Solo Unsupported January Denali Attempt

[MichaelJ]

I hope the snow cave has an attached snow outhouse.

 

[grouseking]

I hope the snow cave has an attached snow outhouse.

He's prob too cold to pee.

Man, good luck to that guy, seriously. I cant believe he is so close...yet so far, from his goal.

 

[mtruman]

That would be a wind chill of -60F. That's sick.

That's definitely sick. What's even sicker is that the current wind chill on Mt Washington tonight is -80 with a shot of getting to -100

Sure hope the weather improves for him in the next couple of days. He's so close...

 

[roadtripper]

Just wanted to suggest reading Minus 148 if you have not already. It'll give you a good sense of Denali in winter

http://www.amazon.com/Minus-148-Degrees-Winter-McKinley/dp/0898866871

 

[chinooktrail]

so lets see...

high winds ~ check
low temps ~ check
earthquake ~ check

what else can Mother Nature toss his way for fun?

Hope he is doing well and has loads of supplies and music to keep his spirits up while he waits out the weather.

 

[roadtripper]

what else can Mother Nature toss his way for fun?

Polar bears! They are always fun for those who are unlucky enough to run into them in northern Alaska.

 

[Craig]

He's retreating

I spoke with Lonnie just after he made his audio update. This is his 6th day at 17,200 in his snow trench that is 3'x3'x6'. He has only been out once since he arrived at 17,200 due to the extremely high winds. Laying in his trench with little movement and the constant cold ( it is about -5 in the trench) he feels that his strength and stamina are beginning to deteriorate. The sanitary conditions of the trench are also deteriorating due to the lack of space to relieve himself. We are hoping for a break in the weather tomorrow or Wednesday so that Lonnie can make a move to 14,200 to regroup and build up his strength. At 17,200 the barometric pressure is 407 mmhg, this means that there is 54% of oxygen available at sea level. Staying at this altitude increases the chances of acute mountain sickness. He is in good spirits and says hi to all.

Will they resupplied him at 14K camp?

 

[Raven]

Just wanted to suggest reading Minus 148 if you have not already. It'll give you a good sense of Denali in winter

http://www.amazon.com/Minus-148-Degrees-Winter-McKinley/dp/0898866871

Good read. Those guys were "bad-A's" too. -148 was under the old wind chill calculation too. Lonnie's wind chills are being calculated using the more conservative new formula. Either way, 6 days in a snow pit in temps like that? Wow. I hope he makes it to the summit and down after all that.

 

[DougPaul]

-148 was under the old wind chill calculation too.

-148F wasn't necessarily the correct number--they estimated that conditions were off the chart and -148 was simply the lowest wind chill temp on the chart.

Doug

 

[Craig]

Sounds like he's done.

I just received a brief call from Lonnie, he has arrived at 14,200 camp tired and weak. He made it down from 17,200 to 14,200 in 8 hours. He is going to get something to eat and call it a day. He will assess his options tomorrow after a good nights rest.

It looks like Thursday/Friday would have been a good weather window for a summit attempt.

 

[Raven]

-148F wasn't necessarily the correct number--they estimated that conditions were off the chart and -148 was simply the lowest wind chill temp on the chart.

Doug

Very true. Lonnie's -60 is an estimate as well, too high I would guess since it was based on the valley temp, not the temp at 17k and on a conservative estimate of 50 mph winds, although windchill does not change much once that speed is reached.

Either way, the extreme temps both were/are dealing with are pretty crazy.

 

[Puma concolor]

A valiant attempt but the climb in officially over.

Dupre calls off Denali attempt

 

[chinooktrail]

Wow, what an adventure to be reading about from a nice warm house...

I hope he doesn't have to wait too long at base camp for a flight back to a shower and a steak and King Crab Leg dinner!

 

[Craig]

Wow, what an adventure to be reading about from a nice warm house...

I hope he doesn't have to wait too long at base camp for a flight back to a shower and a steak and King Crab Leg dinner!

If I was the pilot of that plane, I’d be wearing a bio-hazard suit on that trip.

 

[AlexTal]

Wow, what an adventure to be reading about from a nice warm house...

I hope he doesn't have to wait too long at base camp for a flight back to a shower and a steak and King Crab Leg dinner!

First stop, West Rib Bar and Grill to get a Seward's Folly Burger and as many Ice Axe Ales as he can have ... then to the Roadhouse first thing in the morning for breakfast!

Good work Lonnie. Fantastic attempt.

 

[chinooktrail]

Seriously, if I had been in a 3'x3'x6' snow cave for 7 days, or for 7 minutes for that matter, all I would want would be wide open space!

Toss in the 100mph+ winds and super low temps, and an earthquake for good measure...

Wow, what an adventure!

 

[MichaelJ]

Agreed. He may not have summited but what he did do was an incredible accomplishment in its own right.

 

[Little Rickie]

Tough guy. You know he wanted to bag that one and turning back after 7 days was tough, smart, but tough. Good for him, crazy as I think he is, he did something most wouldn't attempt.

 

[AlexTal]

If I was the pilot of that plane, I’d be wearing a bio-hazard suit on that trip.

haha! On one of my trips into the range, I put on deodorant the last day. You're not supposed to on long trips but I figured it was my last day. One of the guides stopped me and said I would regret it if we got snowed in and couldn't get picked up. He said "You don't smell as bad as you think you do." I started laughing and said I wouldn't put on deodorant, but that was a fantastic lie. I'm sure we smelled MUCH worse than we thought we did.

After being on Denali for a month, it was decided that we had to go into town and hang around people before taking a shower because we earned it. I even heard about one guide who came down from the mountain, went to Anchorage, flew home to Minnesota, and THEN showered. I'd hate to have been the person next to him on that flight. That's just a jerk move (kinda funny though).

 

[Chip]

Any word on if the ladder thing got used ?