COLORADO SPRINGS — The city of Colorado Springs apologized for telling people they needed to cut operating hours at the Manitou Incline. Officials initially said changes were going to start March 1st because of staffing issues.
"We would hope that [the] social media world would honor the fact that sometimes mistakes are made," said the city's Parks and Recreation regional manager Scott Abbott.
There was internal miscommunication among staff during seasonal shift changes, said Abbott.
Manitou Incline's operational hours will not be changing anytime soon. The hike is open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Extended summer hours will start May 1st.
The city's initial social media post had a lot of people riled up.
"There's no way to enforce it," said Incline regular Lisa Bruinsma.
"For me, it just doesn't make sense," said Incline regular Matt Allen.
They told me the hour changes would have been hard to enforce anyway.
"It's easy to circumvent the staffers anyway and they're not going to come running after you if you go up there," said Bruinsma.
They also said people have found a way to climb after hours.
"It really doesn't make sense because people could just shortcut the start and go around," said Allen.
The city of Colorado Springs requires a reservation to hike the Inline, which staff check before you start. City officials said they're in between seasonal shifts, so they don't have any staff working right now.
"We're in the process at this time is getting new employees on site so they can help support the free incline reservation system," said Abbott.
Incline regulars I spoke with said they're happy to hear access to the hike won't be limited after all.
"I usually try to come once a week if I'm in town," said Bruinsma.
"I try to come every day usually around 11 or 12," said Allen.
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