Lonnie Dupre
It’s that time of year again, time to head south to warm up. Escape from the cold. Throw a beach towel down onto warm sand and drink a frozen caramel latte under a beach umbrella while ocean waves slap at the shore. In the grip of February’s frigid temperatures, that is most people’s dreams.
But not for Lonnie Dupre, he is focused on heading to one of the coldest places on the planet and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
With planning and packing almost done, Grand Marais polar explorer and alpinist Lonnie Dupre will make a fourth attempt to climb Begguya, sometimes referred to as Mount Hunter, the third largest mountain in Alaska.
Only this time, Lonnie will bring three other mountaineers with him.
Recently, he added a fourth member to the team, John Stember, who writes articles for the News-Herald.
Stember will photograph the journey, and hopefully send back tidbits about how the 3-4 week adventure is going.
Although Lonnie has a team with him, he will still attempt to summit Begguya alone. And if he does make it, he will be the first person to climb solo to Begguya’s peak in the winter months.
The others will follow some distance behind him, although should he reach the peak, he will go down and join them and make a second summit of the 14,573-foot mountain.
Joining Dupre will be Pascale Marceau who hails from Canmore, Alaska, Mathew Hickey from Colorado and Minnesota, and Christopher Pollack who lives in South Carolina. John Stember hails from Portland, Oregon, Grand Marais, and points unknown in Alaska.
The five-person team will attempt two separate winter ascents from Mount Hunter’s south side.
The crew will leave from Talkeetna, Alaska, and fly into the Asakan Range to the glacier-covered base of Begguya at the end of February if the weather allows.
If Dupre succeeds, he will beat Masatoshi Kuriaki, known affectionately as the Japanese Caribou, as the first to make a winter ascent of Begguya.
Notched on his climbing belt, Kuriaki has notable winter summits of Mount Denali and Mt. Foraker. He was the first to solo climb Mt. Foraker in the winter.
However, after at least ten tries, Kuruako has failed to reach the top of Beggua in the winter.
During their journey, the five person crew can expect to face the deep cold, steep, slippery crevasses, falling ice, potential avalanches, lots of snow, high winds, and low light in the subarctic latitude.
Pretty much then, the exact opposite conditions of a tropical beach.
In 2017 Lonnie used the Beckey route on Begguya and was turned back by deep snow. He experienced a dreadful scare after nearly plunging into a snow crevasse.
Wicked, windy weather wiped out his 2018 attempt, and last winter Dupre, who had chosen a south side route, was again turned away by massive amounts of snow.
For 2020, Dupre (and his fellow mates) will again try the southern route. After establishing a base camp at the foot of the glacier, Lonnie and his team will scramble to find a way through a jumbled icefall that rises 2000 feet. Once done, they will establish an advanced base camp in an area shaped like a big bowl that sits at 7,900 feet. From there, the group will climb 3,300 feet up a 50 to 60-degree couloir called the Ramen. At that point, Lonnie will embark on his solo climb, where he has a straight shot along a ridge that will take him to the summit.
If all goes right, Lonnie will reach the summit, and then the four-person team will reach the mountaintop. If that happens, Pascale will be the first woman to summit Begguya in the winter.
The climb will begin on February 28 and last 23 days. It is hoped that both climbs will end successfully in summits before March 21, the end of winter.
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