By KJ on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 07:32 am: Edit

I was doing the channel flip this morning and came into the middle of a videotape that showed what I recognised from previous discussion here as the Blazer (?) flipping off Lion's Back. Ugh....gut-wrenching to watch. It was on the "Maury" show, a compilation of lots of nasty stuff caught on tape. What I didn't realize when I read about this crash was that they were going forward down the rock? For some reason I thought they were heading up and didn't make it, going backward on the descent. Anyway, they DID say it was Lion's Back and went on to say the folks were injured by fared remarkably well given the crash. I remember reading that here, too. Me? I'll save my six bucks admission and watch from below.....

Karen

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 07:41 am: Edit

You drive up Lion's back, then make a 67 point turn on top, since it is only about 2 lanes wide with a straight dropoff on each side. Then you drive back down. That's it. The Lion's back is all about adrenaline, the biggest danger is driving off the side, or loosing your brakes. I always carry a lot of weight when I'm out there, so I have never driven it.

By Steve (Steve2) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 07:59 am: Edit

i'm getting sweaty paws just thinking about it! but then again i've stood on the edge of a cliff 1000 feet off the desert floor in islands in the sky with my arms out and head back....(indian training...)

steve

By Ho Chung (Ho) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 12:40 pm: Edit

no video, but some pics?
http://www.discoweb.org/moab2001/lionsback/

By Andy Nix (Andy) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 01:44 pm: Edit

i find that stupid. why the hell would you want to do something like that? what if your brakes DID go out ? what if........

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 02:15 pm: Edit

That is why I don't do it. As I said, it's all about adrenaline. Besides, 2 years ago I saw diesel Ford 350 with a camper on the back do it, that kinda takes the challenge away....

By mike w on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 02:37 pm: Edit

its just an inverted straight away!

By Hammerhead on Thursday, October 04, 2001 - 09:46 am: Edit

I saw that video on a different show. As I recall, it was a light-colored Ford Bronco. The guy's wife was driving and doing well. Her brakes failed on the way down and she accelerated out of control.

John
Tampa, FL
1998 Disco LSE

By Kyle on Thursday, October 04, 2001 - 09:59 am: Edit

Yeah , the Ford and the camper full of kids also killed it for me as well Ax... All of them were smiling and waving at us as the big Ford just chugged on down..... damn , what a let down..


Kyle

By Ho Chung (Ho) on Thursday, October 04, 2001 - 01:01 pm: Edit

honestly, i was there, taking pics from down there, and i just wasnt' feeling well that day,
otherwise i'd have done it too. ahh, and i had forgotten the extra underware...

By Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) on Sunday, October 07, 2001 - 03:58 am: Edit

Too many beers Ho?

By Slider on Sunday, October 07, 2001 - 05:36 am: Edit

For those of you who have seen that woman in the bronco...

It's amazing she stayed on it as long as she did...I recall she was bouncing all over the place...she descended pretty far, while out of control, I guess it could have been A LOT worse?

What is the greatest angle of that thing??

Axel, what was your loaded wieght?...that you felt uncomfortable with the braking? Or was it axle breakage you were worried about?

By John Lee on Sunday, October 07, 2001 - 01:27 pm: Edit

"What is the greatest angle of that thing??"

There's a woman manning a shack at the base of Lion's Back. She's the one who collects the $6 for each vehicle that climbs Lion's Back. According to this woman, the bottom part of Lion's back is 40 degrees. This section is not very long, something like 20-30 feet if I remember correctly. After that initial steep slope, I think I remember the woman saying the rest was only 20 degrees.

Words really can't describe what Lion's Back looks like. You'll have to see it for yourself.

By Roverine on Monday, October 08, 2001 - 06:36 am: Edit

No way would I do that one - not me! I got most of that kind of stuff out of my system in my teen years & early 20's (like doing a 1 1/2 roll over in a truck, holding onto the back of some guy going 90 mph on a dirt bike, minor roll in a sand rail, rapelling off a 75' train bridge into a wash with dense trees,foliage, etc.) ... OK no jokes like "Ah, so that explains her problem!" ...Funny, I used to HATE these guys with their dirt bikes, jeeps, sand rails, etc., because they used to purposely try to follow us on the trail and scare our horses. Then the next thing I know, we all get a little older, and I'm dating the jerks - it's all history after that.

Kim
My father lost his hair very early.