Antarctica Team

From top notch chefs to polar record holders, this crew of specialists calls Antarctica home for three months of the year. More than 70 people, representing over 15 nationalities and speaking 14 languages come to work on the ice each season. These Antarctic experts operate in some of the most challenging conditions in world. Your safety is our top priority and we’re here to make your Antarctic experience the journey of a lifetime!

All Antarctica Team

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Nestor Suan

Nestor was born and raised on the island of Borneo. He now resides in New Zealand and considers himself lucky to have the best of both worlds, tropical sun and sea, plus the cool weather. When not working for ALE he does chefing work all over New Zealand and at…

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Fritz Buyl

Fritz was born and raised in Flanders, Belgium. He studied Chemistry at the University of Leuven (KUL) followed by a postgraduate degree in Environmental Sciences. He began sailing at age 13 and became a passionate competitor in regattas, where meteorology played an important tactical role. This allowed Fritz to start…

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Lucy Dowland

Lucy spends most of the year working as an Outdoor Instructor in the UK. She is based in North Wales in the summer and Scotland in the winter. She enjoys anything outdoors and is a keen mountain and road biker, climber, mountaineer and ski tourer – always with a smile…

Scott Webster

Scott is an expedition leader and professional mountaineering instructor from the Highlands of Scotland. Before joining ALE, Scott worked as a ﬁeld guide for the British Antarctic Survey, completing six summer seasons and two over-winters. Out of the Antarctic, Scott has led mountaineering and skiing trips to Mongolia, Greenland, Kyrgyzstan,…

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Eli Potter

Eli has been guiding in the mountains of Alaska for nearly 15 years and has been on approximately 50 expeditions in Alaska. He shares a simple, oﬀ -grid home with his wife and two dogs, in remote, McCarthy, Alaska. Eli is forever drawn to wild places and looks forward to…

Wes Bunch

Wesley began guiding in 1993 and His adventures have taken him to many of the world’s great ranges. He has always taken great delight in movement through interesting terrain. When not working, he ﬁnds himself ski touring, bike touring, and hanging out with his many canine friends.

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Darren McAulay

Darren completed a PhD in geology and physics, before deciding to pursue a career in mountaineering and snowsports. He has been guiding/instructing for 25 years, being a qualiﬁed Mountaineering Instructor (MIA) and ski/snowboard teacher. Darren ran his own guiding service for 10 years, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. He…

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Larry Holmgren

Larry has been guiding full-time since 2007, primarily on the mountains and rivers of Alaska. He also works on many safety, science and industrial support projects which have taken him around the globe. In his free time he likes to thaw out from the mountains in tropical locales.

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Aviaaja Schlüter

Avi divides her year between Denmark, New Zealand, Greenland and Antarctica. Her work takes her onboard cruise ships and on land-based tours with guests. Her dream of Antarctica came true in 2016 when she started working for ALE. She has also done one season at the Antarctic Peninsula, where South…

Gerardo Stern

Gerardo (Gordo) was born in Argentina, has lived in Svalbard, Norway and currently resides in Spain. He has spent last eight years working and living in Antarctica and the high Arctic, including as part of the expedition team on board expedition vessels. In his free time Gordo enjoys bike touring,…

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Rob Smith

Rob has been working in Antarctica since 2000 and has been climbing in remote locations around the world for 20 years. Rob has climbed Mount Everest ﬁve times and has also summited K2, Lhotse, Cho Oyu and Manaslu. He lives in Scotland, when not in other wild places, and is…

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Timothy McDowell

Tim is our Ski Aircraft Coordinator, having previously worked in the mechanical services department and as the Ski Aircraft Assistant. In his free time, when not in Antarctica, he enjoys going scuba diving, four wheel driving and work maintaining his family’s farm property.

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Tony Yates

Tony is from Australia and has worked for the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for 30 years, including several deployments to the Antarctic stations of Casey, Davis, and Mawson. He enjoys traveling generally, especially into the remote Australian deserts, and flying light airplanes whenever he can afford to.

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Julia Doyle

Julia is from Boston, USA but has spent the past 10 years between the USA, Chile, and Antarctica. When she is not on the ice she is usually travelling, working with goats, and developing her skills as a medical interpreter. Read Julia’s Staff Spotlight.

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Ben Comeskey

Ben grew up in a small New Zealand town and is passionate about the outdoors. He enjoys white water kayaking and skiing.

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Patricio Gonzalez

Pato is known for dishing up fantastic breakfasts and plenty of laughs in the Union Glacier dining tent each season. If you’re passing through Vina del Mar, Chile be sure to stop by his family’s restaurant, La Cuisine, and say hello.

Yoshiko Miyazaki

Yoshi grew up in Kyoto and has a deep appreciation for wild places and exposure to diﬀerent cultures, through climbing worldwide. When not guiding expeditions in Alaska and the North Cascades, or backcountry and mechanized skiing in Japan, she enjoys climbing and skiing in the Eastern Sierra range. In her…

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Nate Opp

Nate is a full time, professional climbing guide living in Bozeman, Montana. He works as a senior guide for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and Alaska Mountaineering School. When not guiding, he tries to maintain balance with as much personal climbing as possible. Climbing highlights include the Himalaya, Patagonia, and over…

Josh Hoeschen

Josh is a full-time, year-round guide, who splits his time between working in Alaska as a climbing guide and in Antarctica as a Travel Safety Manager. He began climbing in 1999 and moved to Alaska in 2003 because of its endless climbing potential and motivated outdoor community. He values teaching…

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Pachi Ibarra

Pachi has been guiding for more than 15 years and started working in Antarctica for the Omega Foundation, helping to survey peaks in the Sentinel Range. She has over 10 first ascents in the Ellsworth Mountains, more than any other person, and is arguably one of the most experienced Antarctic…

Tom Weston

Tom has been working as a guide and an instructor in the outdoors for over 10 years. On his ﬁrst trip to Antarctica he spent 2½ years living and working on a research base, where he practiced skills for traveling around the continent. He enjoys the variety of mountaineering in…

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Simon Abrahams

Simon is a professional IFMGA certified Mountain Guide based in the French Alps. He’s worked around the world since 1987 and in Antarctica since 1992. Simon researches and maintains safe routes around our main camp at Union Glacier as well as assisting field teams with risk assessment and route planning.…

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Marc De Keyser

As one of ALE's meteorologists, Marc provides forecasts for our intercontinental and ski aircraft flights, field camps, climbing groups and ski expeditions. When not working for ALE, he works as a meteorologist for the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium. He also has his own business called Facta (weather4expeditions.com), supporting operations…

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Martin Rhodes

Martin has been Medical Director of ALE since 2003. He is a wilderness medicine specialist and ensures all of our guests remain safe and well throughout their time in Antarctica. Martin trained in Emergency Medicine and General Practice in Sheffield, and is now back there, having lived and worked in…

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Alan Homer

Alan comes from England and prior to ALE, worked for the British Antarctic Survey for several seasons. He’s completed many overland tractor traverses across the continent and truly keeps our camp running as the head mechanic. If anything breaks, he’s the man that can fix it! Read Al's Staff Spotlight.

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Tim Hewette

Tim is proud to be a veteran of 20 years of expedition leadership, both on the ground and behind the scenes. When away from Antarctica, he resides in rural Alaska, or travels the world. With fifteen Antarctic seasons under his belt, he can confidently say that he keeps returning partially…