Lonnie Dupre Mount McKinley Expedition Day 18: Lower Kahiltna Ski

Yesterday Lonnie made it from 11,200ft to 7,800ft. He skied down following his bamboo wands placed from the ascent. The visibility was so poor that at first he could not see where his bamboo wands were, but then eventually found two land masses along the Kahiltna Glacier that allowed him to eventually find his bamboo wands and follow them down to 7,800ft.
When Lonnie arrived at the snow cave around 5pm yesterday he ended the evening with a Mountain House lasagna meal and tea before hitting the sack.
Lonnie Dupre called in around 8:30am this morning before heading out and left the three audio updates below for everyone. These go into detail on the extremes he encountered on his descent.
Last year Lonnie punched through numerous crevasses on the lower Kahiltna Glacier and will be taking extra precaution as he travels over it today. He hopes to be at the 7,200ft basecamp by late this afternoon. We’ll keep you posted as we hear from Lonnie on his descent.
Meanwhile, we want to thank every one of you for following this expedition so closely and our sponsors for their generous support:
ENERGIZER: To light his way Dupre used an Energizer® Ultimate® Lithium LED headlamp, and powering his equipment during the extreme cold with light weight Energizer® Ultimate Lithium batteries. Without Energizer® the communications on the mountain would not have been possible.
Gunflint Tavern: We want to thank Gunflint Tavern from Lonnie’s home town Grand Marais, MN for their financial support for Polar Climb 1.
Herbalife: “During my training and acclimatization in Colorado I have been using Herbalife 24 PROLONG® to sustain my energy on those long workout days in high altitude when you need that extra lift.” -Lonnie Dupre
Rab- Rab supplied the entire Polar Climb 1 team with top of the line insulation gear from primaloft® jackets to merino wool base layers and more. We want to thank Rab for keeping Lonnie toasty at -72F temperatures.
MSR: Thank you for providing DragonFly® stove and fuel to keep Lonnie warm in his snow caves, melt snow for water and cook those delicious mountain meals.
Adventurers & Scientists for Conservation: A big thanks partnering up with Lonnie Dupre for a greater cause. The microbe samples collected on Denali will give a better understanding of how climate change will affect the production of living matter in extreme environments.
MTA: MTA provided the entire Polar Climb 1 team with mobile devices used to transmit video, audio and images from Denali this winter.
Buck’s Radio shack: Buck’s Radio Shack in Grand Marais, MN provided the satellite phone used for communication on Lonnie’s climb. Without this we would have not been able to communicate with Lonnie on the mountain.
Wintergreen Northern Wear: A big thanks to Wintergreen for keeping Lonnie warm and dry on the mountain. Lonnie was provided with custom made bibs made to Lonnie’s specifications for Denali and the Wintergreen® Expedition Shell Anorak allowed Lonnie to withstand the powerful winds of Denali.
Midwest Mountaineering: Over the years Midwest Mountaineering has provided Lonnie countless items needed for his Polar and mountaineering expeditions.
HumanEdgeTech: Thank you for providing lightweight and user-friendly software and hardware solutions for communication on Polar Climb 1.
Update from: www.lonniedupre.com