South Pole Last Degree
The final 111 km on skis to 90° South
To ski to the Geographical South Pole is an unbelievable experience — and a logistical miracle mixed with a physical and emotional rollercoaster.
A goal like this can be reached in several ways. It depends on what you need, what you want, and whether you travel alone or with others. Everything is possible. We have helped solo travellers, families, friends, and even companies.
What separates us from many others is that we — in the true spirit of Roald Amundsen — take the time to prepare thoroughly. Not only because preparation gives you the best chance of success. Also because we have seen, again and again, that it deepens the experience.
The Last Degree is a wonderful goal in its own right. To set foot on the continent, to ski across the same huge, harsh plains as Amundsen and Scott, and to be among the few to reach 90° South on skis — it stays with you for life. It is also a 12-day commitment you have to prepare well for and take seriously. That seriousness is part of what makes the satisfaction at the end so complete.
WHY THE LAST DEGREE?
No place is more remote, more different, more logistically impossible. And yet the Pole is wrapped in mystique, pristine beauty, and a history that draws people back to it again and again. To ski under your own steam to 90° South leaves a mark for life.
Our approach to building the Last Degree journey may differ significantly from others — in preparation, in collaboration, and in how the expedition itself is run. We sit down with you, work out what you need, and build the trip around that.
Duration: 12 days total (5 days preparation in Punta Arenas + roughly 7 days on the ice and at Union Glacier)
Distance: 111 km on skis with pulks, from 89°S to the Geographical South Pole
Group size: 1 guide and a small team — typically up to [TBC] participants
Departure point: Punta Arenas, Chile (meet-up 5 days before the start date)
End point: Geographical South Pole (90°S), return via Union Glacier to Punta Arenas
Dates 2025–26: 7 December 2025 · 18 December 2025 · 4 January 2026
Price: From USD 82,000 per person* (deposit USD 10,000)
EXPEDITION FACTS
Expedition Details
The trip runs between early December and early January.
You meet up in Punta Arenas five full days before the start date — for preparation, briefings, packing, equipment checks, and team time together.
Most people leave home one day before the meet-up. The flight takes you to Santiago, then a connection from the domestic terminal next door down to the tip of South America. A window seat on the left side of the southbound flight gives the best view of the Andes.
Most arrive in the evening and head fairly straight to bed after a long journey. Days two to five are packing, equipment checks, Antarctic briefings, and planning. On the day before departure, we weigh and check in all the gear ready for the flight south.
To Antarctica. If the weather is good, we fly from Punta Arenas to Union Glacier Basecamp in the Ellsworth Mountains, south of the peninsula that reaches towards South America. It is a four-and-a-half-hour flight over the Drake Passage and the Antarctic Peninsula, before landing on the blue-ice runway.
Just landing in Antarctica is something in itself. Dry, cold, crystal-clear polar air — and the strange feeling that the sky is higher there than anywhere else on Earth. Union Glacier sits among striking mountain scenery for your first night on the continent.
The flight to 89°S. Here the itinerary can vary. Teams who haven't been through the Ousland build-up use the first day or two at Union Glacier to learn, acquaint themselves with the gear, and prepare. For our teams, the preparation is already done — in advance and in Punta Arenas — so we fly out to 89°S as early as we can. The earlier we get on the ice, the more time we have for the trip itself and the better our chances of success.
On the ice. The first days are slow. The body acclimatises to the cold, the snow, and the altitude, while we settle into routines and camp craft. Breathing, drinking, and being there is the theme — we only cover a handful of kilometres on Day 1. Then the days lengthen across the pristine snowfields.
How many days we take? We don't know exactly — and that is part of it :-)
The Pole. Around Day 10 on the continent, we ski into the Geographical South Pole. Pictures at the ceremonial Pole with the famous "lollipop" marker, surrounded by the flags of the original Antarctic Treaty signatories. A view of the Amundsen-Scott Station nearby, looking like something off the surface of the moon. And — most importantly — a welcome in ALE's mess tent for a first small celebration.
Whether we stay a few hours or a night before flying back, we don't know in advance. Back at Union Glacier, the real celebration begins.
Home. After 12 packed, eventful, strenuous, emotional, and unique days, we leave Antarctica and find ourselves back in Punta Arenas. We always leave a day as a weather / spare day before flying home — we never quite know when we'll be back, and it is good to land properly, decompress, sort the gear, and rest before the journey north.
Then you fly home. Book a return ticket that can be changed.
The Route
The route is simple to describe and hard to do.
We are flown by ALE Twin Otter from Union Glacier to a drop-off point at 89° South — one degree of latitude from the Pole. From there, we ski due south. 111 km in a straight line at altitude, on the polar plateau at roughly 2,800 metres above sea level, in temperatures that typically sit between -25°C and -40°C with wind chill colder still.
There are no landmarks. No mountains, no nunataks, no horizon-line features once you are out on the plateau. The surface is sastrugi — wind-carved ridges of hard snow that the sled has to be dragged across. Some days the sastrugi is small. Some days it isn't. The light is constant — the sun circles the sky and never sets — so you sleep when the schedule says sleep, not when it gets dark.
Navigation is by GPS, with a compass back-up. The bearing barely changes. What changes is you — how your body settles into the rhythm of pulling, how you read the cold, how you handle the strange psychological flatness of moving across a surface that gives back nothing.
Around Day 7 on the ice, the Amundsen-Scott Station appears on the horizon. It is one of the few times in your life you will see a building grow slowly out of the snow as you approach it on foot. The last kilometres into the Pole are the most emotional of the trip.
COST AND WHAT IT INCLUDES
Price from USD 82,000 per person. An immediate deposit of USD 10,000 secures the place; the remaining balance is due 120 days before departure.
This includes:
Return flight Punta Arenas — Union Glacier
Flight to the drop-off point at 89°S
Return flight from the South Pole to Union Glacier
All food and service in Antarctica, both at Union Glacier (with its hospitality units) and in the field
All camp, safety, and communication equipment
24/7 safety and medical standby
Sleds, tents, camp gear, harness
The experienced guide / leader
The price depends on several variables. Are you joining a team or building your own? How many people in the team? What preparation do you need before Punta Arenas? We work with you to tailor-make the best possible build-up, and we will always give you an honest, top-quality deal grounded in many years of experience.
Some need to come visit us for practice and training. Some may lack skiing skills, others may lack physical stamina. Some come for equipment, some prefer that we buy everything and ship it straight to Punta Arenas so they can travel light and stress-free. Some have special diets. Some want a closed team — only family or friends. Whatever your wishes or needs, we can help.
EQUIPMENT
Personal equipment — clothing, sleeping, skiing — is your responsibility. A lot of it is specialised gear that isn't in everyone's cupboard, and not easy to find in the local sports shop: extreme skiing boots, bindings, backcountry skis, skins, poles, parkas, underwear, sleeping bags, mattresses, super mittens, face masks. All of it essential for comfort and safety. We will help and advise.
We can also provide everything. You meet us in Punta Arenas with a toothbrush and an iPhone, and we show up with the rest. This has proven popular — top-quality kit at a fair price, no procurement stress. Up to you :-)
The full equipment list explains each item in detail.
WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED
Return ticket to Punta Arenas
Lodging and food in Punta Arenas
Personal travel and medical evacuation insurance
Personal equipment (defined in the equipment list)
Cost of specialised personal training, preparation, and services to enhance and safeguard the experience
THE NEXT STEP
This is a complex adventure with a wide range of possible variations. The easiest thing is to get in touch for a conversation — it tends to save a lot of back-and-forth by email.