Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Encyclopedia
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California
is the largest rotating aerial tramway
in the world. It was opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley
to near the top of San Jacinto Peak
and was constructed in rugged Chino Canyon
. Before its construction, the only way to the top of the mountain was to hike for several hours from Idyllwild.
s on its way to the Mountain Station at 8516 ft (2,595.7 m) above mean sea level. Travelers start in the Sonoran Desert
and arrive at an alpine forest.
The floor of the 18 ft (5.5 m) diameter aerial tram-cars rotates constantly, making two complete revolutions throughout the duration of the journey so that the passengers can see in all directions without moving. With a maximum capacity of 80 passengers it is the largest of the three rotating aerial trams in the world. The other "Rotair" aerial trams are located in Cape Town, South Africa
and Titlis, Switzerland
.
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) or 22 (°C) degrees 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. A video presentation of the history of the attraction plays continuously in a theater at the Mountain Station. It was produced by Palm Springs television station KESQ-TV
with voiceovers provided by Palm Springs radio personalities.
The view at the top can stretch northward for more than 200 mi (321.9 km) on a clear day, all the way to Mount Charleston
north of Las Vegas, Nevada
. Views to the east and west can stretch as far as 75 mi (120.7 km). California's Salton Sea
is plainly visible to the southeast.
As it was in 1963, the only way up the mountain to deliver supplies and water is via the aerial-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 aerial-tram cars are now on static display near the entrance to the Valley Station.
, with newspaper publisher Carl Barkow. During the heat of the day, Crocker's gaze fell upon the snow-capped, 10804 ft (3,293.1 m) high peak of Mount San Jacinto to the east. Crocker immediately decided to build an aerial 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. Construction began in 1960. The unprecedented use of helicopter
s in the construction of four of the aerial tram's five towers helped the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway earn a reputation as one of the greatest engineering feats ever accomplished.
In 1963, an aerial-tram car became stuck for 13-1/2 hours because of an electrical problem in the control room.
In June 1984, an aerial-tram car 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. Tram passenger Elaine Tseko of Ontario, Calif. was struck by the piece and died as a result of the injury.
In September 1984, during routine maintenance, an auxiliary cable snapped and wrapped around the main cable tracks. The Desert Sun newspaper 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 tramway station. "Without the snag," a state investigator said "those two men wouldn't be with us today."
In 1985, a surprise flash flood buried vehicles parked in the Valley 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 2001, the original aerial-tram cars were replaced by new cars that rotate slowly, offering riders a 360° panoramic view of Chino Canyon and the desert valley floor.
In October 2003, a steel cable broke and caused a mechanical failure that left more than fifty tramway customers hanging in mid-air and one hundred passengers stranded at the Mountain station for 4-1/2 hours. During the crisis, tramway 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.
The Tramway Valley Station, constructed between 1949–1963, was designed by Albert Frey and Robson C. Chambers.
The Tramway Mountain Station, built in 1961, was designed by architect E. Stewart Williams
.
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
is the largest rotating aerial tramway
Aerial tramway
An aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...
in the world. It was opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley is a large valley landform in Southern California. The valley extends for approximately 45 miles in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the saltwater Salton Sea, the largest lake in California...
to near the top of San Jacinto Peak
San Jacinto Peak
San Jacinto Peak, 10,834 feet , is the highest peak of the San Jacinto Mountains, and of Riverside County, California. It lies within Mount San Jacinto State Park...
and was constructed in rugged Chino Canyon
Chino Canyon, California
Chino Canyon is a long desert canyon, and its associated stream is a tributary of the Whitewater River in Riverside County, California, United States. The canyon is located in the northern part of the San Jacinto Mountains and is part of the Coachella Valley...
. Before its construction, the only way to the top of the mountain was to hike for several hours from Idyllwild.
Route
The twelve-and-and-a-half minute ride begins at the Valley Station at 2643 ft (805.6 m) and passes up North America's sheerest mountain face through five life zoneLife zone
The Life Zone concept was developed by C. Hart Merriam in 1889 as a means of describing areas with similar plant and animal communities. Merriam observed that the changes in these communities with an increase in latitude at a constant elevation are similar to the changes seen with an increase in...
s on its way to the Mountain Station at 8516 ft (2,595.7 m) above mean sea level. Travelers start in the Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
and arrive at an alpine forest.
