Dupre hopes to leave Denali base camp on Friday

The amount of time Grand Marais Arctic Adventurer Lonnie Dupre will spend in base camp is dwindling as plans are being  made to airlift him off of Alaska's highest mountain.

His support team at One World Endeavors reported Thursday night that they hope to accomplish this final task on Friday.

The 51-year-old Dupre returned to the base camp earlier this week after his unsuccessful third attempt to scale Denali alone in the winter. Had he made it, he would have been the first solo climber to accomplish the challenge. He reached 17,200 feet before life-threatening conditions forced him to turn back. At that point, dangerous weather and snow conditions combined with dwindling food and fuel led Dupre to turn back. Denali is 20,320 feet in altitude.

"Lonnie spent the day (Thursday) preparing a 1200 by 20ft landing strip for us but weather here in Talkeetna kept us from taking off despite clear conditions at basecamp.
Here’s to flying tomorrow (Friday)!" said a statement from the OWE team.

Dupre's expedition can be followed via daily reports, audio and photographs at www.oneworldendeavors.com.