Christmas tree has perched on SLO peak for decades. Here’s how local tradition began
It’s a familiar sight in San Luis Obispo during the holiday season: a glowing Christmas tree composed of lights on the top of a local mountain.
Perched at the peak of Cerro San Luis, the sparkling tree can be seen for miles on dark December nights as drivers fly past on Highway 101 or residents gaze out of their living room windows.
Many adventure seekers make an annual trek up to the base of the 30-foot-tall tree after sunset to get an up-close look.
Who started the local tradition? And how has the tradition evolved over the years?
Here’s the story behind the tree atop the peak colloquially known as Madonna Mountain.
How did SLO holiday tradition start?
The origin of the light-up tree begins with Alex and Phyllis Madonna, the couple behind San Luis Obispo’s famous Madonna Inn.
In 1972, the Madonna family bought parcels of the mountain just west of downtown SLO, including its peak, according to Clint Pearce, the president of Madonna Enterprises.
Shortly after that, the family built a road that reached the mountaintop’s 1,276-foot peak.
According to a 1986 Tribune article, the light-up tree was originally erected as a “a one-day surprise birthday present from Phyllis to Alex.”
The birthday celebration took place on top of Cerro San Luis around 1976, Pearce said.
Party guests loved the tree so much that the family was inspired to make the mountaintop ornament “their Christmas card to the community,” The Tribune reported in 1986.
The Madonnas decided to put up a tree during the holidays and construct a cross on the peak around Easter, according to Pearce.
By the late 1970s, the tree tradition at the summit of Cerro San Luis had taken off, he said.
Amanda Rich, marketing manager for the Madonna Inn, said the tree was initially just lit for the 12 days of Christmas.
“Everybody enjoyed it so much that they decided to keep it up longer,” she said.
Now, the tree lights up like clockwork from Dec. 1 though Dec. 31.
Who’s in charge of mountaintop Christmas tree?
For 25 years, Ted Sabatini has been the main man in charge of the Christmas tree on top of Cerro San Luis.
As the senior maintenance engineer at the Madonna Inn, he is responsible for the construction, operation and repair of the tree.
Every five years, he constructs the tree from scratch.
An upright 30-foot aluminum pole forms the trunk of the tree and 12 strands of LED lights make up the branches.
Sabatini cuts a 1,000-foot-long spool of Christmas lights into 12 lengths that each measure 83 feet. Then he makes the electrical connections to eventually power the tree, he told The Tribune.
In late November, Sabatini and his three-person crew haul all of the tree parts up to the top of the mountain.
It takes about four hours of labor to install the tree, he said.
A Madonna Inn employee has to drive up the mountain and manually turn on the tree’s generator at 4 p.m. each day of December.
The lights automatically shut off at 7 a.m. the following morning, Sabatini said.
The diesel-powered generator goes through about 10 gallons of fuel per night, according to Sabatini.
“It’s not a cheap date,” he said.
Pearce estimated the Christmas trees costs the Madonna family about $2,500 to construct and light up the tree each year.
Modernizing a Madonna holiday tradition
In 2023, the Madonna Christmas tree underwent a simple modernization: classic incandescent bulbs were swapped out for LED lights, Rich said.
According to Sabatini, the new Christmas lights are brighter, more energy efficient and better in all types of weather.
“The plastic bulbs are much more resilient (than the old glass ones) because when they bang against the rocks in the wind, they don’t break,” he said.
Over the years, the tree’s central mast has gotten a tad taller and more wind resistant, Sabatini said.
Besides that, Sabatini said the tree has remained the same.
“It’s the same process. It’s the same amount of work to put it up and take it down as as it’s always been,” he said.
He doesn’t expect the tree to be powered by solar energy or other power sources anytime soon.
It’d be prohibitively expensive to run a power line up the hill, Sabatini said, and he fears solar panels would be vandalized by passersby.
Challenges behind a community ‘Christmas card’
Not everyone appreciates the annual appearance of the mountaintop tree.
According to a 1986 Tribune article, there had been “a few complaints and some vandalism to the tree.”
Vandals broke the tree’s generator in the early 1980s, Pearce said.
One December, the Cal Poly men’s rowing team volunteered to stand guard at the tree every night until it was time to take it down at the end of the month.
More recently, a few hikers stolen light bulbs from the Christmas tree as souvenirs, Sabatini said. He’s started to stash additional lights on the peak to streamline repairs.
Storms and wind gusts have made it difficult to make the drive up the trees at times and even caused the tree to topple.
“We’re kind of like the mailman, you know?” Sabatini said. “(Even if) it’s snow, rain, dead of night, we’re going to get the tree up.”
Madonna Inn staff: Tree is ‘Our gift to the community’
Despite all the headaches caused by a tree made of strings lights, Sabatini said the rewards remain immeasurable.
Every Christmas Eve, he chooses the youngest child out of all the hikers on the mountaintop to flip the switch and light the tree on top of Cerro San Luis, he said.
“Going up on top of the mountain is a memory” that we’re giving people, Sabatini said.
Pearce said he and his wife, Madonna Inn general manager Connie Pearce, love seeing people hike up every year, socializing and celebrating beneath the big Christmas tree.
“We keep doing it because it is our gift to the community,” Pearce said. “It just makes us feel good to be able to put that up every year and have the community enjoy it.”
How to hike up to the Madonna Christmas tree
The city of San Luis Obispo operates the Cerro San Luis Natural Reserve, where most people begin their hike up the mountain, according to Doug Carscaden, ranger services supervisor for San Luis Obispo Parks and Recreation.
Before you set out on a night hike on Cerro San Luis, you must acquire a permit from the city’s website, he said.
Permits are required from one hour after sunset until 8:30 p.m. from November through March, according to the city’s website.
A total of 65 permits are available per night, Carscaden said, and rangers will be stationed by the trail each night checking for them.
“We want people to be safe. We don’t want the open space to get overused,” he said. “It’s just making sure that we aren’t going to have a detrimental effect on wildlife.”
You can grab a permit up to one week before your planned hike.
Carscaden said permits typically fill up in December.
He advised night hikers to be alert on trail, carry a flashlight and bring plenty of water for the trek up.
This story was originally published December 14, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Christmas tree has perched on SLO peak for decades. Here’s how local tradition began."
