Grand Marais native, Lonnie Dupre, is attempting first winter solo ascent of Denali. Just five days into his quest, he’s at 10,000 feet.
Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley) is the tallest mountain in North America, topping off at 20,320- just 9,000 feet shy of the world’s tallest- Mt. Everest. The Alaskan peak has only been summited by sixteen other groups in the winter. No solo expedition has ever reached the summit in January, the darkest, most unforgiving month. Polar explorer, Lonnie Dupre attempted it a little over a year ago and neared the summit at 17,200 feet. He was thwarted by bad weather and had to turn back. This time, he plans to change history.
His outfit includes a 6-foot sled and backpack that weigh a total of 150 pounds. His sled will be harnessed to him using 14-foot aluminum ladders which will provide extra safety, should he slide into a crevasse. Extra-long skis will allow him to glide over unseen crevasses. Once he’s past the Kahiltna glacier, he’ll ditch the sled and ladder for his final ascent. Ensuring his descent will be unremarkable, he’s brought along 250 bamboo wands to mark the route, as well as unstable crevasses and camps. Eschewing a traditional mountain tent, his shelter system will consist of snow caves made along the route. With winds that can push up to 100 mph on the upper sections of the mountain, snow caves have proven to be stronger and warmer.
Dupre has spent plenty of time in the snow and sub-zero temperatures. In 1992, he and a teammate completed the first west to east 3,000 mile winter crossing of Canada’s Northwest Passage by dogsled. In 2001, he made the first non-motorized circumnavigation of Greenland. He traveled 6,500 miles by dogsled and kayak. Since then, he’s skied to the North Pole twice, inspired by legendary explorers like Roald Amundsen and Robert E. Peary.
Just a handful of days into his journey, he’s made decent progress. After trekking towards the upper portion of the Kahiltna Glacier he celebrated Christmas in a snow cave, complete with chicken noddle soup, a tiny bedazzled spruce tree and some well-deserved chocolate. Follow his progress via google maps, daily posts and audio updates as he makes his way towards the summit.
Photos: Dmitri von Klein/MONOVITA
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