Colorado Springs parks officials have stripped Christmas decorations from a tree at the summit of the Manitou Incline, saying the ornaments hung by members of the public pose a threat to local wildlife.

The evergreen tree growing atop the stairway that ascends 2,000 feet up a hillside near Manitou Springs has for years been decorated with bulbs, lights and other festive trinkets by hikers during the holiday season.

Visitors who complete the grueling, mile-long climb today can instead expect to find a laminated message from Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services citing city ordinances that prohibit littering or causing damage to trees and grass.

“As beautiful as they are, ornaments are made of plastic, which is an environmental toxin, and when they fly off in the wind, they become litter,” the message reads in part. “Lights disorient birds and other wildlife and create an entanglement risk. Lights are also a fire hazard, even in the winter.”

In a statement shared with The Denver Post and local broadcaster KRDO, the city said personal items removed from the tree Monday are in the process of being returned to their owners.

The city also asked would-be guerilla decorators to leave their holiday ornaments at home.

“We kindly ask the public to respect the Leave No Trace principles, which help protect our wildlife and natural resources,” the city said. “These principles encourage all visitors to minimize their impact on the environment, ensuring that our parks remain beautiful and accessible for everyone.”

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Originally Published: December 13, 2024 at 2:49 PM MST

The first snow event in a series of storms set to hit Colorado’s high country starts today, with snow entering the state from the northwest.

Two other snow events on Sunday and Wednesday will replenish the slopes, but neither is likely to boost state snowpack in the weekend leading up to Christmas.

Soft and light powder snow for skiing and riding will be there, just not very deep.

Recap:

The sun was mostly out both Wednesday and Thursday across Colorado and temperatures rebounded from Tuesday’s cold day-time highs in the single digits.

The National Weather Service in Boulder recorded a high of 23 on Wednesday and 34 on Thursday at Copper Mountain; the Weather Service office in Grand Junction recorded a high of 32 on Wednesday and 39 on Thursday in Aspen.

Forecast:

On Friday, snow will move into the state’s northwestern mountains on a pseudo-disorganized low pressure system passing across Colorado. A few bands of snow showers will lay down snow mostly north of Interstate 70, with even lighter accumulations further south.

Snowfall totals forecast from the NWS Blends of Models and the ECMWF models for the northern mountains range between 1-4 inches; in the central mountains, between 1-2 inches; and in the southern mountains, between a trace-1 inch. The Park Range, including Steamboat, could get lucky however, as the NWS Blend of Models forecasts up to 8 inches at upper elevations.

Overall, Saturday is not looking like much of a powder day, but more like dust on crust.

The NWS Blend of Models model:

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The ECMWF model:

On Saturday, the sun will come back out and highs will climb into the upper 20s around resort summits, and be in the mid 30s at area bases.

On Saturday night into Sunday morning, the second storm, cutting off from another low pressure pressing into the Pacific Northwest, is showing a similar path across Colorado through Monday morning.

Forecasted snow accumulations for the northern mountains range, between 2-3 inches; in the central mountains, 1-2 inches; and in the southern mountains, maybe a trace-0.5 inch in the northern San Juan Mountains.

Once again, the NWS Blend of Models forecasts the Park Range to get approximately 4-8 inches from storm two, with 3-6 inches expected for the central mountains and 1-3 inches expected for the the southern mountains (San Juan Mountains mostly).

The NWS Blend of Models model:

The ECMWF model:

Overall, Monday is trending toward being a light powder day, with partly sunny skies for the northern and western mountains north of I-70.

Early Tuesday morning into early Wednesday morning, snow storm No.3 arrives, and once again the northern and west-central mountains are forecast to receive the majority of snowfall from this storm.

Wednesday morning is trending toward another light powder day up north, however, some central ski areas like Monarch, Aspen/Snowmass and Sunlight could finally have a powder day since this storm is hitting the state mid-week.

Forecasted totals of between 2-4 inches are expected for the northern and central mountains; 1-3 inches in the southern mountains can be expected.

The NWS Blend of Models model:

The ECMWF model:

When all is said an done, 8 to 10 to 14 inches of snow is optimistically accurate with these three storms. 

Long range:

After the three-storm series concludes, expect dry weather up through the first day of winter, which is Saturday, Dec. 21. Around Monday, Dec. 23, snow and wintry conditions might materialize, but these dates are still 10-11 days out and details will change over that time period. 

A white Christmas with fresh snow is looking to be a no go currently. Fingers crossed.

