Lonnie Dupre has decided to wait until next year to attempt to solo-climb Mount McKinley (Denali) in January. Dupre had trained to make his fourth straight attempt to become the first solo climber to summit the mountain, but called it off due to logistical problems. Instead of climbing, Dupre will spend his time putting the finishing touches on his film Cold Love, which will be shown at upcoming film festivals.
Grand Marais Arctic adventurer Lonnie Dupre recently had to scrap his plans to attempt to become the first person to solo climb Mount McKinley (Denali), North America’s highest peak at 20,320 feet in January, the coldest, darkest time of the year.
Dupre had made three previous attempts to reach Denali’s summit from 2011 to 2013 but was driven down the mountain each time by storms that kept him huddled in small hand-built snow caves for up to a week at a time.
“We would like to thank all of the folks who have followed and supported our endeavors over the years as well as our film, Cold Love, which is in its final stages,” said Dupre.
“As things would have it, this year’s winter climb of Denali will be postponed until December 12, 2014 due to logistical purposes. We will take this time into the new year to finish and promote our film Cold Love,” wrote Dupre on his Facebook page on December 20.
Over the course of his career Lonnie has traveled more than 15,000 miles throughout the high Arctic, either by dogsled, on skis, or on snowshoes.
In 2004 Dupre was given one of the highest honors an explorer can receive when he was presented with the Rolex Award for Enterprise to commemorate his efforts to raise awareness about the effects climate change has had on the coldest parts of our planet.
When contacted on December 28, Dupre said, “I wanted to dedicate more time to finish polishing the film for festivals, which took away from the logistics for the climb. I’m looking forward to next year with vigor. Having a year off is a good thing and the mountain will always be there.”
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