Allegheny Sport and Outdoor Film Festival: Canary

With Dr. Lonnie Thompson in person to introduce the film and Q&A afterwards!

Lonnie Thompson's humble beginnings in a poverty-stricken West Virginia coal mining town set the stage for his remarkable journey. Intrigued by science and equipped with a weather station he built in his family's barn, he harbored dreams of becoming a scientist despite the coal mining fate expected of him. A pivotal moment came when his father's passing propelled him to pursue a higher calling, motivating him to work multiple jobs to fund his college education.

At Ohio State University, Lonnie's focus on coal geology shifted after a life-changing opportunity to study ice cores in Antarctica. In a field dominated by research on polar glaciers, Lonnie questioned why no one was investigating glaciers on the world's tallest mountains, situated away from the poles. Though experts dismissed the notion as impossible due to the extreme altitude, Lonnie persevered. After a decade of setbacks, he triumphantly returned from Peru's Quelccaya glacier with a historical record, shattering boundaries and revolutionizing climate understanding.

Dubbed as "the closest living thing to Indiana Jones" by Harvard geochemist Daniel Schrag, Dr. Lonnie Thompson captivated the world with his daring and death-defying expeditions to Earth's highest peaks. Over nearly 70 ventures into the planet's most remote and towering terrains, Lonnie spent an unprecedented four-plus years above 18,000 feet, a feat unrivaled by anyone else.

Directed by Alex Rivest, Danny O’Malley