An El Paso County judge has dismissed a restraining order filed by one Manitou Incline hiker against another.

Early this spring, Noelia Sanchez had been granted a temporary restraining order over claims of verbal and physical abuse and stalking by Chasidey Geissler. Sanchez has been among a surge of regulars pushing the limits on the vertical, mountainside set of steps, while Geissler at the time was on her way to setting the women's record for most laps in a calendar year; she finished with a reported 1,222 at the end of March.

In previous Gazette interviews, the women explained how their ideas of friendly competition took a drastic turn during their efforts. Sanchez said she felt "scared" by Geissler, while Geissler suggested she herself was the victim of a "bizarre" social setting and a "mob mentality" of other regulars who pitted Sanchez against her.

Supporters on either side testified in recent hearings that ended with a judge closing the case for a permanent restraining order, as reported by KRDO. 

In an interview with The Gazette, Geissler said she was not exactly relieved.

"I still feel that they tried to take my life apart in so many different ways," she said. "This is the start of rebuilding my life, and I have many more steps to go."

Immediately after the court decision, Geissler was recorded reading a statement calling out Sanchez and her "gang," accusing them of cyberbullying, spreading "vicious rumors," using her nursing license as a "weapon" — Geissler is an intensive care unit nurse at UCHealth Memorial Central — and "abusing" the legal system.

Sanchez told The Gazette she felt the legal system was her last resort.

"We had to do that, we had to spend time and energy and money and everything else to be able to send her a message through the legal system," Sanchez said.

Sanchez said she, too, did not feel relieved.

"I don't feel safe yet," she said. "I don't know until I see that these people that associate with Ms. Geissler behave like adults and they don't continue on social media to talk bad about me and say that I'm lying."

The statement Geissler read outside the courtroom, as seen on video posted to Facebook, was "boastful and antagonizing," Sanchez said.

Asked if she intended to have any contact with Sanchez, Geissler said "absolutely not." She was also still seeing social media posts she found troubling, most recently some comparing her to the man arrested Tuesday for allegedly stabbing a man near the base of the Manitou Incline in an unrelated occurrence. 

Geissler called her ordeal "outrageous." She claimed the "bullying" toward her mirrored a situation last year, when tensions flared and the Incline community was split over a record-going man found to be cheating. In a previous interview, the man described himself as fearful of record gatekeepers.

"The difference is I didn't cheat, but we're talking about a stupid set of stairs," Geissler said. "I don't understand why they are so set on blowing up people's lives over a stupid set of stairs."

Sanchez said she wondered the same about Geissler and her camp.

"Nothing good came out of this," Sanchez said. "Only that we publicly made it a subject, and now everyone knows how things are going in the Incline community. Because that's the reality. That's what happens here."

Sanchez's was the third temporary restraining order filed over Incline-related disputes since November of last year. The two others involved a supporter of Geissler's, Jill Suarez, and were dismissed or settled out of court.

While some say the recent controversy is indicative of a cultural problem on the Incline, several others say these are merely isolated incidents involving certain personalities on the iconic attraction that has long inspired stories of healing, friendship and camaraderie.

In a statement in March, stewarding nonprofit Incline Friends said it "decries the recent negativity that has cast a cloud over what is otherwise a very positive and healthy outdoor pursuit," citing physical and mental benefits.

The group expressed its hope "that people focus on these beneficial aspects the Incline offers and that the majority who use it will continue to do so in the spirit of good sportsmanship."

Sanchez said she shared that hope. She said she worried.

"Records and PRs and that sort of thing, it can be a really healthy thing, and it can also turn into a dangerous act," she said.