Chris Loynd, his wife Kelechi and their four children from Olivette, Missouri reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in June, drawing from the Blues' run to their first championship. Chris and Kelechi's 10-year-old twin sons, Alex and Alan, became two of the youngest to ever reach the 19,341- foot summit legally.
"I can't be more proud of my whole family," Loynd told NHL.com. "It was inspiring. It was by far the best thing we've ever done as a family and probably the riskiest thing we've done but by far the best."
The Loynds are avid Blues fans, and Chris was at Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, where he got the towel that Alex and Alan are posing with in their picture at the summit. Chris and Kelechi drew on St. Louis' unlikely ascent this season to complete the challenging 10-day hike. The Blues were 31st in the League in points on Jan. 3 but rallied to win their first Stanley Cup championship.
"It was quite amazing to see this run, especially going from last place," Chris said. "We were inspired by the Blues to just keep going and never give up and that anything is possible."
The twins reached the summit on their 10th birthday, the first day they were legally able to do so, along with their sisters Adaeze, 11, and Amara, 8.
Chris coaches Alex and Alan's hockey team in the St. Louis Rockets youth organization, and they played at Enterprise Center during intermission of a few games this season. They were interviewed after one of their games and announced to in-arena host Carlie Lawrence their intent to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania.