At 11,000 feet, and faced with an impasse of rocks blocking the way, Lonnie Dupre made the decision it was going to be too dangerous to attempt a summit of Mount Hunter. He turned and climbed back down to 10,000 feet, his camp, and told fellow climbers, Pascal Marceau and Christopher Pollack, that they would have to make plans to head down the mountain.
It was March 10, and the trio had been on the mountain for 12 days.
With temperatures and wind chill expected to equal -60F and colder, the scramble over the rocks would have exposed the three climbers to dangerous conditions and frostbite. If the way had been open, Lonnie planned to climb to the top and then come back and get his fellow climbers who would then summit Mount Hunter.
This is Dupre’s fourth winter attempt to climb the 14,573-foot Mount Hunter, or Begguya, as the Inuit call it.
Climbing down is no picnic. On March 12, at 4 a.m., the three awoke and slowly worked their way through the 3,300-foot, 50 to 60-degree couloir called the Ramen. Snow had fallen, and there was a worry of avalanches; that’s why the group got up when it was bitter cold, so there was less chance of the snow moving.
“We were plenty frightened as we made our way down through the couloir, but luckily there wasn’t an avalanche,” Lonnie said by phone on March 16, when he was safely back in Talkeetna.
On February 28, Talkeetna Air had flown the trio to an area located at 7,600 feet at the base of Mount Hunter. They set up camp at the edge of an icefall and then slowly made their way forward. On March 5 Lonnie said the snow was deep, and the three were “pretty tired by the time we got back to the tent.” They waited for the weather forecast to decide whether they would take a day of rest the next day, or keep moving. They drank hot cocoa, hot tang, and had lentil soup, and all three were squeezed into a cozy two-person tent.
On March 8 they rested. Lonnie said they were monitoring some frostbite. It was cold, but they were outfitted in Black Diamond mittens, Northface hoodies, Black Diamond pants, and Sherpa boots, all made by Primaloft.
The goal was to have Lonnie Dupre become the first person to solo climb to the summit, and then have Pascale and Pollack reach the peak also. That would have made Pascale the first woman to reach the top of Mount Hunter in the winter, which ends March 21, 2020.
“It was pretty cold on the mountain, and Christopher’s toes had some frostbite, so we really couldn’t stay longer. The rocks we would have had to climb over would have exposed us to frostbite. That portion can be climbed in the summer, but not in the winter,” said Dupre.
Upon arriving back into civilization, the three climbers found that college classes were canceled, sporting events were canceled, the stock market had crashed; the world had turned upside down while they were on the mountain.
As for Dupre, he was taking the COVID-19 threat seriously.
“I’m calling back home to let you know that I have blocked out the Moki rentals until April 16, and then I will take a look to see if they need to be closed longer than that. I hope others join me and close their rentals as well, We don’t need an influx of tourists right now. With everything going on in the cities, I’m afraid they will run up the shore to get away, but right now they need to stay home. We need to protect our elderly. We need them to be safe. It’s usually a slow time of the year anyway. We won’t lose much money by doing this, and I think it’s the right thing to do.”
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