Up Mankar and down the treacherous backbone,
Lloydies wearing the Big Man Boots with a full size pack,
Like a champion.

Don’t miss the next one!

Well, I’ll admit that this ride was a bit on the edgy side.
It was a snowy and icy climb up the Manker route, but was well compacted and beaten down by hikers ahead of us.
When we got to the summit, the vistas were magnificent. Everything was a shimmering white beneath the cobalt blue sky and bright green forest, BUT as we looked at the Devil’s Backbone descent, we saw no footsteps.
We would be breaking trail at the razor ridge section of the trail, except there was no trail.
Just a steep icy slope. Any misstep would result in a thousand foot slide down a 30 degree hill.
It was past the point of no return and we kept trying to stamp foot tracks onto the side of the hill. There was no way we could turn around and the snow kept getting more unstable.
Finally, with Larry breaking trail, I got too close and stayed too long with my weight on the downhill foot. It gave way and as I fell off the “trail” plunging downward, picking up immediate speed I turned the pick of my “Whippet” trekking pole into the hill and put all my weight on it.
Yey! All those self-arrest lessons paid off and I was now stuck to the hill.
My lightweight crampons on my boots had no front points and so each time I tried to dig in my feet, it resulted in sliding.
Just then, the long arm of the law (Larry is a giant retired cop) reached out with his trekking pole which I grabbed and pulled myself to a safe stance. And then fell again, and self-arrested.
After a few more attempts, we finally made it past the tough ridge and rode the chair lift down from the ski lodge and walked the remaining 10 minutes to our car.
What a great adventure!! The adrenaline was pumping for about 12 hours after and I can’t wait to go up again,
but I think we’ll skip the Backbone this time.

More adventures to come,
Stay tuned!

-Lloydie

Lloydie and Mule Train head up the Colorado hills to the summit of two 14ers,
Gray’s and Torrey’s Peaks, each a bit over 14,200 ft.

We missed you, but we had a blast. And much success on both. :]

If you missed out, keep in mind,
We will be doing a lot of winter trips, plus Ecuador in January and McKinley in May!

So stay tuned,
And let us know where and when you would like to join us,
But remember,
We don’t work on THURSDAYS.

We climb together, until then here is what you missed out on.

Well, Ecuador has it all. Quito is the starting point, with the Galapagos to the west, the Amazon basin down below and of course, our reason to go, climbing in the Andes.

From the beautiful churches, landscape, market places, celebrations and more it was a cultural wonderland as we assaulted Cotopaxi (success at 19,300 ft) and Chimborazo (20,700 ft), where we were stopped at 18,100 ft because of dangerous conditions.
The trip is one that you should seriously consider.

Tim Keating and his famous guiding company, SWS Mountaineering, have all the connections to make the trip successful and rewarding in every way!

As to the Lux Adventurers,
Me slow,
Rick fast.
Not much has changed…

Be there with us!

Trekking through Khumbu with Mountain Gurus, Lloyd Charton and Peter Mann. Also featuring live clips of Lahkpa Gelu Sherpa, the world’s fastest sherpa along with Peter Hillary, son of famous Sir Edmund Hillary, and the 50th anniversary celebration of his original climb in 1953 of Mount Everest.