The Union Glacier Camp is the only private seasonally occupied camp site located in

Ellsworth Land Ellsworth Land is a portion of the Antarctic continent bounded on the west by Marie Byrd Land, on the north by Bellingshausen Sea, on the northeast by the base of Antarctic Peninsula, and on the east by the western margin of the Filchner–Ronne ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. The camp is located in the

Heritage Range The Heritage Range is a major mountain range, long and wide, situated southward of Minnesota Glacier and forming the southern half of the Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica. The range is complex, consisting of scattered ridges and peaks of mod ...

, below the

Ellsworth Mountains The Ellsworth Mountains are the highest mountain ranges in Antarctica, forming a long and wide chain of mountains in a north to south configuration on the western margin of the Ronne Ice Shelf in Marie Byrd Land. They are bisected by Minnesota ...

, on

Union Glacier Union Glacier (), is a large, heavily crevassed glacier which receives the flow of several tributaries and drains through the middle of the Heritage Range, Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. The glacier drains from the plateau at Edson Hills ...

, that gives the camp its name.

Location and features

The camp is operated by Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions LLC (ALE), a company that provides expedition support and tours to the interior of Antarctica. The camp is situated near Union Glacier Blue-Ice Runway SCGC a rare, naturally occurring,

blue ice runway A blue ice runway is a runway constructed in Antarctic areas with no net annual snow accumulation. The density of the ice increases as air bubbles are forced out, strengthening the resultant ice surface so that aircraft landings using wheels ins ...

that allows wheeled jet cargo aircraft to land. Russian Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft regularly transport equipment and personnel to the camp. From Union Glacier Camp transportation to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ...

, Hercules Inlet and other locations is by

Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restart ...

and

Basler BT-67 The Basler BT-67 is a utility aircraft produced by Basler Turbo Conversions of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is a remanufactured and modified Douglas DC-3; the modifications are designed to significantly extend the DC-3's serviceable lifetime. Desi ...

ski planes. Union Glacier Camp replaced the earlier Patriot Hills Base Camp. During the months of November to January, when the weather is the least hostile, jet charter flights are operated from

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

to the camp. Union Glacier is the site of the annual Antarctic Ice Marathon, as well as the start of the World Marathon Challenge (7 Marathons on 7 continents in 7 days).World Marathon Challenge
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References

External links

Adventure Network International ANI
Outposts of Antarctica Outposts of Ellsworth Land {{EllsworthLand-geo-stub

Location and features

See also

References

External links