Pick 3 #4: Midnight Trip to the Top

Here is my entry for this week’s Pick 3 using at least three of the listed twenty-one words. Here is the link to this week’s challenge words and rules.

It was New Year’s Eve, our tenth anniversary. Where were we? Why weren’t we celebrating together? Here’s the true story. 

While living in Colorado Springs in the late 1990s, my late husband, Mike, and I became good friends with several other couples around our neighborhood. Several of the husbands were members of a local four-wheeling club and mine joined them on several outings. Back woods camping, no shaving, lots of beer and tall tales, or so I suppose.

But that group had a different kind of trip planned for New Year’s Eve. The group would four-wheel to the top of Pikes Peak to pick up members of the AdAmAn Club. I’m sure you’re asking the same question we did: who or what is the AdAmAn Club. Here’s a brief history from their website.

Fred and Ed Morath, brothers, and Colorado Springs natives, planned the first AdAmAn climb in December of 1922. Both were skilled mountaineers and had climbed many of the major peaks of North America. Before 1922, they had ascended Pikes Peak 35 times, both in summer and winter, including the two previous years, 1920 and ‘21, on New Year’s Eve. It appears the brothers hatched a new plan during their 1921 ascent, or shortly thereafter. The idea was to hold a New Year’s “watch party” for the benefit of the community. The two had decided to climb Pikes Peak to again usher in the new year, however, this time would be a little different. They would pack an assortment of rockets and flares up the mountain for a “unique spectacle” the locals would never forget. {source}

And a bit about the name:

The AdAmAn® Club has been a Pikes Peak Region tradition since 1922. It is a unique group of mountaineers, who each year on December 30th and 31st, climb the icy slopes of Barr Trail on the east face of world famous Pikes Peak. Then, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, AdAmAn members and their guests ignite a glorious fireworks display from the summit to usher in the New Year. 

Our Club is dedicated to the memory of the original “Frozen Five”, Ed Morath, Fred Morath, Fred Barr, Willis Magee and Harry Standley. Their idea was that each year, only one new member would be added to the Club, and as a result, the name AdAmAn (add a man) was chosen. Each year, members choose one new member from a list of applicants. {source}

So what happens after they climb up and set off their fireworks? Initially, for many years, they climbed back down. But at this point in time, 1995, the local four-wheel group drove up to bring them down. So when my husband mentioned it, I told him to go for it. This would be a once in a lifetime experience for him. I wasn’t at all concerned about not being together on our anniversary.

Rick and Mike took off in Rick’s Jeep and headed to meet with the others driving up Pikes Peak that night while I stayed with Rick’s wife and waited to watch the fireworks being set up. Rick’s Jeep was one of several being used to transport the climbers’ gear and supplies, while drivers without a passenger would carry back the climbers. Mike had his cell phone and promised to call me at midnight as the fireworks went off.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans. The weather turned nasty (this was the end of December in Colorado, driving up a fourteener mountain). The snow got so bad they could barely see the taillights of the vehicle in front of them. Now if you’ve never been to Pikes Peak you may not know this, but there are NO guardrails. Any one of those drivers could have easily driven straight off the mountain as they missed a curve. Eeek!

While we waited, the Happy New Year greetings echoed from other countries on the TV behind us. The four-wheelers reached the top just before our midnight and Mike called to wish me a happy anniversary, but had bad news for all of us waiting and watching for the fireworks. The weather was too bad and they couldn’t be set off. While a little disappointed, we all understood. It was now the early morning hours of January 1st and we settled in to wait for everybody to return. What a night for all of us!

Till next time…