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December Tram Diaries - Big Red is Back! |
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Written by Lauren M. Whaley
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We did it. Or, should I say, they did it!
They came from Switzerland, Salt Lake and our own back yard to transform piles of plans and mounds of metal into a glorious shiny red machine that now carries 100 people at a time up 4,139 feet to the top of Rendezvous Mountain.
These crews spent the end of the November and the beginning of December making final preparations so the machine would run safely on its Dec. 20 unveiling.Garaventa and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort crews performed "acceptance tests" for the tram while representatives from the Bridger Teton National Forest, Parametrix Consulting and Frey looked on.
And three years and $31 million later, the new Jackson Hole Aerial Tram showed itself for the first time.
About 2,000 people gathered on a blustery and snowy night to watch as the tram inched its way down the cables toward the new lower terminal. It stopped above the crowd, shed its shimmery wrap and glistened as Santa zipped down a line thrown from the car. The crowd cheered, fireworks blasted, music blared.
What a fitting end to a meticulous construction and a fitting beginning to the massive machine.
"What is the market value of such a machine?" asked resort president Jerry Blann. "The economic return is hard to calculate, but it's worth it because of the icon factor."
The workers that have dismantled the old red legend and built a new one will never forget the snow that wouldn't stop, the roads that washed out and the six-day-per-week work schedule.
"These guys are the hardest workers I've seen in my life," says Tim Mason, VP of Operations for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. "And we're all here for the same reason. We all love this incredible mountain."
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