It’s midnight and the Latvian Bakery is open at ALE’s Union Glacier Camp. The Antarctic sun is high in the southern sky and the smell of fresh baking wafts through the air. When the Chefs finish their work at 9pm, we two Latvian girls sneak into the kitchen with a sense of guilty pleasure. We [...]
Ralf Laier’s thirst for making first ascents in the Ellsworth Mountains is undiminished! In 2011, Laier made 10 first ascents with his ALE guides. In 2012 he returned for more… Laier, an ALE guest, continued his 2011 quest for adventure by making the first ascents of Mount Allen (3430m), Mount Liptak (3052m) and Robinson Peak (2040m) in 2012. [...]
U.S. scientists have successfully drilled into Lake Whillans, a subglacial expanse of water hidden deep beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.
It seemed a bit radical. Two young West Australians, with a fear of heights and flying, and no mountaineering or cold weather experience, embarking on a four-week adventure to climb Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica. We left one of the hottest, flattest continents, bound for the coldest and highest one, with the words [...]
A final airdrop was made over Belgrano II station in Antarctica on February 15, successfully completing the annual re-supply. Nine flights were made over a two week period, delivering roughly 166 tonnes of cargo.
ALE has successfully completed our 2012 tourist season. And what a season it has been. There have been highs and lows, lots of successes and some sad and disappointing news. But we wish all our guests and expeditions well and thank our Antarctic staff, aircrew, and those busy people behind the scenes at Punta Arenas and [...]
ALE was delighted to welcome the President of the Republic of Chile, Sebastián Piñera Echenique, to Union Glacier today. President Piñera has a strong interest in Antarctica and has made several visits to the continent but this was his furthest trip south (79S) and the first to the extreme edge of the Chilean sector (80W). [...]
The ALE Ski South Pole Messner team has arrived at the South Pole and other expeditions supported by ALE are closing in. Here's a quick look at what they are doing and where they are at.
Photos taken by ALE guests in Antarctica put a new spin on the old saying, "Take nothing but photos. Leave nothing but footprints" and show that footprints can be both intriguing and enduring.
In the early hours of Christmas Day (Tuesday 25 December 2012) Professor Martin Siegert, Principal Investigator of the Subglacial Lake Ellsworth experiment, confirmed that the mission to drill into the lake has been called off for this Antarctic season. Drilling had been proceeding well, but was stopped when the team was unable to link the [...]