My name is Margaux Mange, I was born and raised in Lakewood, CO. I joined the military when I was 18 as a Military Police. I was stationed in Germany and was quickly deployed to Baghdad,Iraq as a driver for my platoon. My first deployment was mellow as deployments go. I then returned to Iraq in 06 and was hit by a road side bomb while I was in the turret as a gunner. I go a concussion. Most soldiers do when they are deployed. I stayed in country and served the best I could not knowing the magnitude of the damage. Three months later my best friend and 2 others were killed in another road side bomb. There deaths weighed heavily on me and I developed bells palsy and was sent to Landstuhl where they discovered I had severe nerve damage and would not return to country, and sending me down a rabbit hole of pain treatment and pills that I wouldn’t stop for 8 years. I eventually had brain surgery and being medically discharged from the army. I went into severe depression that i couldn’t shake. I found thee couch to be my best friend.

One day i got an email to climb a mountain, it awoken something in me that I hadn’t thought I could do. So I applied and started training. Before I knew it, four years later I am now assistant guiding for the same people that emailed me. I have climbed around the world with them and I have helped change the lives of other veterans also.

My goal is to one day be like the men that guided me on my first climb, they changed my life and I want to be that for the veterans that are coming back now. So I am going to college to pursue an Associates degree in Outdoor Recreation in Leadville, CO and am Living with my two furry children.