Nov. 20, 2022. MOAB, Utah — Blake Votilla stared up at the 120-foot spruce tree. He strapped braces with four-inch spurs to his shins and clipped two large red plastic sacks on his climbing harness.

But Utah just won by default, because Colorado''s champion blue spruce died. Utah''s winning spruce stands taller than the Kimball tower -- 127 feet high with a circumference of 190.3 inches.