Mike Lowe passed away recently. As you can see in the message below by Gary Ziegler, Mike was instrumental in US climbing in the 1970s and 1980s with first ascents, helping to invent cams, and Lowe Alpine Systems. Much of this was done while he was living in Westcliffe.

Mike Lowe and Bear Basin history

Remembrance of a Special Old Friend and Ranch Partner

“I heard the owl calling
Softly as the night was falling

with a question, and I replied
But he’s gone across the borderline”

Aw… the memories and the good times we had…Mike indeed was a special friend and uniquely talented associate in the numerous ventures and activities we took on together. Mike’s story deserves a lengthily essay but the limits of today’s gathering doesn’t allow that. So here goes a short version.

With this in mind I am limiting commentary to a brief history of events and details that those gathered here may not know and may find meaningful. Here are a few things I remember pulled out from more than fifty years of happenings placed in chronological order.

o. 1969 – Anne Forrest Ketchin and I were living at and managing Emerald Valley Ranch off of the old Stage Rd above the Broadmoor. We were running programs there for Colorado Outward Bound which Mike and his wife Carol were involved with. We met there and ran several OB courses together.

o. 1970- Anne and I bought the first 350 acres of what was to become Bear Basin Ranch in August while continuing to live that winter at Emerald Valley. Anne decided to move on to Boulder to complete her doctorate work the next summer leaving me on the new property.

o. 1971 – Mike and Carol bought Anne’s interest and moved to the property with me. We began repairing the dilapidated old log building together. Carol took a job teaching at the local High School while Mike and I continued with intermittent, wilderness OB programs.

Mike’s dad Ralph played an important role in surveying the assorted parcels and helping with a co-ownership plan to protect the land which lives on today. We brought in Mike’s brothers, Jeff and Greg as well.

Our plan was to protect and preserve the land as a working ranch and outdoor educational facility. We named it Bear Basin Ranch. We planned to purchase surrounding properties as they became available. Which we did, bringing in a few new like -minded investors. Thanks to Mike and the Lowe family input, BB Ranch is now more than 4,000 acres, protected by Colorado based Palmer Land Conservancy in a Conservation Easement.

o. 1972 – Mike and brothers started up the beginnings of LAS. Mike rented a vacant shop in Westcliffe to make prototype gear. We tested some pulled by my old Case tractor on the ranch to see if and when it would break.

Sometime that year Mike and Carol moved on to Boulder. I was then working part time in Dallas as program director for SW Outward Bound. I brought Mike in on several courses we did in Big Bend Park on the Rio Grand. We continued to stay in close touch with visits back and forth to the Ranch.

o. 1973 – We formed a mountaineering school at the ranch called Bear Basin Environmental Resource Center. Our brochure with details is attached. Mike and I continued to run course for COBS in Colorado. Most challenging were what we called “hoods in the Woods’ programs out of Lake City. These were 20 days out on skis in the remote San Juans. I was also running wild programs in Mexico’s Copper Canyon area which I brought Mike in to help with.

Another OB friend and later BB partner, Rick Medrick and I started the first paddle rafting company on the nearby Arkansas River. We of course brought Mike in to this. During those times, we ran a batch of white water programs for both OB and our new company, Arkansas River Tours.

o. 1974 sometime around then, Carol moved on and Mike met and married Sandy. I recall that they lived in Louisville and later moved to Eldorado Canyon.

Anyway, to shorten the story, we continued to climb and do things together over the ensuing years. We both climbed in Peru and other challenging places. Greg and Mike continued to successfully expand LAS while Jeff went off to become a famous world climber.

all contributed from time to time helping Bear Basin and ongoing events there. Jeff and I did a couple of high angle rescues in the nearby Sangres while Mike and I did several challenging new routes together there. I always had the latest, new, LowePro gear to wear and test.

o. 1980 – My later to be wife, Amy moved to the ranch becoming a motivating partner in the ongoing activities and programs. Sometime in those years we started an adventure travel company in Colorado Springs called Ultimate Escapes. Mike became an active partner. We ran programs in Mexico, Big Bend, Peru and later Argentina and Spain. Those were exciting adventurous times.

