| Memories From First Climb |
| 1977 - 1978.....it was a great time, but I remember my feet being very cold on top!! Member Gene Novell who lived in St Louis was in town and hiked to the lunch tree with us on Day 1, he also was on the summit on Dec 31st that year. He saw that I was a bit frosted and was very kind and encouraging towards me in the Summit House. Another great memory was doing my first two AdAmAn climbs with my Dad AdAmAn -Bruce Sommers. |
| Memories From First Member Year |
| What resonates with me was the warm and inviting welcome I received from AdAmAn Club club when I was selected as a member. Many of these individuals I had known for over 10 years. I was responsible for the bonfire, and we accomplished this at AdAmAn Point. During this time my Dad was sick with cancer, but he enjoyed all parts that he could: the annual dinner, the pre-climb breakfast / send off....he was very proud to be an AdAmAn and was thrilled that I was a member. I also remember the graciousness of Chuck Bowles, who had more climbs than I did that year, but was happy and enthusiastic that I was selected. |
| Memories of Family |
My Dad was an AdAmAn, and as a child, I remember attending the AdAmAn Breakfasts with my family, walking a little with him as the group took off, staying up until midnight to watch fireworks (and banging pots and pans together at midnight), then finally hiking with him as a guest. When Dad stopped climbing, he acted as the cook on the summit on 31 Dec. I fondly remember him being up on top and cheering us in as we arrived. The year he died (1989) we had a memorial service for him at AdAmAn Point along with a time of remembrance at the Cirque. The past seven years (2014 - 2020), I have had the sincere pleasure of climbing with my older son Mac - these have been great times! For as long as I can remember and probably dating back to the late 1950s, my Mom has been attending the annual dinner and pre-climb breakfasts enjoying the company of friends, some of whom she has known for more than 60 years. She (and we) has sincerely missed these events this year (2020) due to COVID-19 restrictions. |
| Favorite Memories from Climbing Fourteeners |
I did meet Fred Morath on at least one occasion when he visited ColoSpgs, he was living in Lisbon, Portugal at the time. He and my Dad would correspond and he occasionally sent our family poetry he wrote. The year Jeff Williams was new member, I took over Jeff's job carrying Jim Bates camera equipment - that was an honor. I also remember a unique experience in January 1981. I was home from college for a few days and on the day of Ronald Reagan's first inauguration, the US hostages held by the Iranian Government were released. Dad got a call to head to the summit of Pikes Peak to launch flares for this tremendous news. My Dad, several other AdAmAn members, and myself were on top launching flares that evening....a very special event!! I do remember the 82' or 83' climb, as we stayed the night on the summit as a blizzard hit the area. There was a local television station reporter who had driven up to film the summit events, and I remember him hiking down with us to Devils Playground the morning of 1 Jan in his "work / church" shoes and the vehicle (a Jeep Waggoneer if I remember correctly) stayed on the summit until April! I fondly remember hiking down the road with Mr. Ed Kirches, who was an incredible gentlemen and AdAmAn mentor to me!! |
| Memories from Favorite Mountain Climb |
| 14er Quandary Peak - because Jaci said "Yes" on the summit in Aug of 1990!! Pikes Peak is my second favorite mountain - first summit with the Boy Scouts at age 11.
|
| Memories of Favorite Gear |
| A Holubar down sleeping bag that my Mom made in 1978 from a kit....it now has kept two generations of Sommers' warm - Mac and Sam have used this bag on many a cold Boy Scout camping trip and hunting trips - on one trip the outside temp was -6 - things were toasty in the bag even that evening! |
| Memories of Worst Gear Failure |
| While my Dad, sister Laurie and I were camping and preparing dinner at the base of the Spanish Peaks, the bottom seam of a SVEA 123 stove blew out and the stove went shooting across the forest floor with a blue flame behind it. It looked like a jet engine!! We never used that stove again and a family nearby ensured that we did not go hungry that night!! |