[PPRAANet] FW: Colorado 14er and Mountaintop Event

Sun Jul 6 23:37:50 EDT 2025

Greetings everyone!

To those of you who are interested in SOTA (Summits On The Air), you probably already know about and are planning to participate in the upcoming Colorado 14er and Mountaintop Event July 31 – August 3rd.  Details and website links are provided in the email below.

But for the rest of you, let me provide some highlights to possible entice you to participate for the first or second time.  Once a year, 20, 30, or more SOTA operators/activators will hike, climb, drive, bicycle, ride a horse, or ride a train up an eligible Colorado mountain with portable radio equipment (think Field Day) and get on the air calling CQ and having fun.  Several hundred more operators will be listening and monitoring websites and frequencies to chase them… and sometimes live, vicariously, the mountaintop experience of the activator.  It’s not a contest, it’s just for the fun of it.  This event is called the Colorado 14er and Mountaintop Event, and this year it will be held each of four consecutive days starting on Thursday, July 31st, and concluding on Sunday, August 3rd.

Chasers can be located anywhere.  Perhaps you’ll be driving through Colorado and can scan 2m frequencies on the mobile rig in your vehicle.  Perhaps you’ll be camping and can bring along an HT, listening for nearby activators.  I know of at least one activator who plans to activate Pikes Peak, and should be easy to chase from nearby front range communities.  Or maybe you’ve been procrastinating your first SOTA activation and want to use this event as a motivator (there are more drive-ups and easy hikes than you might think).  Whatever your interest… let me suggest the following… 

Read through the attached email below, and become familiar with the event.  Then, call or text me: 248-231-6921 for recommendations, answers to questions, or just to confirm your understanding of how to participate for maximum fun.  I’ll do everything I can to get you prepared and ready for a memorable day of SOTA.  I don’t always take calls from numbers I don’t recognize, so be sure to leave a voicemail if I don’t answer.  I hope to hear from you soon.

Ray / KD8EQA

-------- Forwarded Message -------- 

Subject: 

Colorado 14er and Mountaintop Event - 2025

Date: 

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 21:40:18 -0600

From: 

Bob Witte K0NR  <mailto:bob at k0nr.com> <bob at k0nr.com>

To: 

CO 14er & Mountaintop Event List  <mailto:ham14er at ham14er.groups.io> <ham14er at ham14er.groups.io>, w0c-sota at groups.io

During the Colorado 14er & Mountaintop Event, amateur radio operators from around Colorado will be activating Summits On The Air (SOTA) peaks and communicating with other radio amateurs across the state and around the world. Join in on the fun during the annual event by activating a summit or contacting (chasing) the mountaintop stations. Be aware that many mountaintop activators will hit the trail early with the goal of being off the summits by (1800 UTC) noon due to lightning safety concerns.

This event is normally held the first full weekend in August. Again this year, we will add two bonus days to the event. The main two days remain Saturday and Sunday (Aug 2 & 3), while the bonus days are Thursday July 31 and Friday Aug 1 for those SOTA enthusiasts who need more than two days of mountaintop fun!

This event includes Summits On the Air (SOTA) peaks, which provide over 1700 summits to activate. (See the W0C SOTA web page <https://w0c-sota.org/>  or browse the SOTA Atlas <https://sotl.as/map> .) The Colorado 14er Event was started in 1991, about 19 years before the SOTA program was set up in Colorado. As SOTA grew in popularity, this event expanded from just the 14,000-foot mountains (14ers) to include all of the SOTA summits in the state. We call it the Colorado 14er & Mountaintop Event because, well, that's where it all started, and the 14ers are the iconic summits in the state.

Important: The recommended 2m FM frequencies have been changed to 146.58, 146.55, and 146.49 MHz, to align with the use of the North America Adventure Frequency for SOTA (146.58). The National Simplex Calling Frequency (146.52) may be used as appropriate. There will be plenty of action on the other ham bands, for more information see the operating frequencies page <https://ham14er.groups.io/g/ham14er/wiki/23190> .

First-time activators should read our Beginner Guide. <https://ham14er.groups.io/g/ham14er/wiki/34254> 

Radio operators who plan to activate a summit should post their intent to this ham14er group by adding it to the database. <https://ham14er.groups.io/g/ham14er/database>  It is also a great idea to post an ALERT on the SOTAwatch <https://sotawatch.sota.org.uk/>  website. 

Warning: Climbing mountains is inherently a dangerous activity.
Do not attempt this without proper training, equipment and preparation

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