8 APRIL 24-30, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | The mind does strange things at high altitude. However, that doesn’t explain the odd antics of some people at 14,000 feet. Of Mark Di- erauer, who portaged Handies Peak with a heavy metal canoe; or Bill Kresge, who hula- hooped at the summit of every Fourteener; or those legendary Pikes Peak peanut pushers. But if not the dizzying elevation, what on earth explains these actions? For some people, the answer is simple: camaraderie, fun, a desire to make your mark (while leaving no trace). Take it from these fi ve adventurers who have done the seem- ingly impossible on Colorado’s Fourteeners. CONNÓR LOCK COOKED UP AN EPIC CHALLENGE Since his early twenties, Connór Lock has spent each of his birthdays in a far-fl ung destination. He funds his global expeditions through his design agency, although his friends often tell him that his real knack is for cooking. While Lock has no interest in making that career pivot, the frequent comments got him thinking: What if he cooked on the side and incorporated that skill into his worldwide travels? Inspired, he started offering in-home cooking classes through his company, Staahj. A friend who’s a fi lm producer thought he could take things further. “He was like, ‘Dude, I think you have a cool concept here. This is different,’” recalls Lock. “So I decided to set forth on this adventure to fi lm ten episodes all around the world.” Season one of The Cook’s Venture culminates on Mount Bierstadt, where Lock prepared an impressive meal this past September. To prepare for this movable feast, Lock and his father built a wooden sled fi tted with a chest harness. Prior to the big ascent, Lock loaded it with more than 100 pounds of gear: two collapsible tables, a camp stove, a box of dry goods and a box of utensils, a full Yeti cooler and more, including tools to fi x the sled. Then he headed off. With the sled, he skated along icy wooden bridges before sunrise and made it through a frigid creek crossing. But the sled broke several times along the rocky trail, and he realized it would not make the class two scramble to the summit...and a snowstorm was rolling in. So Lock got cooking. He set up his kitchen at the base of the last pitch and began fi ring up Argentinian-style braised beef, which he served on garlic-charred sourdough bread. The toast was topped with fresh tomatoes, red onions and herbs, plus a chimichurri sauce and a spicy aioli. Then Lock and his team, which included videographer Josh Berendes and photographer Mike Heath, packed it all out. “I couldn’t have done it without my amazing team and friends,” he says. “They’re a big part of this success.” In all, the seven-mile journey took over eleven hours. It was extremely exhausting, but also “therapeutic,” Lock says. “I’ve been going through a lot of personal stuff. It’s been a really, really tough year, and I guess the symbolism of that sled was me carrying the weight on my shoulders.” Cooking up and completing the chal- lenge was an opportunity to reset and share something meaningful with his community. He hopes to launch The Cook’s Venture on YouTube when funding allows; in the mean- time, he’ll be posting teasers on his Instagram account, @heystaahj. AMPUTEE MANDY HORVATH REACHED RECORD HEIGHTS When she was 21 years old, Mandy Hor- vath was struck by a train, and within an instant, her life was forever changed. She woke up from a medically induced coma as a bilateral above-knee amputee. During her initial recovery, she lived with her parents in her hometown of Kansas City. She was struggling with alcohol use disorder, was on 22 different medications and gained a signifi cant amount of weight. “I was really just wasting away,” recalls Horvath. “My dad, he woke up in a bad mood that morning. He stepped out of his bedroom and he looked at me, and he said some words that I will never forget: ‘Mandy, you’re a fat piece of shit that’s never going MONIKA SWIDERSKI continued on page 10
