Air Transport ALE facilitates an intercontinental air bridge between South America and the Ellsworth Mountains, West Antarctica. ALE operates weekly passenger and cargo flights from November through January, using an Ilyushin IL-76 TD transport aircraft with a flight time of 4 1/4 hours. Flights depart from Presidente Carlos Ibañez del Campo airport...

Overland Transport ALE re-supplies field teams and pre-places caches by air and by overland traverse. Our strategic location and the size of our operation help us provide cost-effective options for large and small projects. ALE can deliver large volumes of heavy cargo and fuel to deep-field sites, using Prinoth BR-350 and Pistenbully...

Camp Services Our main camp is located in the spectacular and remote southern Ellsworth Mountains, on the broad expanse of Union Glacier. It is only accessible by air and all of our guests take their first steps in Antarctica here, on a naturally occurring blue-ice runway. We are 1,859 miles (2991 km)...

Travel Safety & Guiding Our Travel Safety department assess the safety of field camp locations, travel routes, and climbing objectives using on-the-ground surveys, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and radar and optical images. They can provide GPS tracks for known routes (e.g. Hercules Inlet-South Pole; Union Glacier-Lake Ellsworth) and are available to help pre-plan over-snow...

Meteorology ALE’s meteorological department operates 7 days a week, preparing forecasts for ALE's air operations, field parties, and visiting aircraft. Twice-daily forecasts and weather briefings are available to pilots and ground personnel stationed at Union Glacier. Our forecasters are professional meteorologists with a wide range of experience forecasting for civil and...

Communications We have a dedicated team of ICT experts on staff at Union Glacier Camp to coordinate flight and field communications. Our Antarctic team stays in regular contact with our Punta Arenas and Salt Lake City operations via email and satellite phone. All aircraft are fitted with tracking beacons, which allow us...

Medical At Union Glacier Camp we maintain a basic medical clinic staffed by doctors and medics who specialize in emergency, high altitude, and remote medicine. The clinic is equipped to treat minor illnesses or can be used to stabilize more serious conditions until the patient can be medically evacuated. We’re equipped...