Canadian climber is first known woman to summit a major subarctic peak in winter FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 19th 2019 Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada Contact: Lonnie Dupre 613.668.1406 lonniedupre@gmail.com Minnesotan Lonnie Dupre working his way up Mt. Wood in Kluane National Park and Reserve. On March 11, 2019 at 3:10 p.m. PST, climbers Lonnie Dupre of Grand Marais, Minnesota and Pascale Marceau of Canmore, Alberta reached the summit of Mt. Wood despite wind chills of -45. Located in the Saint Elias Mountains of Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon, Canada, Mt. Wood is Canada's 6th highest peak at 15,912 feet / 4,860 meters. “The Icefields are remote and raw. There is

Once out of the mountains Pascale and I finally got some rest from our amazing experience on Mount Wood. We are now cleaned up and well feed on fruits and veggies… the thing I miss the most on an expedition. Before we get into the details about our successful climb in a day or two, I wanted to thank John Ostashek of Rocking Star Adventures for flying us into Mt. Wood. His wealth of information on the area and piloting skills allowed us to nail down a route and get us in safely. Thanks John for a great adventure! Here is a clip of John approaching Mount Wood's east face to pickup Pascale and I:

The team arrived safe in from basecamp yesterday evening. Rocking Star Adventure's pilot John picked the team up in two flights. The Piper Super Cub picked up Pascale and then later Lonnie and the rest of the gear from the climb. The team is now getting some much needed R&R, a hot shower and warm meal while organizing images and material that will be in the coming days. Stay tuned for more from A Frigid First. We want to take another moment to thank our sponsors from the expedition. Lead Sponsor: Primaloft Major Sponsor: Granite Gear Support Sponsors: Hilleberg, Tuck's Tooques, Wintergreen, Midwest Mountaineering, Globalstar, Spot LLC, Canadian Geographic, and The Canadian Geographic Society

The team called in to report a successful summit of Mt. Wood at 3:10 pm yesterday. Lonnie Dupre and Pascale Marceau are now the first people to have summited this peak in winter. Pascale is the first woman to ever make an ascent of a high subarctic peak in winter. "The beauty of such firsts lies in their unknowns. There is no standard route. There are no prescribed landing zones and the condition of the glaciers is always changing," said Marceau. Despite the odds, the brutal winds, heavily crevassed ice fields and extreme cold, the team spent 13 hours making their way to Mt. Wood’s summit of 4,850 meters (15,912 feet). “The weather is bad and the descent that we have ahead of us now is the m

The team called in yesterday to report gusty winds, but a successful carry of gear supplies none the less. They're planning for a summit day either today or tomorrow deepening on the wind conditions. Listen in to the audio in video for more details of their climb and summit plan.

The team called in today to report that they were able to carry their second load of supplies up to about 12K despite crevasses. Listen in to more on their audio below: Click this link below to reveal location.

Yesterday the team boarded a Cessna 206 with all of the equipment to fly out to the base camp of their climb. The Lonnie and Pascale messaged in on their Spot (click link to reveal location) device to report their safe arrival to base camp and that their stove was lit in their bomber tent. Their plan tomorrow is to start scouting out a path up Mt. Wood, which would be the first known winter ascent if successful. Images courtesy of: https://brucebinderphoto.photoshelter.com

Last year, the team was surprised to experience blue bird days with great visibility... marred by high winds, making an otherwise perfect travel day completely impossible due to extreme wind chills. Good wind protection is paramount to the success of this expedition. The team is using anoraks made of a double wind shell fabric that is highly resistant to wind yet breathable to avoid moisture/frost build up. The unique design of the anorak allows moisture from your body to travel outwards through the inner and outer layer yet keep strong wind out. Any moisture that collects as frost between the layers,(which are not sewn together at the bottom) can easily be shaken out at the end of the day