Countdown to Talkeetna

Hello folks,

Well the countdown has started.  We are 20 days from departing Minnesota to Talkeetna, Alaska.  Talkeetna will be our headquarters for the end of December and month of January.  Tom Surprenant will be our base-camp manager and point man in touch with me on the trail.  Lonnie will be sending out updates everyday from the trail.

Expedition food consisting of 2 pounds and some 6000 calories per day along with a modified ladder system for crossing crevasses has been shipped to Alaska.  Expedition clothing, electronics and gear is arriving daily from our sponsors: Granite Gear, Marmot, 40 Below, IO BIO, Smith Optics, Rab, and Explorers Web.

Training has been intense. We just returned from Colorado polishing climbing techniques on steep icy terrain Lonnie expects to encounter on Denali's upper elevations.

For additional preparation Lonnie has been pre-acclimatizing using an Hypoxico tent and mask.  By the time Lonnie leaves for the Mountain he should be acclimatized to 21,000 feet.

Coverage for the expedition has already begun with an Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) "Mid-Morning" interview by Cathy Wurzer on Friday, November 26th.  http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/11/26/midmorning3/

An expedition documentary is also underway and is being filmed by Jason Davis of KSTP channel 5 an ABC affiliate located in Minneapolis/St Paul.

For more information please follow http://www.lonniedupre.com