About Lance Stevens Fox

Born in 1970, Lance Stevens Fox grew up in the Plainfield/Hancock area of central Wisconsin.  At twenty-eight years of age, in 1978, his father, Ronald Stevens Fox, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  Eight years later, he passed away.  It was an early lesson for Lance that life can be short and that we should live it to the fullest while we breathe the air around us.

Lance was exposed to farm life at an early age by working on a small dairy farm.  This early exposure manifested a desire within to become a veterinarian.  In 1995, Lance graduated from the University of Wisconsin-School of Veterinary Medicine with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.  He practiced veterinary medicine in private clinical practice for four years before becoming an industrial veterinarian.  In 2005, Dr. Fox accepted a position of Technical Service Manager-Dairy with Alpharma Animal Health.  His job calls for him to travel fairly extensively domestically as well as an occasional trip abroad.  In 2008, Alpharma would become an even more vital part of his life because of its willingness to sponsor his trip to attempt to climb to the highest point on our planet, the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1997, Lance's son, Jordan, was born six weeks early and as a result spent the first eleven days of his life in a neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.  At the time it was a 2-3 hour drive from home to the hospital.  Luckily the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Madison had a room opening.  This stay would change Lance's life. 

A few days into life at the RMH, he picked up a book from the local bookstore titled Everest: Mountain without Mercy and read it cover to cover in a day, after which he remembered telling himself that someday he would go to that mountain.  His son’s early arrival into this world was reinforcement that life is precious.  Almost twelve years after reading that book, Lance Fox stood on top of the world. The photo is of him sprinkling his father's ashes on the summit. His adventure was documented in the Discovery Channel series, Everest Beyond the Limit.

Lance currently resides with his wife, Katherine, son, Jordan, and daughter, Bailee (born in 1999), near New London, Wisconsin.

For more photos from Everest, 2009, visit Alex Treadway's website. Alex is a professional photographer who photographed the entire expedition.

 

 

Lance's Climbing Background

Lance didn't actually start climbing until 2006.  He was enamored with his first Colorado fourteener when the vertical bug struck.  On to Mount Rainier in Washington State the following year to take on his first true alpine style climb.  He remembers yelling out during the climb, “Living the Dream!”

Lance's original plan was to climb Denali in Alaska, then perhaps on to Aconcagua in South America before an eventual trip to the mighty Himalaya.  Yet the Everest opportunity arose in the winter of 2008 so he accelerated his plans a bit, gambling a bit as well.   December 2008 found him climbing three dormant volcanoes in Mexico, the tallest one and North America's third highest point, Pico de Orizaba at just under 19,000 feet.  

Then in March of 2009 he left for the Himalaya.  Almost twelve years after reading Everest: Mountain without Mercy, Lance Stevens Fox stood on top of the world.