The City of Colorado Springs is gathering reflections from community members on their personal connections to Pikes Peak. It’s part of a campaign called “My Mountain,” leading up to completion of the new Pikes Peak Summit Complex. The city has shared audio versions of several stories with 91.5 KRCC, which we are editing for broadcast.
In this audio postcard, we hear from PK Knickerbocker:
"We spent a lot of time up there, too, even when I was little. It's something that we've just always done. It's almost like it's part of the family." - PK Knickerbocker
The house that I grew up in was up on top of a hill. It has what I think is the best view of Pikes Peak in town. There's a sliding glass door that was on the the southwest side of the house that faced the mountains. When I was little, I used to get up in the morning before school, and I had a little blanket, and I would sit on the heat register and look out the sliding glass door at the mountains and watch the colors change as the sun came up. That's how I remember basically getting ready for school — every morning was a little moment of waking up next to the mountain.
My family was all really into Pikes Peak. It's something that was admired and talked about. [We talked about] the clouds as they were coming up over it or the sunset behind it. We spent a lot of time up there, too, even when I was little. It's something that we've just always done. It's almost like it's part of the family. My dad and I specifically would make a point of going up at least once a year. I do that with my kids, too. I have two daughters.
I'm really excited about the new summit complex. I think it's going to be so cool. I don't want to say what's up there doesn't quite do the mountain justice, but it kind of doesn't. I'm really excited that there will be so much to honor the history up there. [The way things are now] most visitors would miss most of the historic monuments that are up there and wouldn't really understand what it's about. To have more of a museum and have some of interactive things up there, I think is really going to help. I love the way that they're planning for the future and making room for future technology. I think that's very cool.
Pikes Peak is my mountain because it's been the backdrop of my whole life.
We’ll have more reflections as part of the “My Mountain” campaign over the next few months. Learn more about the campaign and ways to support the new Summit Complex here.
