Pikes Peak Council is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America. Named after the most famous peak in the council territory, upon which 'America the Beautiful' was written, Pikes Peak Council provides Scouting to youth in east-central Colorado, including Park, Teller, El Paso, Elbert, Lincoln, Kit Carson and Cheyenne Counties. See also Scouting in Colorado.
History[]
As with Longs Peak Council, there is officially no apostrophe in the name, due to a ruling about the mountain itself by the Board on Geographic Names.
On board the Space Shuttle Challenger when it disintegrated in 1986 was an American flag that was sponsored by Troop 514 of Monument, Colorado. When the Challenger wreckage was retrieved from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, this flag was found, sealed in a plastic bag, intact and completely unscathed.
In July 2005, Pikes Peak Council moved from its four-decade home downtown to a temporary location in northeast Colorado Springs until the council's new headquarters at the intersection of I-25 and Fillmore Street was finished in July 2008, to account for the demographic and geographic shift of Colorado Springs. The vacated original building became the home of Sario, a Lions Club project.
Districts[]
Each District coordinates scout leader training. activities and other resources for community based scouting programs. This council is divided into 2 Districts:
- Pikes Peak Frontier District (Serves Colorado Springs School District 11 and Falcon School District 49)
- High Plains District (Serves the school districts of Peyton, Calhan, Ramah, Ellicott, Miami-Yoder, Edison, Hanover, and all communities in Elbert, Lincoln, Kit Carson, and Kiowa Counties, pointing east to the Kansas border including the communities of Limon, Burlington and Cheyenne Wells)
- Jamboree District (Serves Academy School District 20 and Lewis-Palmer School District 38)
- Ute District (Serves Harrison School District 2, Cheyenne Mountain School District 12, Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 and Widefield School District 3)
Council Camps[]
Pikes Peak Council Camps feature many resources for organizing exciting outdoor adventure group activities and are available for rental by scout groups, families and other youth groups. Some camps feature an organized week long campership program during summer months.
- Camp Alexander is located in the Eleven Mile Canyon in the Pike National Forest approximately 45 miles (72 km) west of Colorado Springs, and two miles (3 km) south of Lake George, in Park County, Colorado, was donated in 1946 by J. Don Alexander of the Alexander Film Company.
Council Special Events[]
- Council Scout Fair
- Wood Badge
- University of Scouting
Order of the Arrow[]
Order of the Arrow is the National Honor Society of Scouting and recognized those who uphold the scouting ideals of camping, service and citizenship.
- Ha-Kin-Skay-A-Ki Lodge #387, chartered in 1948, serves 700+ Arrowmen. The lodge totem is a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and the name is said to translate to "Great Horned Goat of the Mountain" but does not specify the language or dialect. Until 1953, the lodge was simply known as Pike's Peak Lodge. In response to the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire that affected Colorado Springs, the lodge released a fundraising lodge flap featuring a bighorn sheep looking over a burning area.
Eagles Nest[]
Noteworthy scouts and service projects of the council:
Council Scout Executives[]
Scout Executives
- Ray Ryerson 1940 - 1973
- Loren Swenson 1973 - 1993
- James Winkler 1993 - 1995
- Ross Harrop 1995 - 2004
- Ian Lilien 2004 - 2008
- Dustin Shaver 2008– 2012
- Kent Downing 2012–present
External Links[]
- pikespeakbsa.org - Official Website of Pikes Peak Council