Ever wonder what the Manitou and Colorado Springs lights look like at night from the summit of the Incline? The photo above is from the top of the Incline on February 2, 2012 as light snow fell. The photo below is from December 11th, 2008 on a moonlit evening.

Unfortunately once the Manitou Incline becomes legal to hike, the management plan has a rule for it only to be open from dawn to dusk.

Last fall firefighters hiked up the Manitou Incline in full gear to commemorate their fallen comrades and all who died on 9/11. The firefighters figured each step represented one person who had died that day, and the total height was the same as climbing both of the Twin Towers.

Photographer Ed Barth was shooting photos that day of the Incline and captured the firefighters. He’s selling 2 different photos. One is with the firefighters at the bottom and another as they were making their way up the Incline.

Ed specializes in big prints and has these available from 2 feet tall to 6 1/2 feet tall. He had them on display at the Incline Friends membership drive and they have great detail. He’s donating 50% of sales of these 2 photos to the Incline Friends through February 5th.

With barely any snow since before Christmas, most of the Manitou Incline is clear of snow except above the false summit. The photos are from last weekend on January 22nd, 2012 but conditions were similar on Thursday night.

There still is some ice below where the ties split around halfway but it isn’t too bad. Above the false summit is still very icy. The ties are melted off but slippery ice fills in between them.

With care the upper part can be climbed without traction devices but coming back down the top of the Incline is treacherous. The photo above shows an Incline regular running back down but she’s wearing Kahtoola MicroSpikes and is very experienced on hiking the Incline in winter.

The social trail from the top of the Incline down to Barr Trail is mostly clear of ice. Barr Trail is also mostly clear but icy patches still exist. Some of them are hidden under a thin layer of dirt but are still slippery. The dirt access road to the water intake above Upper Ruxton would be better for bobsledding than for hiking so avoid that and stay on Barr Trail.

[View with PicLens]

The Incline Friends held a successful membership drive Wednesday evening at Phantom Canyon Brewery. About 150 people joined the Incline Friends and received their Incline Friends tech t-shirt.

Money raised by the Incline Friends will go toward matching grants, trailhead construction and trail-building projects. If you didn’t make it to the membership drive at Phantom Canyon, you can join the Incline Friends online here.

[View with PicLens]

Currently the legalization of the Manitou Incline is moving forward well and the Incline could be legal by summer. The Incline Friends is the group that is raising funds to help implement the Manitou Incline Site Development and Management Plan. They are having a membership drive 6 PM to 9 PM. Wednesday, Jan. 25, at Phantom Canyon Brewery.

Members of the Incline Friends committee will be on hand to provide updated information about the legalization process and where the project currently stands.

Community members are encouraged to join Incline Friends, the nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds, public education and volunteer coordination for the Manitou Incline. Membership cost is $35 per year. All who join will receive a new Incline Friends tech T-shirt. And Phantom Canyon has promised to buy a beer for the first 50 who join.

If you can’t make it to the membership drive at Phantom Canyon, you can join the Incline Friends online.

A couple days ago we asked whether you thought it was OK to trespass on the Manitou Incline. This was because one of Colorado Springs’ councilmen makes no secret that he regularly hikes the Incline.

Now local musician Chuck Snow is calling for a citizen arrest of Tim Leigh. “It is NOT currently legal to trespass on The Manitou Incline, and here we have one of our city council members (Tim Leigh) shamelessly breaking the law,” Chuck Snow wrote in an email to his friends.

Tim Leigh says it could be turned into fundraiser for the Incline Friends. “Let’s say the fine is $150 per time. Let’s use this piece to challenge other Incliner’s to bail me out by making a donation to the ‘Bail-out Tim Campaign’ for the benefit of the Friends of the Incline,” Leigh wrote in an email to The Gazette.

You can read the rest of the story on the Gazette.

Here’s a funny video of Gazette reporter Wayne Laugesen interviewing Leigh about his Manitou Incline trespassing. The video talks about Tim Leigh breaking Colorado Springs laws. The Incline is in Manitou Springs so he wouldn’t be breaking Colorado Springs laws.

