Colorado Rampage Hockey: August 2013

On Sunday morning at 6:30 am, the U16 rampage team set out to conquer "The Mighty Manitou Incline" as part of their Olympic Training Program to get ready for the season ahead.

The Manitou Springs Incline, also known as the Manitou Incline or simply the Incline, is a popular hiking trail rising above Manitou Springs, Colorado, near Colorado Springs. The trail is the remains of a former incline railway whose tracks washed out during a rock slide in 1990. The Incline is famous for its sweeping views and steep grade, as steep as 68% in places, making it a fitness challenge for locals in the Colorado Springs area. The incline gains over 2,000 feet (610 m) of elevation in less than one mile.

At the bottom, looking up.

"Since its closure as a railway in 1990, the trail has steadily grown in popularity as a hiking trail and fitness challenge.The base of the Incline sits at 6,600 feet (2,000 m) and the trail climbs 2,000 feet (610 m) in just over 3⁄4 miles (1.2 km). Parts of the trail are extremely broken and steep and will require even the fittest of hikers or trail runners to scramble over the broken rocks and steep trail. Sections of the trail have exposed pipe from the days when the Incline was a hydroelectric utility system. Hiking the trail should not be undertaken by the physically unfit, as there is no vehicle access to the trail and anyone injured or suffering a medical emergency will have to walk or be carried down by other hikers. At the top of the Incline, there is a tie-in to the Barr Trail that allows for hikers to descend without going back down the Incline, which is considered bad form, especially during busier times of the day.

Due to the close proximity to the large and active population center of Colorado Springs, the large military population of nearby Army and Air Force bases, and the US Olympic Training Center, the Incline has become a wildly popular fitness destination for those craving an intense cardio workout. About 2/3 of the way up, a Barr Trail switchback passes just a few yards from the Incline, and there is a pathway that allows those who wish to exit the Incline the opportunity to take the Barr Trail back down. Locals refer to this point as the 'Bailout'. The Incline is at its steepest grade just after the bailout for about another 200 feet (61 m), when it reaches the 'false summit', a semi-crest in the trail that obscured the true summit to hikers due to its extreme grade.

Those who reach the false summit are about 3/4 of the way to the top, but still have several hundred feet to climb. When standing at the summit of the Incline, you will be looking East-Northeast towards Colorado Springs. If you travel south down the hill, you will pick up a trail that links into the Barr trail, a much less steep path down the mountain and the preferred descent route during busy trail hours."

source: Wikipedia