Bronco joined the Army Mountaineering Association (AMA) in 1968 and took part in AMA expeditions to the Canadian Arctic in 1972, Indian Himalayas in 1973, Nuptse, Nepal in 1975. 1976 saw him joining a joint British-Nepalese Army expedition to Everest under the command of Lt. Col Tony Streather. The expedition succeeded in putting Lane and fellow SAS colleague Brummie Stokes on the summit on 16 May. After summiting Lane and Stokes were caught by bad weather and were forced to abandon their descent. The pair bivouacked in a snow hole near the South Summit for the night. Stokes tried and failed to attach an oxygen bottle to his face-mask. Lane had to remove his glove to attach the bottle but after an hour his hand was frozen. After the night in the open both men's feet were badly frostbitten. Back home in England doctors attempted to save the men's toes but the condition of their feet deteriorated in the summer heat. Eventually he felt a tingling sensation in his foot and after removing his dressing found maggots in one of his toes which he removed with a cocktail stick. Lane lost his toes as well as the thumb and top halves of his fingers on his right hand.
