AdAmAn Alley

For 100 years, a group of mountaineers in Colorado Springs has been summiting Pikes Peak and setting off fireworks at the top. Fred and Ed Morath, Fred Barr, Harry Standley, and Willis McGee made that first explosive voyage in 1922. Many decades later, the AdAmAn Club carries on their legacy. Each year on December 30 and 31, the club adds one new member; Each year, they summit the mountain and set off New Year’s Eve fireworks that can be seen from miles around. 

To celebrate their centennial, the club wanted to do something special that would last longer than a fireworks display. In 2020, some of the AdAmAn Club’s members approached Downtown Colorado Springs in hopes of creating a project that would recognize and celebrate their approaching 100th anniversary. In 2022, AdAmAn Alley was unveiled.

Its walls are lined with murals and interactive art installations, LED, and projection shows. There’s even a miniature park with a sculpture garden and seating that allows for a beautiful view of Pikes Peak. And if you stand at one end of the alley and look out towards the mountain, you’ll see a small archway that carries the alleyway’s name beneath the figures of a few mountaineers. Seen from this angle, it looks as if they’re nearing the top of the mountain. 

While the alley serves primarily as a venue for public art and enjoyment, it also aims to educate visitors about the AdAmAn Club and mountaineering in general. On the alley’s pavement, a representation of Barr Trail—the trail the club climbs each winter—winds along the ground, with bronze trail markers representing significant locations along the hike. (QR codes allow visitors to learn more about each trail marker on the local Pioneer Museum’s website.) And many of the murals nod to the mountaineers, Pike’s Peak, and the wonder of fireworks.

The alley also hosts regular events. At their block dance parties, you can boogie to music under the stars while LED fireworks explode above you; through Pioneer Museum history walks, you can learn more about the club that gave the alley its name; and at their art parties, you can enjoy dinner cooked by a local chef while enjoying performance and installation art.