Lots of annual New Year's Eve traditions have been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, but the nearly 100-year-old Pikes Peak hike of the AdAmAn Club won't be one of them.
Since 1922, the club has made the mountain trek to ring in the New Year at midnight by lighting off fireworks at 14,115 feet.
It will be, however, a little bit different this year. The club plans to split into two groups and complete the climb in a single day. Plus, every climber needed to have a negative COVID-19 test.
"Normally we take a two day hike to get to the summit and stay at Barr Camp," said AdAmAn Club president Dan Stuart. Barr Camp has limitations this year. "So we're doing it in one day."
One group will utilize the Barr Trail to reach the summit; the other will take the Pikes Peak Highway.
On top of the traditional midnight celebrative pyrotechnics, the club plans to shoot off 150 fireworks at 9 p.m. to usher in the year-long sesquicentennial celebration of the founding of Colorado Springs.
"Occasionally, the club dedicates the climb to some particular person or entity or organization," Stuart said. "This year we're dedicating the climb to the people of Colorado Springs in honor of the city's sesquicentennial."
Mayor John Suthers plans to join the club at the summit for the initial launch.
"The AdAmAn Club has been an institution in Colorado Springs for a long long time," Suthers said. "I can think of no better way to kick off 2021, the city's sesquicentennial year."
Stuart said he hopes residents of the city can step outside to see the fireworks display, "look up at the peak, and celebrate that spirit of adventure that really is Colorado Springs."
"We're celebrating hope for a new year that just has to be better than the old one," he said.
