Sitting on $10,000: Newlywed finds 1st Summit Rock, 2 to go

ST. GEORGE – Callie Fielding had no idea she was sitting on $10,000.

Callie Fielding holds up the highly sought-after Summit Rock, the first of three hidden by the Summit Athletic Club and Canyon Media in 2017, each worth between $5,000 and $10,000, depending upon whether the finder is wearing the red Summit Rock T-Shirt. Fielding found the rock after looking underneath a boulder she was sitting on. St. George, Utah, June 5, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Fielding, her husband and her in-laws were looking for the elusive Summit Rock, a nice little triangular-shaped stone that came with a hefty chunk of change if found. She was sitting on top of a boulder waiting for her husband to bring her some water when a thought struck her.

“I had this impression to look underneath (the boulder) and sure enough – there was the Summit Rock!” Fielding said.

Astonished at her $10,000 find, Fielding was shaking and she had trouble dialing the number for the Summit Athletic Club in order to let the staff there know what she had found.

“I was just in shock,” she said.

Fielding found the first of three Summit Rocks Saturday on the trail system near the Dixie Center St. George. On Monday she received the promised $10,000 at the athletic club’s River Road facility.

Being newlyweds, Fielding said she and her husband will likely use part of the money to pay off some bills and put some away for savings. As for the rest – they’re looking at another honeymoon.

“We definitely want to go and probably do a honeymoon Part II, go somewhere fun,” Fielding said, adding her husband is partial to cruises – something she has yet to experience herself.

The Summit Athletic Club and Canyon Media have been running the “Summit Rock Hunt” for five years now. For each of the first two years a single rock was hidden, while the last three years, three rocks have been hidden throughout the community, each promising a potential $10,000 to the person who found it.

Rock hunters wear their red Summit Rock Hunt T-shirts and search for the hidden Summit Rock worth up to $10,000. For the last five years, the Summit Athletic Club and Canyon Media have partnered for the Summit Rock Hunt and shared clues to the hidden rock’s location. Thus far an estimated $75,000 has been won by lucky rock hunters. St. George, Utah. June 1, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

Clues are shared with intrepid rock hunters over radio waves and social media daily: on Canyon Media radio shows, “Planet 94.1” at 8:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., “95.9 The Hawk” and “99.9 KONY Country” at 8:30 a.m.; and on those shows’ Facebook pages and phone apps at 10 a.m.

Clues are also shared on Summit Athletic Clubs Facebook page.

Gymgoers can see the clues posted at Summit Athletic Club facilities on River Road and Sunset Boulevard as well.

Oh, and don’t forget to be wearing that Summit Rock T-shirt when out searching. Without it, the rock is worth $5,000, with it, $10,000 is in the bag for the finder. The T-shirts can be bought at Summit Athletic Club facilities.

Large groups of people wearing the red Summit Rock T-shirts have been spotted throughout the community as they search the areas they believe the clues are directing them to.

Since its inception, Summit Athletic Club and Canyon Media have given out an estimated $75,000 to winners, said Joe Levine, owner of the Summit Athletic Club. It could have been more in certain cases, he said, had the winners been wearing the Summit Rock T-shirts.

Rock hunters wear their red Summit Rock Hunt T-shirts and search for the hidden Summit Rock worth up to $10,000. For the last five years, the Summit Athletic Club and Canyon Media have partnered for the Summit Rock Hunt and shared clues to the hidden rock’s location. Thus far an estimated $75,000 has been won by lucky rock hunters. St. George, Utah. June 1, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

The idea for the competition came from a similar event Levine and his wife heard on the radio many years ago in Las Vegas. They liked the idea so much they wanted to apply it to the athletic club and the community somehow and ultimately the Summit Rock Hunt idea was born.

In a sense, it’s a great way to trick people into getting outdoors and enjoying some exercise, Levine said. People are getting out and walking and biking around as they search for the Summit Rock and are having fun with it, he said

“It’s the neatest form of exercise,” Levine said. “Exercise doesn’t have to be horrible and hard. This is something you can enjoy and have fun with.”

Aside from physical exercise, rock hunters also get to exercise their brains while trying to figure out the daily clues.

“It’s all about promoting a healthy lifestyle,” Levine said, adding that the annual event has turned into something more than just a hunt for a $10,000 rock – it’s turning into a community activity.

Many people are not only coming together in groups to search for the rocks, but also to help figure out where the rocks may be as they exchange ideas online.

“It’s really evolved into a neat culture of people helping each other,” Levine said, speaking to a Facebook community dedicated to the rock hunt. “They’re supposed to be competing for this, but it’s amazing. It’s an amazing thing to see what people are doing to help each other.”

The highly sought-after Summit Rock, the first of three hidden by the Summit Athletic Club and Canyon Media, each worth between $5,000 and $10,000, depending upon whether the finder is wearing the red Summit Rock T-shirt. For the last five years, the Summit Athletic Club and Canyon Media have teamed up for the Summit Rock Hunt and shared clues to the hidden rock’s location. Thus far an estimated $75,000 has been won by lucky rock hunters. St. George, Utah, June 5, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Chris and LaRae Nelson, of the Chris and LaRae morning show on “Planet 94.1,” have watched the Summit Rock Hunt evolve and have met the winners over the last five years.

“It’s been super exciting to meet the people that have won, because we have seen people from all over,” LaRae Nelson said. “It’s people who are dedicated to the clues – can master the clues, figure it out and really get down there – to the people who just (by) dumb luck happen to find the rock and pick it up without ever having heard a clue. Every person who has ever won, it has totally impacted their lives.”

Many of the winners partnered with their families, friends or co-workers to find the Summit Rocks, LaRae Nelson said. These groups will get together and break down the clues and then go out and search.

At times those groups will post photos to social media, she said, and share how much fun they had while searching for the rock, even if the search turned up empty that day.

“It’s been really fun to see that aspect and to see people really working together to find the rock,” LaRae Nelson said.

Two weeks remain for the search for Summit Rocks 2017 with two more rocks to be found.

Stay tuned to the listed radio stations at 8:30 a.m., check the program Facebook pages and the apps at 10 a.m. for clues; and don’t forget to pick up a Summit Rock T-shirt so you can be eligible to win the full $10,000 when you find that rock.

Resources

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

 

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2 Comments

  • Happy Day June 6, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    Way to go Callie! A young newlywed is very deserving!

  • Mike P. June 7, 2017 at 10:00 am

    Wow, Summit athletic club has gotten at least $75,000 in free advertising so far for this rock and that doesn’t even count the t-shirt sales!

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