Members and guests of the Pikes Peak AdAmAn
Club lit up the summit of 14,110 foot Pikes Peak
with a brilliant fireworks display at midnight
on December 31, 2005.
Under clear skies and high winds, our climbing
party of 18 members and 12 guests, braved wind
chills of –45 degrees to ignite 60 shells
and 40 flares. The east face of Pikes Peak was
brightly illuminated and we had reports that
our show was seen from Denver to Pueblo.
During our 2-day climb, AdAmAn’s
newest member, Rev. David Hunting of Manitou
Springs, had the hard task of breaking trail
over the 13.2 mile Barr Trail. At the end of
the first day, our overnight stay at Barr Camp
(elevation 10,200 feet) gave the climbing party
a chance to get a hot meal and a good night’s
sleep.
Rev. Hunting is the 88th member inducted
into the AdAmAn Club, a Pikes Peak area tradition
since 1922. He has made the trek up Barr Trail
nine previous times as a guest, so the climbing
party this year was in experienced hands. “I
always tell people it’s inspiring to
be on the summit of Pikes Peak at midnight”,
Hunting said.
Our second day’s climb included
the tradition of mirror flashing at the Timberline
shelter, and we were pleased to report hundreds
of return mirror flashes from all over the
Colorado Springs area. Fierce winds and icy
conditions prevailed over the final 3 miles
of the climb, from timberline at 12,000 feet
to the Summit.
Our thanks to the residents of the Pikes
Peak Region for your continued support of the
Pikes Peak AdAmAn Club. It was again a pleasure
to help welcome the New Year from the summit
of America’s Mountain, an AdAmAn tradition
since 1922!
