Cold Halts Minnesota Man’s Mt. McKinley Solo Climb

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Extreme cold has thwarted a Minnesota climber's third attempt to become the first person to summit Alaska's Mount McKinley solo in the dead of winter.

51-year-old Lonnie Dupre told his support crew early Sunday that it was 35 below zero in a snow cave he had built at the 17,200-foot level of the 20,320-foot mountain, North America's tallest peak.

His support crew says Dupre is making his way down and will proceed as the weather permits.

Dupre — of grand Marais — also failed in his winter attempts to summit McKinley last year and in 2011.

Only two people have completed a McKinley summit in the dead of winter — December or January — but no one has done it alone.