On March 4th, 2019, Lonnie Dupre and Pascale Marceau will return to Canada’s Yukon Territory to try a first winter ascent in Kluane National Park and Reserve.
The team is planning a reconnaissance flight before the climb to assess possible routes and landing options near Mt. Lucania 5,226 meters (17,146 feet) Canada’s third tallest mountain, or nearby Mt. Wood 4,850 meters (15,912 feet). Neither peak has been climbed in the winter.
This isn’t the first time the duo have attempted a winter “first” ascent of a mountain.
Two winters ago Lonnie and Pascal climbed to within 200 feet of the 12,522 summit of Mount Carpe, which is located in the Alaskan Denali National Park. Loose rocks and poor footing caused them to turn back and give up on their quest to be the first to summit Mount Carpe in the winter.
Pascal has also climbed with Lonnie on his “Vertical Nepal” trip, as well as was with a Dupre led trip to attempt to climb Mount Begguya (Mount Hunter) in the winter.
“The beauty of such firsts lies in their unknowns. There is no standard route. There are no prescribed landing zones, and the condition of the glaciers is always changing,” said Marceau.
The biggest challenges are expected to be the extreme cold and hurricane force winds that the duo expects to encounter.
“We are entering a land of mountains, snow, and ice during a time of year when it is untraveled. This sense of exploration and adventure is a significant part of the thrill in these projects,” added Dupre.
About the climbers
Lonnie Dupre has called Grand Marais his home for many years. He was born in 1961 and is descendant on his mother’s side of Jacques Cartier, the French explorer who founded Quebec.
When he isn’t working as a carpenter, he is either planning a trip or taking a trip to the furthest freezing reaches of the coldest parts of the globe through his OneWorldEndeavors organization.
Dupre often mixes adventure and scientific study in collaborations with scientists and researchers who are studying the effects of global warming on the coldest places on the planet. He has won many awards throughout his career and been featured in magazines and on TV.
Pascale Marceau was born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario and later moved to Ottawa. She spent time in the Adirondacks, New York, and the Green Mountains of Vermont where she discovered back-country skiing and mountaineering. Today Marceau is an engineering consultant and lives in the Canadian Rockies where she is focused on climbing and alpinism.
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