I'd been around AdAmAn for a long time before I had the opportunity to climb with the club in 2021, joining my dad for the breakfast all the way back in 2015 for his first guest year. A couple of years later, my brother Luke applied and joined the club for his first climb in 2017/2018. My dad became the 100th member in 2018 and after watching the both of them take off at Barr Trail for a couple of years, I decided that I wanted to join them one day. In 2021, I had my first chance to hike with the club which was so exciting! My brother and I were roommates in Fort Collins at the time, and I remember packing together on our living room floor to make sure we didn't forget anything before driving down to Colorado Springs. When we got there, all three of us (my dad Lance, brother Luke, and I) unpacked and RE-checked each other just to be sure we hadn't forgotten anything- ha. Luke and I had the tendency to forget stuff. But we hadn't! Woo. Anyway, the three of us prepped for the hike which was really fun to do as a family. I remember being so proud to be hiking as 3 Starks. The first day of the hike was a blast, chatting with all the other members and guests and getting to know everyone. Everyone loved my brother so much, and watching him joke around and help set a great example for me in my first climb. When we got to Barr Camp on my first hike, we snagged one of the lofts in the main cabin- which is now designated as "Stark territory" ;) The second day of the hike, in my memory, was the most brutal. 2021 was a heavy snow year, and we woke up from Barr Camp with quite the day ahead of us. If memory serves, temps started dropping and snow started falling as we neared the A-Frame, a traditional AdAmAn snack spot. A big chunk of the crew ended up turning around due to a hypothermia-related incident, and I remember feeling disappointment and worry for the safety of the team heading down. The rest of us trudged on. As we neared the Cirque, a gentlemen passed us, and I remember thinking that he looked very underdressed for the conditions. Minutes later we saw him collapse ahead of us. Some of us rushed ahead to see if he was ok. He wasn't. My brother Luke and Mac Sommers immediately took hold of him, helping him up and pulling layers out of their own packs to warm him up. We all started to pitch in, pulling any extra layers we had, as well as snacks and water to help. I remember feeling so proud of my brother for being there first thing and offering the shirt off his own back for a stranger who was ill-prepared. After we got the gentleman in some extra clothes and fed him some snacks, we tried to help him stand. He was starting to show signs of hypothermia, and wasn't able to make the rest of the hike on his own. At the same time, some of our own team was starting to bonk (suddenly lost all energy), we had been standing around getting cold for a little while, and it was not looking good. As a team, we decided to split up. We took as much extra weight from Luke and Mac's packs as we could- still leaving them with things they might need- and some of us headed to the summit. Our plan was to contact Search and Rescue immediately, and also get our struggling team members into the warmth. I remember really not wanting to leave my brother behind, but also knowing how strong he was. My plan was to get to the top and go back to help in any way that I could. The struggle was real from here on out. If you've ever helped anyone experiencing altitude sickness or hypothermia, you know that motivation is difficult! A weird memory is that we would motivate someone one switchback at a time throughout the 16 golden stairs, feeding them an energy chew every time we reached that goal. It felt like we were moving in slow motion. When we finally reached the summit, I remember it feeling chaotic. Search and Rescue (SAR) was already at the top, and they met us as we arrived. One of our group wasn't feeling well and threw up as soon as we summited, while SAR was telling us we weren't allowed to go back down. I remember telling the Search and Rescue guys that my brother was down there and I needed to go help, and they told me I wasn't allowed to- that they were heading down to help him. Somehow my dad snuck past them, and I felt trapped. I went inside with the rest of the group that had summited so far, not being able to relax until my family made it up. After what felt like ages, we finally saw the rest of the team summit. We all ran outside to greet them as Search and Rescue took over the care of the stranger. Luke, Mac, my dad, and the others were safe! We handed them hot beverages, took their packs and kind of just celebrated finally making it to the summit. In the end, we didn't even end up launching the fireworks. Visibility from the city was too bad, but I don't think any of us really cared. We were all just glad that our team made it up safe and sound, and that the stranger was being taken care of. That first year set a standard for me. I have a lot of pride for this Club- for my family- and I look forward to the adventures every year holds. |