Today’s 24-hour snow totals from Colorado resorts:

Arapahoe Basin – 0″

Aspen Highlands – Opens Dec. 14

Aspen Mountain – 0″

Beaver Creek – 0″

Breckenridge – 0″

Buttermilk – Opens Dec. 14

Cooper – 0″

Copper Mountain – 0″

Crested Butte – 0″

Echo Mountain – Opens in December

Eldora Mountain – 0″

Granby Ranch – 0″

Hesperus – Closed for the season

Howelsen Hill – 0″

Kendall Mountain – Opens Dec. 20

Keystone – 0″

Loveland – 0″

Monarch – 0″

Powderhorn – 0″

Purgatory – 0″

Silverton – Opens Dec. 28

Snowmass – 0″

Steamboat – 0″

Sunlight – 0″

Telluride – 0″

Vail – 0″

Winter Park – 0″

Wolf Creek – 0″

The Rocky Mountain region’s new hockey club sent a rude message to the Avalanche in their first game in Denver.

Utah blasted Colorado 4-1 on Thursday night at Ball Arena, with the Avs undone by a cheap goal in the opening period, a two-goal blitz in the second period and a lack of finishing on offense.

“I like the chances we created at times in the game, but (Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka) made some big saves tonight, no question,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “And we got a little unlucky (with a couple of shots off the post). … We turned some A’s into C’s tonight.

“At the end of the day, they put the puck in the net with some great opportunities, and we didn’t. It looked like we were really fighting to find our legs today. We had pretty good intentions, but that little extra that you need to create dangerous chances wasn’t there for the whole game.”

The visitors took the lead off a flimsy goal in the opening period when, a little more than eight minutes in, Dylan Guenther’s crossing pass deflected off Artturi Lehkonen and into the net. Lehkonen was bodying Logan Cooley in the front of the net, and Guenther’s pass that was intended for Cooley instead took a bounce off Lehkonen’s skate and past goalie Scott Wedgewood.

The Avs ended the opening period with a 9-7 advantage in shots on goal, with several bona fide chances, but were turned away by Vejmelka each time.

Then in the second period, Utah took control in a frame that cemented the end of Colorado’s three-game win streak and the feel-good vibes coming off a solid 4-1 road trip.

Joel Kiviranta’s slap shot 20 seconds into the period nearly put the Avs on the board, but Vejmelka slid over and made a snazzy save with his shoulder. Colorado continued to push the tempo and then went on the power play four minutes in, due to a holding penalty. But Vejmelka made another incredible save on a wrister by Lehkonen, plus some other stops as Colorado came up empty on the man advantage.

About midway through the period, Utah firmly took control of the game with a pair of goals within a two-minute frame to go up 3-0.

Vladislav Kolyachonok casually wristed one home from up near the blue line on the right side of the ice, and his low-trajectory shot deflected off Colorado defenseman Calvin de Haan as the puck beat Wedgewood’s leg kickout on the bottom left shelf.

“It was just bad luck tonight,” Wedgewood said. “It’s the way it goes sometimes.”

About 90 seconds later, Givani Smith — whom the Avs traded San Jose for earlier this week in the deal that also brought goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to Colorado — was sent to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct. Utah made quick work on the power play, needing only nine seconds for Guenther to find the net on a slap shot for his second goal of the evening.

Some impressive passing, described by Bednar as “tic, tac, toe,” preceded the goal.

“(Smith) was sort of continuing the scrum, but it’s a penalty,” Bednar said. “I don’t love it, because we were in the game. At that time, you’ve got to be real careful. I like the juice he played with the entire shift, and then we take a penalty and it ends up in the back of our net.”

The second period ended in four-on-four hockey as both teams were on the power play, and Colorado carried its advantage over to the third.

But the Avs couldn’t capitalize as Vejmelka continued to stand on his head. That included Lehkonen getting stuffed on a breakaway with eight minutes left in the game. Colorado finally lit the lamp after pulling Wedgewood with about five minutes to play, leading to Nathan MacKinnon’s wrister with 4:26 left. But Utah quickly responded 23 seconds later with Kevin Stenlund’s goal on the empty net.

Vejmelka finished with 23 saves, including four on the power play. Colorado dropped to 17-14-0 with the defeat, and 7-8 at home, as Utah got payback for the Avs’ 5-1 road win on Oct. 24.

“We’ve just got to start feeding off the momentum of the crowd more, and take a bit more onus to play our game and move our feet (to start stacking wins at home),” winger Logan O’Connor said. “We were doing that on our road trip and it’s really tough to defend us. We just let off the gas too much tonight in too many areas.”

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Originally Published: December 12, 2024 at 9:50 PM MST