Travel
Mt McKinley might be a spectacular sight in summer, but during winter, snow, darkness and cold reign its slopes. It can get down to fifty degrease below and to be even more physically and psychologically challenging, there won't be much light either. The lowest temperature recorded on Mt McKinley was approximately −100°F (−73°C) degrees. If you ask me, this is a suicide mission. I better go organize my wardrobe. A little voice inside my head tells me I have more chances to survive that.
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Travel
Explorer Lonnie Dupre To Attempt Solo Climb Of Tallest Mountain In USA
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| Arctic and polar explorer Lonnie Dupre |
While most of us hope to lose that 5 extra pounds or to get more organized in the year to come, this kind of trivial things are well behind 49 years old explorer Lonnie Dupre from Minnesota whose dream is to become the first man to solo climb Alaska's Mt. McKinley in January. Also known as Denali, this is the highest mountain peak in USA, rising 20,320 feet above sea level.
Dupre has a lifelong love affair with the polar region and 25 years of experience behind him and that surely will help him face the challenges he might encounter in this new adventure. He's already crossed the Bering Strait, trekked to the North Pole twice, circumnavigated Greenland in a canoe and climbed Mt. McKinley during summer. Walking in his own footprints might help him find his way to the top of the mountain again before January 31st as he plans to.
Lonnie Dupre has been training hard for what's going to be the greatest challenge of his life by swinging kettle bells, cross-country skiing for miles, practicing digging snow caves like the ones he will sleep in every night on Denali and exercising daily while connected to a machine that sucks the oxygen out of the air to simulate the high altitude he will face on the mountain. Not in vain they say one climbs the mountain for the hell of it.
Mt McKinley might be a spectacular sight in summer, but during winter, snow, darkness and cold reign its slopes. It can get down to fifty degrease below and to be even more physically and psychologically challenging, there won't be much light either. The lowest temperature recorded on Mt McKinley was approximately −100°F (−73°C) degrees. If you ask me, this is a suicide mission. I better go organize my wardrobe. A little voice inside my head tells me I have more chances to survive that.
Dupre will be on a six thousand calories per day diet while climbing to prevent him from freezing and to conserve his weight and fuel. He plans to submit daily blog entries, photographs and audio posts during his expedition to inspire, educate and advocate for the environment.
"Above 14,000 feet I think it will be a recovery and not a rescue," said Expedition Base Manager Tom Surprenant. So in the end, there are only two options: try hard or die trying. Only 16 other people have ever successfully reached the summit of Mt McKinley during the winter months, but nobody dared to climb this deadly mountain alone in January before. The line between courage and craziness is thin indeed. However, I wish him the best of luck. The world needs climbers to bring back stories for us, the ones at the bottom of the mountain, to have something to dream about.
- Mountain Driving In An Rv
We did a lot of mountain driving in our motorhome this past winter. I've heard that many people don't like mountain driving, however I don't have a problem with it at all. I wonder if a lot of people don't like it partly because they're...
- On Top Of Table Mountain
The city of Cape Town is dominated by the famous geological structure of Table Mountain. You don't really understand it until you see it, and it's almost always visible from some angle no matter where you are in the city. And you can't help...
- Innsbruck. Snow And Fairytales
As the train rushed through the Alps, I must admit I was a bit disappointed. The fog was diminishing the beauty of my favourite mountains and no snow was in sight. We had been exploring Europe with an Interrail Pass from ACPRail for more than two weeks...
- At 15, Jordan Romero Is Ready To Conquer The Seven Summits
Jordan RomeroUPDATE: On Christmas Eve, Jordan, along with his father and his stepmother, reached the top of Mt. Vinson in Antarctica, the last of the mountains on his list, and in the process became the youngest person to achieve this...
- Shot With Arrows In Clash Of Civilizations
Papua New Guinea tribesmenMatt Scheurich's misadventure with the Papua New Guinea tribesman was all over the news in the past few days. Poor guy was shot with arrows when stood up to protect his French girlfriend, Anais Gerard, from the tribesman...