Only nine expeditions totaling 16 people have ever reached the summit of Denali in winter. Six deaths resulted from those climbs. Only one team (comprised of three Russian climbers) has ever made the summit in January…the dead of winter. Of those nine original expeditions, four were solo, but none of those individuals have been in January, the darkest and coldest time.
In January 2011 was Lonnie Dupre’s first attempt at Denali in the winter time. He made a fast ascent to 17,200 feet only to be thwarted there by bad weather, just 8 hours travel shy of the summit. Huddled in a snow cave for 7 days, Lonnie waited for a window of stable weather to go to the summit. That day never came. He is now back on Denali giving it another go in hopes of becoming the first person to solo summit in January.
Only nine expeditions totaling 16 people have ever reached the summit of Denali in winter. Six deaths resulted from those climbs. Only one team (comprised of three Russian climbers) has ever made the summit in January…the dead of winter. Of those nine original expeditions, four were solo, but none of those individuals have been in January, the darkest and coldest time.
In January 2011 was Lonnie Dupre’s first attempt at Denali in the winter time. He made a fast ascent to 17,200 feet only to be thwarted there by bad weather, just 8 hours travel shy of the summit. Huddled in a snow cave for 7 days, Lonnie waited for a window of stable weather to go to the summit. That day never came. He is now back on Denali giving it another go in hopes of becoming the first person to solo summit in January.
We first want to thank our Lead Sponsor Energizer for their financial support, robust headlamps and providing us with the best cold weather Lithium batteries on the market. Lonnie will be using them for powering our communications, headlamps, cameras, GPS and emergency beacon. Our product and gear sponsors are Rab, MSR, and Midwest Mountaineering. Lonnie has developed a long-term relationship with these companies who offer the best expedition products available. They are great to work with and looking forward to many more years of partnership. You can check out all our sponsors through links on our website…just click on their logos.
We finally received the good word from Talkeetna Air Taxi at 10am this morning that it was a go for a base camp landing on Denali. After making his list and checking it twice we took off around 1pm.
KSTP: kstp.com/article/stories/S2425169.shtml
We received a call tonight that Lonnie was all settled in at base camp, organizing gear and hitting the sack after a ‘just add water’ dinner. His plan is to travel up the Kahiltna Glacier tomorrow in hopes of making it about half way up the glacier. It will be slow going with deep snow and taking caution to crevasses.
Lonnie will also be leaving audio updates from the mountain so be sure to check in frequently on LonnieDupre.com. He left with high hopes, good spirit and a clear mind. We appreciate all the thoughts and prayers for a safe return.
On one last note we’d like to remind everyone that a great way to support the expedition is by purchasing Lonnie’s new book “Life on Ice” – 25 years of Polar Exploration. The 300-page book with a 32-page color insert of images covers all of Lonnie’s projects including crossing the Northwest Passage, circumnavigating Greenland and two North Pole expeditions. The book will be available late December and sells for $25 including shipping in the US. We are taking pre-orders via the expedition website: lonniedupre.com and Facebook: facebook.com/lonniedupre
We’re thankful to all of you following along on this exciting expedition and will keep you posted as we receive information from Lonnie on the mountain.
Onward!