UPDATE: Lonnie reaches Denali summit after four attempts. Begins descent

Grand Marais adventurer Lonnie Dupre reached the summit of North America’s highest peak, Mount McKinley, shortly after 5 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, according to Stevie Anna Plummer, project coordinator for the climb.

The only confirmation is from a SPOT GPS beacon message that Dupre transmitted from the summit, saying, “All OK. Doing well.”

If confirmed, that would make Dupre, 53, the first person to have reached the summit solo in January. Mount McKinley is 20,237 feet high.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Sunday, Plummer received a SPOT GPS transmission from Dupre saying that he had descended from the summit and was in his camp at 17,200 feet. Plummer received no further information.

Lonnie wasted no time moving down  McKinley after reaching the summit late Sunday afternoon. The Grand Marais adventurer left his high camp at 17,200 feet about 3:30 a.m.  CST Monday, made a call to  Plummer, about 3 p.m. at 14,200 feet and said he was on his way to another camp at 11,200 feet. Plummer said he expected to arrive at that camp last night.

This is Dupre’s fourth attempt to reach the summit of Mount McKinley, also called Denali. He failed in previous attempts to reach the summit in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and did not attempt the summit last winter.

On December 18th  Dupre flew to basecamp.  With winter winds regularly exceeding 100 miles per hour, temperatures dropping below -60º F, and just six hours of sunlight each day, January is a formidable time on Denali, North America’s highest mountain.   

Only nine expeditions, totaling 16 people, have ever reached the Denali summit in winter, and six deaths occurred during those climbs. Of these previous winter expeditions, four were solo, but none was in January, the darkest and coldest time of the year on the mountain. Only a team of three Russian climbers has ever successfully summited Denali in January.