SOUTH POLE LAST DEGREE

No place is more remote, more different, more logistically impossible – but at the same time, the Pole is engulfed in mystique, pristine beauty, and the most fascinating history.
To walk on your esteem to the Geographical South Pole will leave a mark for life.
Please note that our approach to building the Last Degree Journey may differ significantly in terms of preparation, collaboration, and expedition execution.

THE NEXT STEP

This is a complex adventure with a vast array of possible variations. We suggest you contact us for a chat, as that is very often easier than lots of emails going back and forth.

Expedition details

The main dates are always between early December to early January.

You will be required to meet up in Punta Arenas 5 full days in advance for preparation, briefings, packing, control equipment, and meeting the team.

To give you an idea as of the itinerary: You should leave home (probably) one day before the meet-up date. Your flight will take you to Santiago, Chile. There you will change to the Domestic Terminal next door, before flying all the way south to the tip of South America. (A window seat on  the lefthand side gives the best view of the stunning Andes mountain range…)

Most people arrive in the evening, and go fairly straight to bed after a very long journey.Day two to five is packing, equipment checks, Antarctic briefings, and planning. One day before departing, we weigh and check-in of all our equipment for the plane to be packed ahead of departure for Antarctica.

• The day after, if the weather is good, we fly from Punta Arenas to Union Glacier Basecamp in the Ellsworth Mountain Range south of the Peninsula that stretches towards South America. It is a 4 ½ hour flight over Drake Straight, and the Antarctic Peninsula, before we land on the ice runway.

• Just to land in Antarctica is amazing in itself. We are welcomed by dry, cold, and crystal-clear polar air, and the feeling that the sky is higher than anywhere else on Earth. On top of that, Union Glacier Camp is surrounded by stunning mountain scenery for your first night in Antarctica.

• Here the itinerary may vary a little bit. For teams who have not been through the Ousland buildup, they use the first day or two to acquaint, learn and prepare. For ‘our’ teams, all preparations and training are done prior to departure or in Punta. Thus, we are ready to fly out as early as possible to 89° South. This to maximize our time out in the field and give ourselves the best chance of success possible.

• The first days are super slow as we acclimatize to the cold, the snow, and the altitude - while spending time establishing good routines and camps. Breathing, drinking and enjoying being there is the theme as we only cover a handful of kilometres the first day. Then we gradually ski longer and longer distances over the pristine snowfields.
How many days we will use? Not sure :-)

• Around Day 10 in Anatrctica (maybe :-) we ski into the Geographical South Pole. Here we will of course take pictures ‘en masse’ at the ceremonial Pole with the famous ‘lollypop’ marker surrounded by the flags from all the original Antarctic Treaty signature nations. We will view the impressive, nearby Amundsen-Scott Station which looks like a station on the moon. But most importantly, we will be greeted in ALE’s comfortable mess tent for our first small celebration.
Whether we stay for a day, or even a night, before we fly back from the South Pole, we do not know. But back at Union Glacier, we can celebrate for real!

After 12 packed, eventful, strenuous, emotional and unique days we leave Antarctica behind and find ourselves back in Punta Arenas - and civilization.

We always leave a day as a spare / weather day before flying home, as we do not quite know when we will be back. And it is good to ‘land’ properly, chill a bit, and ready both yourself and the equipment before leaving.

Then you fly back home (but please book tickets that can be changed)