The Gazette spoke with City Councilman Tim Leigh yesterday about trespassing on the Incline since he makes no secret that he trespasses on it. Here’s his response.

“I’m heading there now to break the law,” Leigh said. “I know it’s illegal to do right now, but it is so pervasively used. It’s like one of those laws that’s so commonly broken, how do you feel bad about it? I know it’s a horrible thing to say. I’m totally wrong. I got that. I should not go. But it has been featured in the New York Times and Sports illustrated. It is nationally acclaimed as an endurance-sports venue.”

Head over to the Gazette to read the rest of the article.

What are your thoughts? Do you think people should be trespassing? Do you yourself trespass on the Incline?

The sunny, warm days have continued to melt the snow from before Christmas off the Incline. There are still some snowpacked and icy spots though.

Here are the Incline trail conditions on Thursday, January 12th 2012. Most of the lower part of the Incline was clear. The Incline was snowpacked halfway up where the tracks split where it doesn’t get much sun. Once above that section, it was mostly clear until the false summit. Above the false summit, it was snowpacked and icy.

The social trail to Barr trail only had a couple small icy spots. There were some icy spots on Barr Trail but it wasn’t too bad. The worst is some of the icy spots have a thin layer of dirt & gravel over top so it’s hard to tell that it’s icy. There were a couple big shoe slide marks on those so pay attention.

Currently experienced hikers should be able to hike the Manitou Incline without traction devices as long as caution is used on the icy sections. Coming down the top section of the Incline could be tricky though. Carrying Kahtoola MicroSpikes, YakTrax, or Stabilicers Lite would still be a good idea.

With the dry fall and early winter, the Manitou Incline has been mostly free of snow and ice. That all changed with the 2 snow storms the week before Christmas.

Although the snow has melted off sections of the Incline and Barr Trail, there’s still plenty of ice. Often the ice from the melting and freezing is more slippery than when the snow first falls. It’s a pretty time of year on the Manitou Incline but use Kahtoola MicroSpikes, YakTrax, or Stabilicers Lite and be safe.

Here are some photos from December 23, 2011 and include the tree decorated at the the top of the Incline with Christmas decorations.

[View with PicLens]

Join the Incline Friends and ultra runners Anton Krupicka, Geoff Roes and Anita Ortiz for a premier showing of the new documentary “Unbreakable: The Western States 100,” at 7 p.m., Dec. 7 at Stargazers Theatre. Doors open at 6 p.m.

The film by Journeyfilm’s JB Benna follows the footsteps of four extraordinary athletes, including Krupicka and Roes of Boulder, as they prepare for the 2010 race and the daunting challenge of running 100 miles across the Sierra Nevada, some of the most rugged country in the western United States. On race day you’ll join the runners shoulder-to-shoulder as they push their limits above timberline, and then risk life and limb on hell-bent descents.

This is a must see for anyone who dreams of striding across the sky to greet the sunrise.

The evening will be topped with a question and answer discussion with Krupicka, Roes and Ortiz, some of the top ultra runners in the world. Roes won the Western States 100 in 2010, while Ortiz claimed the women’s title in 2009. Krupicka, who attended Colorado College, is a two-time winner of the Leadville 100.

Tickets cost $10 and will be available at Mountain Chalet, 226 N. Tejon St.; Colorado Running Company, 833 N. Tejon St., and 9275 N. Union Blvd, Ste. 120; and Carmichael Training Systems, 600 S. 21st St., No. 100. Tickets will also be available for $10 the day of the show, but it’s wise to purchase them early. Tickets are also available online for $11 at imATHLETE.com.

The event is a fundraiser for Incline Friends, a new organization created to help implement the Manitou Incline Site Development and Management Plan and open the Incline to the public. Incline Friends works to educate users about new rules and regulations, builds relationships with other groups and residents who use and live near the Incline, and organizes volunteer work days.