o. 1990s – After Sandy tragically passed and LAS was sold, Mike ventured into an innovative bike designing and selling business. He moved to a house we had in Colorado Springs and opened a down town bike facility. I seem to recall Mike flying to Taiwan to meet with bike people. Following that he moved to Utah for similar activities there. We stayed in touch but did not see each other for a number of years.

o. 2012 – Mike, his then wife Ty, and a Westcliffe sailing friend, chartered a sail boat for a magical sail around the Bahamas. Mike and Ty returned to home Utah.

o. 2022 to present – I did not keep up with his life after the Sailing trip but knew he was continuing a bicycle business. Then, sometime in late 2022, Mike called to tell us that he and Ty were parting ways. He had no place to go to. We offered that he could move into what we call the School house cabin on the ranch. We made two trips to Utah to help him move an amazing amount of possessions. Ty generously hosted us at her charming refurbished historic lodge while there.

We much enjoyed Mike’s company and return to the ranch.
We shared a batch of old stories and adventures around the nearby cowboy camp, campfire and with local friends. With recent health concerns and a cold winter approaching we invited Mike to move to our old Westside Colorado Springs house for the winter. He seemed happy and content there with his dog Sky Blue as companion.

As my favorite cowboy singer poet, Ian Tyson wrote; “so the story ends my friend”

Adios Amigo

Jeff and Mike Lowe in Lowe Alpine Systems packs

USFS updates as of May 18, 2012:

1) After many years of no access we can climb again at Scene of the Crime and Ego’s Nest. This time around the USFS does not allow camping along the road. Big thanks to the USFS for working with the county and the landowner whose easement the South Hardscrabble Road crosses from North Creek Road.

2) Speaking of Camping, even though the pit toilets have been removed from Oak Creek campground, it is still open to dispersed camping.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife will be requiring a hunting or fishing license to be on CPW land or state trust land as of July 1, 2020. Their rationale is those lands are paid for by hunting and fishing licenses as well as excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear. Most of the users of their lands statewide aren’t hunters or anglers though and contribute very little towards CPW lands monetarily. There are signs for Turkey Gulch State Trust Land on the way to La Vista, but the actual climbing appears to be on BLM land. No need for a “climbing license” locally just yet.

The northern Wet Mountains closure due to the Adobe Peak fire has been lifted according to the USFS. Climb on.

Climbing north of Hwy 96 is closed due to the drought conditions, aridification of the Wet Mountains, and Adobe Peak fire. This includes Stultz Canyon/Voyageur, Lincoln Wall, Newlin Creek, Raven Buttress, Rattlesnake Gulch, Quiet Towers, and Twin Sisters. Tanner is still closed for raptors, as is South Hardscrabble from the fires two years ago. Most climbing areas south of 96 are still open. Areas open include Titanic, Bud Light Wall, Goliath Gorge, Midway, Black Hole, Junk Yard, and Green Wall to the north.Please respect the closures.

South Hardscrabble Road is closed indefinitely. Spoke with the USFS, they said the erosion after the Junkins Fire creates a situation that makes FS Road 386 dangerous to travel. If you want to climb at Ego’s Nest, Scene of the Crime, or Isabella’s Tierra you need to bike or hike from the closure.

Pueblo Chieftain Story

Titanic is open to climbing again. South Hardscrabble Creek climbing (Ego’s Nest, Scene of the Crime, Isabella’s Tierra) remains closed. The USFS will evaluate the road again after the winter snows and spring runoff and rains.

Per Michael Davis:

Good morning,

I’d just like to let you know that the Titanic Climbing Area near Westcliffe, Colorado is currently within the closure zone for the Junkins Wildland Fire. No one will be allowed into this area until the US Forest Service lifts the closure.

Thought you might want to share this information with the members of your organization.

Thank you,
Michael Davis, Public Information Officer
Junkins Fire
Great Basin IMT 1

Jenkins Fire Information Line 719-283-1710

South Hardscrabble climbing at Ego’s Nest, Scene of the Crime and Isabella’s Tierra also closed to climbing until further notice.