With snow still falling in the mountains, both candidates for Colorado’s open U.S. Senate seat went up with campaign ads Wednesday, an exceptionally early start that shows just how hard fought this campaign will be.

Schaffer is going up with a zippy bio ad in the Colorado Springs and Grand Junction markets, hoping to boost his name recognition in traditional Republican strongholds where he must do very well to win.

[See video below]

Udall, in an ad on renewable energy running state-wide, is leveraging an issue with which is perhaps most connected and that helped propel Bill Ritter into the Governor’s chair. Better still, he gets to look rugged under the twirling propellers of wind turbines blowing on the eastern plains.

[See video below]