Whew! What a Feat

I recently have been attempting 360s on my snowboard. Some go okay (I get about 300 degrees and spin the rest on the ground), but most end up with me in a pile on the ground. And this isn't soft snow I'm falling on. This is hard-packed landings off real jumps. So anyway, this past weekend I took a particularly hard fall, straight onto my hip, and the pain is lingering a bit longer than I would like. I must have really bruised myself good because anytime I sit down I get stiff, and standing up (without pain or soreness) is surprisingly challenging. Then today I noticed that the more I was up and walking around, the better my hip/butt area felt. So when I got off work at 2:30, I decided to go for a hike. Plus it didn't hurt that it was a GORGEOUS day.

I decided I would go to Manitou Springs and climb the Incline. This is a 1.02 mi. hike, STRAIGHT UP! No switch-backs to lessen the grade, just straight up. The Incline is actually the roadbed to the former Mount Manitou Scenic Incline Railway — a cable car that took people up the eastern face of Rocky Mountain to about 8,600' before shutting down in 1990. In its place now are thousands of steps (literally - I counted) that lead to the summit destination in which the old railway used to go. During the course of the hike, you gain 2,011 verticle feet of elevation, and the average grade is 41%. The steepest grade is 68%, and there are actually 2,723 literal steps that lead to the top (I told you I counted). Those actual steps are steps-up, not paces taken between a few of the steps. If you count paces taken to reach the summit there would be quite a few more. If those statistics sound scary, also take into acount that these steps are made of either railroad ties held in place by rebar or t-posts (used for fences), rocks, or plastic or aluminum drain tile, all of which is covered by loose gravel (and there are no railings). Take a look at some pictures I found of the Incline online:


This is just a little graph that illustrates the rise in elevation and grades of the hike.


The line apparent in the mountain in these two pictures is the Incline. Pretty vertical!



A view of the Incline as you hike it. Here you can see the railroad ties and drain tile that create the steps to the top. It's steep!


Two views looking back down the Incline. It was kind of scary! I only slipped twice though, and only one of those slips took me all the way to the ground. (Loose gravel and snow/ice aren't good for traction.)

Two more views as you would see hiking up the incline.

It was intense! I was breathing so hard, and multiple times during the hike up I felt like I was going to throw up my heart. It was pounding so hard it felt like it was in my throat and ready to pop right out. But boy was I happy when I made it to the top. That felt like quite the accomplishment. If I could do that two times a week, I would be able to hike all sorts of mountains without hardly breaking a sweat! Not to mention I would have a pretty killer backside and legs. I may just have to think about making this a regular thing. I'd also like to time myself next time. I think I made it in a little under an hour, but some people can do it in less than a half an hour. Those must have been the people flying past me on the way up. O well, it was only my first time, and I'm pretty proud of myself. I bet I'll be feeling it in the morning. My legs were so exhausted as I hiked back down they were shaking uncontrollably the couple times I stopped to get out of another hikers way. My legs usually shake or tremor (or whatever you want to call it) after a long day of skiing (not so much snowboarding), but never have they been that bad. This was a workout like no other!!