if the Enterprise is fairly spacious, as starships go.

"Not what I would call the best of times to arrive. And I'm sorry your first days here weren't more comfortable."

Not that there's a lot of comfort to be found in either of the villages, even when the weather is less inclement. But he figures that's not exactly the best of things to open with, especially in light of Elena's question.

"There is another village - a mirror image of this one - but I'm afraid no one's found a way out of the canyon yet."