Bigtree Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 All that solo climbing chatter on the current Rainier thread got me thinking about this guy who is making a solo winter ascent of McKinley. He's 9 days in at 12,500'. Seems like a bonafide hard man. Hopefully it doesn't end like it did for that Japanese fellow a few years ago. Lonnie Dupre http://www.lonniedupre.com/ Quote
wfinley Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 Check out this guys page: http://www.facebook.com/japanesecaribou On Mt Hunter right now with plans to stay for 2-3 months. Quote
sobo Posted January 1, 2012 Posted January 1, 2012 Marmot Prince should jump right in and grab all the mad props from the ladies when he summits. Needs to choose a worthy objective, though. Rainier just ain't gonna cut it against these guys... Quote
PrincessWookie Posted January 3, 2012 Posted January 3, 2012 Thanks for posting the link Bigtree. Wow.. SUPER BadAss. GO LONNIE. I live in Fairbanks where it's now 45 below ambient. I don't even want to think about McKinley in the winter.... Quote
Coldfinger Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 Wonder if wookies and marmots are compatible.......... Quote
yasso1am Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 I spent some time with Lonnie in Talkeetna and up on the mountain about two years ago. He's actually a complete regular man. It's actually astonishing just how regular he is. I think he's just a got a lot of determination. I think his regular-ness actually makes this even more impressive. Quote
PrincessWookie Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Wonder if wookies and marmots are compatible.......... very much so...... Quote
Bigtree Posted January 6, 2012 Author Posted January 6, 2012 Today's post..."Lonnie woke up to to -30F and 45mph winds bringing the temperature down to a bitter -72F." Now that's cold. His next move is supposed to be to 17 thou camp. Quote
Bigtree Posted January 7, 2012 Author Posted January 7, 2012 "After 16 days on North America’s Tallest mountain, including past 7 days spent in a 4×4 snow cave from brutal weather, Lonnie Dupre on Friday abandoned his effort to become the first person to scale Denali alone in the month of January. Lonnie spent 7 days and 6 nights in a 4×4 snow trench in up to 97mph winds, but still remained mentally strong and physically healthy with every intention on continuing upward. Spending all of yesterday analyzing weather it seemed that there may be a possible break in the winds for a day, but then picking up after a series of low pressure systems blow over to the South. This would possibly allow Lonnie to climb to 17,200ft (high camp), but would then pick up again and not diminish in the foreseeable future. To be stuck at high camp with only 8 days worth of supplies is too big of a gamble without having at least a three days of probable weather. Lonnie Dupre, having great appreciation for mother nature, had to make the call Friday to descend after counting rations and fuel and adding those up with the weather probability. “Due to poor weather, low visibility and extreme winds, I was forced to make the decision to descend after receiving word that there was another week of the daunting weather around the corner. You just can’t climb being blown off your feet!” -Lonnie Dupre. We do not see this climb as a failure, but as a truly inspiring man testing the limits of dark, cold extremes to bring attention to climate change. Lonnie will be also be descending with the microbe samples collected for Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation‘s study of how climate change will affect the production of living matter in extreme environments. Lonnie spent the day in heavy winds climbing from 14,200ft over 1,000ft to collect his stashed gear on the Headwall and then descending all the way down to 11,200ft. On his descent yesterday Lonnie managed to get around Windy Corner without being blown off his feet by using both ice axes and crampons to dig in as the gusts would hit him. He then proceeded down Squirrel Hill, an ice slope at 12,000ft, in the dark. The gusts were up to 80mph and blew Lonnie off his feet, but was able to self arrest. He then had to down-climb the remaining 3/4 of Squirrel Hill backwards daggering with both ice axes and using crampons to prevent being blown off his feet again. Lonnie arrived at 11,200ft yesterday evening after a very long day of traveling over 4,000ft in various elevations. We’ll keep you posted on his progress on the journey back to 7,200ft as we hear from Lonnie. The image above was taken by Buck Benson showing Lonnie Dupre and Tom Surprenant on Windy Corner during the 2010 summit of Denali." Quote
sobo Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Damn, that's too bad. But glad to hear he's all right and that he cleaned his stuff off the mountain, too. Big props to that man. Quote
To_The_Top Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Wild stuff. Props to him doing the prudent thing. Quote
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