December 5, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The AdAmAn Club Selects its New Member for 2011

Colorado Springs, Colorado December 5, 2011----------

Ever since 1922, the AdAmAn club has made its annual winter trek up 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, after having just finished his new trail up Pikes Peak, Fred Barr and four of his adventuresome friends made a New Year’s eve trek to the summit. That night they set fire to some of the Cog Railway’s surplus railroad ties. Upon their return to the Springs, they discovered that many had seen their fire.

The resulting buzz inspired them to start a tradition that is in its 89th year.

After deciding to add only one member a year that “Frozen Five” named their group the “AdAmAn Club.” Following that tradition, the club has selected Ann Nichols as its 94th member. Ann, a life-long resident of Manitou Springs, is the 3rd woman to be added to the club and is an avid hiker, traveler and mountain climber. She has done extensive hiking in mountain locations in Nepal, Pakistan, Mongolia, Russia, Corsica, Kenya and Tanzania, Peru, Argentina, Spain, Chile and mostly recently Italy. She has also climbed 47 of the Colorado fourteeners. This year’s climb will be her 10th with the club.

Ann graduated from Colorado College in 1968 and earned a PhD in Economics from Colorado State University in 1975. She worked for Colorado Springs Utilities for 25 years in various roles in the Finance Department, retiring in 2002. She is currently an independent consultant to a number of metropolitan water districts.

Ann is also active on a number of Boards and Commissions including - Manitou Springs Historic Preservation Commission, Manitou Springs Urban Renewal Authority, Barr Camp, Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority, Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District, and the Energy Resource Center.

The club will leave the Barr trailhead at 8:30 am on December 30 with Ann breaking trail. The team of climbers will spend the night at Barr Camp and then summit the peak the next afternoon. As part of their long tradition, they will exchange mirror flashes with Colorado Springs from timberline. The flashing will start around 10:30 am.

In honor of the Frozen Five 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 14,110-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. Its archives are held by the Pioneer Museum.

Ann Nichols Inducted into The AdAmAn Club by Don Sanborn, President