Lonnie Dupre spent a total of twenty days on the highest mountain peak in North America. Due to extremely poor weather, seven of the twenty days were in a cramped 4×4 snow cave at the 14,200ft camp. With no weather window in sight, Lonnie had no choice but to return to base camp.
The descent was fraught with life and death circumstances. At one point wind knocked Lonnie off his feet and forced him to self-arrest in order to prevent sliding down hundreds of feet.
Monday afternoon Paul Rodrick of Talkeetna Air Taxi, Stevie and I flew into base camp, but not before making a quick stop to deliver various necessities to a wonderful Japanese photographer, Norio Matsumoto. He is spending a couple of months photographing Denali range and northern lights.
About an hour after take off from Talkeetna we finally landed at base camp, it was wonderful to see Lonnie again, safe and sound.
Alaska — Denali — January — Lonnie Dupre — Polar Climb 14546 Views
