December 12, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The AdAmAn Club Preparing for 95th Climb

Colorado Springs, Colorado December 12, 2016----------

Preparations for the 95th climb of the AdAmAn Club are in full swing. Since 1922, the AdAmAn club has made its annual winter trek to the summit of Pikes Peak to fire a midnight blast of fireworks to help the Pikes Peak Region ring in the New Year. The club started when Fred Barr (who built Barr Trail) and four of his adventurous friends (Fred Morath, Ed Morath, Willis Magee and Harry Standley) made a New Year’s Eve trek to the summit sponsored by the Gazette Telegraph and called the "Gazette Telegraph New Year's Eve Watch Party." At 9 pm the group fired a signal rocket to let all know they had arrived safely and all was well. In response, the city electrician, Joe Caldwell, dipped the lights of the city and, future member, John Garrett fired rockets from the roof of the Gazette Telegraph building. At midnight, in the middle of a short blizzard, they shot 175 pounds of rockets and flares which they had carried to the summit.

The nationwide interest in the "Watch Party" inspired them to start what has become a long standing tradition for the Pikes Peak region.

After deciding to add only one member a year, the “Frozen Five” named their group the “AdAmAn Club” (Ad - A - mAn with the A's capitalized to depict mountains). Following that tradition, the club is proud to announce it has selected Brooke Chesnut as its 99th member. Brooke grew up in California and learned how to ski at Lake Tahoe when he was three years old. He moved to Colorado in 1979 to finish college at CU Boulder and never left. He has climbed all of Colorado's Fourteeners and Five of the Seven Summits (the highest peak on each continent). Brooke is an inspirational speaker and has volunteered extensively in the community.

Brooke has climbed with The AdAmAn Club six times as a guest.  For a more detailed bio see:

http://www.adaman.org/Members/brookechesnut.aspx

The AdAmAn Club is also proud to have El Paso County Commissioner Elect, Stan VanderWerf with us on the climb. Stan has an outstanding climbing resume and will be a welcome addition to our group.

The club will leave the Barr trailhead at 9:00 am on December 30 with Brooke breaking trail. The climbers will spend the night at Barr Camp and then summit the peak the next afternoon. As part of a long tradition, they will exchange mirror flashes with Colorado Springs from timberline. The flashing will start around 10:30 am, weather permitting.

In honor of the original "Frozen Five" members, the club will shoot off five fireworks at 9:00 pm. Then, at the stroke of midnight, and weather permitting, the club will greet the New Year with a spectacular fireworks display from the 14,115-foot summit.

Those interested can learn more about the club, including its history and a list of its members, on the web at http://www.adaman.org. The club's archives are held by the Pioneer Museum.