The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California, opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to near the top of San Jacinto Peak. Prior to its construction, the only way to the top of the mountain was to hike for several hours from Idyllwild.

Today, the tram is one of the biggest attractions in Southern California. The eight-and-a-half-minute ride beginning at the Valley Station up North America's sheerest mountain face passes through several life zones on its way to the mountain station at 8516 feet (2600 m) above mean sea level. The trip has been likened in terms of geologic and climatic change to a motor trip from Sonora to the Canadian tundra.

Passengers disembark at the Mountain Station in the alpine wilderness of Long Valley and Mount San Jacinto State Park. The air can be as much as 40°F (25°C) cooler at the top than in the desert. Visitors can walk along nature trails, take a burro ride or even play in the snow during the winter months. Back-country hiking can be done with a permit from the U.S. Forest Service. There are two restaurants at the summit, one of which specializes in fine dining. Both stations have gift shops specializing in Aerial Tramway-related merchandise as well as educational toys.

The view at the top can stretch northward for more than 200 miles (300 km) on a clear day, all the way to Mount Charleston north of Las Vegas. Views to the east and west can stretch as far as 75 miles (120 km); the Salton Sea is plainly visible to the southeast.

A theatre with a series of user-selectable presentations is located at the Mountain Station as is a display of taxidermied local fauna, each of which met their ends either by accident or by poaching. The presentations, voiced in large part by local radio personalities, were created by local television station KESQ-TV and by the state park service.

History

The tram was first proposed by electrical engineer Francis F. Crocker during a 1935 trip to Banning, California, with newspaper publisher Carl Barkow. During the heat of the day, Crocker's gaze fell upon the snow-capped, 10,804 foot (3293 m) high peak of Mount San Jacinto to the east. Crocker immediately decided to build a tram up the face of Chino Canyon, a proposal that one newspaper dubbed "Crocker's Folly."

Toward the end of the decade, Crocker named the co-manager of the famed Palm Springs Desert Inn, O. Earl Coffman, to chair the construction committee.

Both World War II and the Korean War shelved the project. In 1960, Crocker approached California governor Earl Warren to get permission to resume it. Warren agreed, and construction began soon afterward. The unprecedented use of helicopters in the construction of four of the tram's five towers helped the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway earn a reputation as one of the greatest engineering feats ever accomplished.

In 2001, the original cars were replaced by cars that rotate slowly, offering riders a 360° panoramic view of Chino Canyon and the valley floor. As it was in 1963, the only way up the mountain to deliver supplies and water is via the tram cars themselves. Supplies are loaded into the passenger area before the attraction's opening while fresh water is pumped into storage tanks in the car's underbelly.

The original cars are now on static display near the entrance to the Valley Station.

Animal park

The Tramway Animal Park, now defunct, was owned and operated by Animal Behavior Laboratories of Los Angeles. It was located on 10 acres of land leased from the Mt. San Jacinto Winter Park Authority. A portion of the park included a fenced area for reindeer that were allowed to roam throughout Chino Canyon. In addition to reindeer, the park featured tame deer, cockatoos, two dolphins named Buttons and Beau, macaques, and various species of monkeys (including "Suzie, the show-off chimpanzee"). The animals performed in regularly scheduled shows.

Mascots

A recent mascot is "Ranger Raccoon." The radio voice of Ranger Raccoon is that of Chuck Kourouklis, one-time production manager for the Desert Radio Group, a radio broadcasting conglomerate based in Palm Springs. Kourouklis, whose own speaking voice is of a rather low register, said he created the mascot's high-pitched voice by "mixing the Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz with the band AC/DC."

The original mascot was a deer named "Trambi." The current local radio spots feature a pair of talking trees, "Patrick Fir" and "Peter Pine."

Station architecture

Both tramway stations were designed by notable mid-century architects.

The Tramway Valley Station, constructed between 1949-1963, was designed by Albert Frey & Robson C. Chambers).

The Tramway Mountain Station, built in 1961, was designed by E. Stewart Williams.

Incidents

• In October 2003, a steel cable broke and caused a mechanical failure that left more than fifty tram customers hanging in mid-air and one hundred passengers stranded at the Mountain station for 4 1/2 hours. During the crisis, tram officials sought a rescue helicopter but could not locate one. The obstruction was finally removed by a tram operator with no training in maintenance, utilizing a borrowed Leatherman utility knife. The Desert Sun later reported that a cable inspector had discovered a break in the rescue line almost two hours before the incident occurred.
• In 1985, a surprise flash flood buried cars in the station's parking lot in mud and tore up about three-quarters of a mile of Tramway Road. Stranded passengers had to be airlifted to safety.
• In September 1984, during routine maintenance, an auxiliary cable snapped and wrapped around the main cable tracks. The Desert Sun reported that if the broken cable hadn't wedged itself under the main track cables, a rescue car with the tram's workmen in it could have plummeted down the mountain into the lower tram station. "Without the snag," a state investigator said "those two men wouldn't be with us today.
• In June 1984, a tramcar was headed down the mountain when a bolt from a shock absorber snapped, causing a 30-pound piece of metal to crash through a Plexiglas window along the car's roof. Elaine Tseko of Ontario was struck by the piece and died as a result of the injury.
• In 1963, a tramcar became stuck for 13 1/2 hours because of an electrical problem in the control room.

References

External links

• Mountain Station Geographical Coordinates

• Official website
• Hiking Message Board