Alaska Beat

Climber waiting on weather to start solo climb of Denali

According to KSTP-TV (Minneapolis/St. Paul), Minnesota adventurer Lonnie Dupre, 49, of Grand Marais, has already crossed the Bering Strait, trekked to the North Pole twice, and paddled around Greenland in a canoe, but he's about to embark on what surely will probably be his greatest challenge: Climbing Denali solo -- in January. According to Dupre's website, he's already climbed it in summer, but if he reaches the summit with this effort, Dupre will become the first to individual climber to achieve the feat in January. KSTP reports Dupre has been training hard in Minnesota by swinging kettle bells, cross-country skiing for miles, practicing snow-shelter construction, and exercising daily while connected to a machine that simulates the atmosphere at high altitudes. Read and watch more from KSTP, here. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's Dermot Cole reports that Dupre arrived in Alaska Monday and is waiting for good weather to fly from Talkeetna to Denali base camp. Read more from Cole, here ... and be sure to keep your fingers crossed for Dupre.

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