The Denali Report has undergone revision and is now a very short overview of one specific idea or topic each week of climbing season.  In this first episode, South District Ranger speaks about risk and keeping his staff safe.

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KTNA’s morning news, weather forecast, Denali echos, announcements for May 2nd.  Host is Trisha Costello.  Headlines – Climber dies in avalanche near Moose’s Tooth in AK Range; Trapper Creek Elementary slated for new roof.  16 min.

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An ice avalanche killed a climber near the Ruth Gorge in the Alaska Range early Thursday morning.  The climber was on a guided climb and another guided party was caught up in the avalanche as well.  The guiding companies involved in the accident and those that climb on the Ruth Glacier on a regular basis are talking about  the unpredictable event and wonder what could have been done differently.  Sue Deyoe has more the accident:

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An avalanche claimed the life of one male climber near the Ruth Gorge on the Denali massif early Thursday. (more…)

Kahiltna Basecamp Put In – B company’s 52nd Aviation Regiment’s “Sugar Bears” assist with Denali’s operations each spring.

The sights and sounds of spring in Talkeetna not only include birds returning to their summer home, dripping water and children playing, but Army Chinooks and Blackhawks.  The military aircraft from Fairbanks, along with 15 or more troops, show up in Talkeetna each spring for training. The annual event is one of the most unusual peace-time missions in Army helicopter airlift operations history. However, this year is different.

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Occassional Talkeetna resident Vern Tejas holds the world’s seven summit record, but it is now being challenged by a former rugby star from Wales.   A 33-year-old man has put Denali, as well as the North and South Pole, on his list of quests to successfully climb the world’s seven summits in seven months. Tejas owns the record for completing the world’s seven summits in a record 136 days, but that record doesn’t include the 2 poles. (more…)

For the better part of January, mountaineering aficionados kept an eye on the progress of Minnesota climber Lonnie Dupre who tried to summit Mount McKinley solo and set out to do so on January 7. But Mother Nature in form of 100 mph winds forced Dupre’s retreat and he decided today  to retreat to basecamp. Diana Haecker spoke with Dupre and has this report.

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Lonnie Dupre has postponed attempts to summit Denali for now. Dupre is still at 17,200 feet for the sixth day in a snow trench he dug.

According to a post on Dupre’s blog, his expedition manager Tom Suprenant writes that he couldn’t come out of the trench due to extremely high winds and cold temperatures. Suprenant writes that Dupre’s strength and stamina is beginning to deteriorate. He’s hoping for a break in the weather to climb down to 14,200 feet and to regroup.

Dupre is attempting to become the first person to summit Mt. McKinley in January.

Tom Suprenant joined Loudon Wilson in the KTNA production studio to record the following update on Lonnie’s expedition.

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Volunteer DJ Seth Klein sat down with Tom Surprenant on Thursday night (1/20) to discuss Lonnie Dupre’s endeavor and progress on Denali. The full eight minute interview is available below:

Seth Klein and Tom Surprenant:

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