AdAmAn Club Thankful for Uneventful Climb
After two years of extreme weather conditions, the AdAmAn Club was happy to experience more typical weather this year. On Sunday, December 31, 2011 the AdAmAn Club completed its annual trek up Pikes Peak to ring in the New Year with a fireworks show for the Pikes Peak region. Twenty three members and ten guests made this year's climb. New member Wally Wininger, its 95th member, led the climbing party in a classic climb. The club was also joined this year by Lt Gov Joseph Garcia for his second climb as a guest.
The first half of climb from Barr Camp was cloudy and snowy with temperatures around 0 deg F. After a cold lunch break at timberline, the club shortly climbed above the clouds to bright sun. Though the temperature was -3 deg F on the summit, there was no wind and the bright sun reflecting off fresh snow made the day feel quite comfortable.
Upon reaching the summit, the club turned its attention to preparing to ring in the New Year with their usual fireworks show. The afternoon and evening ran smoothly and followed the customary traditions of the club. Five fireworks were launched at 9:00 pm in honor of the original "Frozen Five" members of the club. Low cloud cover meant that most of the region couldn't see the 9:00 pm tribute. By midnight some of the clouds had lifted and the Club could see at least a third of Colorado Springs. At the stroke of midnight the Club greeted the New Year with a spectacular fireworks display from the 14,115-foot summit, even though only portions of Colorado Springs could see the show. The local four wheel drive group gave the club a ride off the summit after the fireworks show.
Based on comments on the club's Facebook page, the fireworks show was well received by those who could see them.