The floor of the 18 ft (5.5 m) diameter aerial tram-cars rotates constantly, making two complete revolutions throughout the duration of the journey so that the passengers can see in all directions without moving. With a maximum capacity of 80 passengers it is the largest of the three rotating aerial trams in the world. The other "Rotair" aerial trams are located in Cape Town, South Africa
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway is a cableway to the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. It is one of Cape Town's most popular tourist attractions with approximately 800,000 people a year using the cableway. On the 29 December 2004 the cableway passed its 16 millionth visitor.The...
and Titlis, Switzerland
Titlis
The Titlis is a mountain in the Urner Alps of Switzerland. It is located on the border between the cantons of Obwalden and Berne in Switzerland, overlooking Engelberg and is famous as the site of the world's first revolving cable car...
.
Passengers disembark at the Mountain Station in the alpine wilderness of Long Valley and Mount San Jacinto State Park
Mount San Jacinto State Park
Mount San Jacinto State Park is in the San Jacinto Mountains, of the Peninsular Ranges system, in Riverside County, California. The park is near the Greater Los Angeles and the San Diego metropolitan area.-Geography:...
. The air can be as much as 40 (°F) or 22 (°C) degrees cooler at the top than in the desert. Visitors can walk along nature trails, take a burro
Burro
The burro is a small donkey used primarily as a pack animal. In addition, significant numbers of feral burros live in the Southwestern United States, where they are protected by law, and in Mexico...
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. A video presentation of the history of the attraction plays continuously in a theater at the Mountain Station. It was produced by Palm Springs television station KESQ-TV
KESQ-TV
KESQ-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Coachella Valley of California licensed to Palm Springs. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter on Edom Hill northeast of Cathedral City and I-10...
with voiceovers provided by Palm Springs radio personalities.
The view at the top can stretch northward for more than 200 mi (321.9 km) on a clear day, all the way to Mount Charleston
Mount Charleston
Mount Charleston, officially named Charleston Peak, at , is the highest of the Spring Mountains of southern Nevada and the state's eighth highest mountain peak. It is about northwest of Las Vegas and is within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, the Mount Charleston Wilderness and the Spring...
north of Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. Views to the east and west can stretch as far as 75 mi (120.7 km). California's Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
is plainly visible to the southeast.
As it was in 1963, the only way up the mountain to deliver supplies and water is via the aerial-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 aerial-tram cars are now on static display near the entrance to the Valley Station.
History
The aerial tram was first proposed by electrical engineer Francis F. Crocker during a 1935 trip to Banning, CaliforniaBanning, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Banning had a population of 29,603. The population density was 1,281.6 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Banning was 19,164 White, 2,165 African American, 641 Native American, 1,549 Asian, 39 Pacific Islander, 4,604 from other...
, with newspaper publisher Carl Barkow. During the heat of the day, Crocker's gaze fell upon the snow-capped, 10804 ft (3,293.1 m) high peak of Mount San Jacinto to the east. Crocker immediately decided to build an aerial tram up the face of Chino Canyon
Chino Canyon, California
Chino Canyon is a long desert canyon, and its associated stream is a tributary of the Whitewater River in Riverside County, California, United States. The canyon is located in the northern part of the San Jacinto Mountains and is part of the Coachella Valley...
, 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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
shelved the project. Construction began in 1960. The unprecedented use of helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s in the construction of four of the aerial tram's five towers helped the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway earn a reputation as one of the greatest engineering feats ever accomplished.
In 1963, an aerial-tram car became stuck for 13-1/2 hours because of an electrical problem in the control room.
In June 1984, an aerial-tram car 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. Tram passenger Elaine Tseko of Ontario, Calif. was struck by the piece and died as a result of the injury.
In September 1984, during routine maintenance, an auxiliary cable snapped and wrapped around the main cable tracks. The Desert Sun newspaper 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 tramway station. "Without the snag," a state investigator said "those two men wouldn't be with us today."
In 1985, a surprise flash flood buried vehicles parked in the Valley 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 2001, the original aerial-tram cars were replaced by new cars that rotate slowly, offering riders a 360° panoramic view of Chino Canyon and the desert valley floor.
In October 2003, a steel cable broke and caused a mechanical failure that left more than fifty tramway customers hanging in mid-air and one hundred passengers stranded at the Mountain station for 4-1/2 hours. During the crisis, tramway 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.
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 (40,468.6 m²) 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.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 and Robson C. Chambers.
The Tramway Mountain Station, built in 1961, was designed by architect E. Stewart Williams
E. Stewart Williams
Emerson Stewart Williams, FAIA was a prolific Palm Springs, California-based architect whose distinctive modernist buildings, in the Mid-century modern style, significantly shaped the Coachella Valley's architectural landscape and legacy.-History:E...
.
External links
- Mountain Station Geographical Coordinates 33.813131°N 116.638267°W
- Official website
- Palm Springs tourism website