Jackson Hole Tram - Local News Articles (June 2005)
Note: Most recent articles at the top

Thursday June 30, Jackson Hole Daily
Gov. mulls tram fate By Michael Pearlman

A state program designed to promote economic development could potentially provide financial assistance for construction of a new tram, Governor Freudenthal said Wednesday.

House bill 264, known as the Business Ready Communities Act, was signed into law in 2003 and designed to promote economic health at the city, town and county level. According to the text of the bill, communities can apply for grants and loans related to economic development infrastructure, but projects "shall not include rehabilitation or expansion of infrastructure unless the applicant demonstrates that the rehabilitation or expansion is necessary to retain an existing business or facilitate the relocation of a business to the locality of the applicant."

An amendment to the bill introduced by senator Grant Larson and former Representative Clarene Law expanded the act to include recreational and resort facilities. The state loan and investment board has final approval on any applications made under the act.

"That's the only legal vehicle I can think of right now, but it's only been receiving about $15 million per year right now," the governor said during his weekly teleconference.

Freudenthal said he was telephoned by resort officials when the decision to close the tram was announced, but the question of possible state assistance was not raised at the time.

"It is clearly part of a shared experiential base for visitors to Jackson," the governor said. "Everyone in the state has a story about the first time they rode the tram and what they saw up there. Some things become icons in the state."

Ted Ladd, a member of the Wyoming Business Council, said that he was uncertain of the business council would be willing to lend support to financing of a new tram and he wouldn't presume to speak for the board. He said he could not tell whether there would be resistance from elswhere in Wyoming to the idea of assisting Teton County with development.

Others in Wyoming sometimes characterize Teton County as so wealthy it deserves little or no help from the state.

Ladd noted that the Business council recently recommended, and the State Lands and Investment Board approved, $1.8 million in grants for the town of Jackson to construct a parking garage that would promote development downtown. He said if there was any resistence to that request for funds, he was unaware of it.

The governor said that additional study would be needed to gauge the fiscal effect closing the tram might have on Wyoming's tourism economy.

Wednesday June 29, Jackson Hole News and Guide
Tram on the Ropes By Michael Pearlman

Friday's announcement by Jackson Hole Mountain Resort officials that the resort's aerial tram will be permanently shut down in 2006 has sent shockwaves through the community.

Though rumors of lingering mechanical problems with the 39-year-old lift have been circulating for months, the news and timing of the announcement have surprised many. With initial estimates pegging the cost of constructing a new tram at $20 million, the resort announced it will require outside financial support to pay for a replacement.

The decision to shut down the tram means there will be no lift access to the top of Rendezvous Mountain unless a replacement plan is hatched before the winter of 2006-07. Resort president Jerry Blann said Friday no such plan is in place.

That means after next winter skiers and snowboarders would have no access, other than hiking, to famous runs like Rendezvous Bowl and Corbet's Couloir, the world-famous chute that drops skiers into space near the summit of the ski area.

In the days since the story broke, emotions among valley residents have run high. Some residents questioned whether resort officials simply failed to address a looming problem. Critics wondered whether the tram announcement was some lever to influence approval of Teton Village expansion being considered by county commissioners. Others asked if the resort has wrongly chosen to invest in other capital projects that would address the needs of the resort's more well-heeled visitors.

"This is a ski town but it's turned into a real estate market in the last few years," said Russell Austin, who's been skiing in Teton Village for 13 years. "The focus isn't where it should be."

The aerial tram has been inextricably linked to the resort's identity, and the 4,139 vertical feet of skiing accessed by the lift was the source of the resort's original marketing campaign. For many passholders and regular visitors, the aerial tram is the only lift they regularly use.

Bob Graham, president of Real Estate of Jackson Hole and a Jackson Hole Mountain Resort stockholder, said that while he recognizes how critical the tram is to the mountain, financial realities make some type of public and private partnership necessary to restore lift service to the top of Rendezvous Mountain.

"From my standpoint, we need to come up with some solution, whether it's a combined solution with the Ski Corporation, some other entity or the State of Wyoming giving some support," he said. "I have every confidence the ski corp will do whatever they can to get it resolved. Spending $20 million on a tram that is not the most efficient carrier of skiers ­ it's a no-brainer that we can't do this alone."

The tram closure announcement will have little effect on Teton Village real estate values, said Graham, whose company holds the franchise to market Mountain Resort property.

"If it does [have an effect], it's only minimally," he said.

Resort spokeswoman Anna Olson stressed that the decision to shut down the tram was a difficult one for the resort's board of directors to make, and she emphasized that the resort's preference is to construct a new tram.

"We know how important the tram is and it's hard to put into words how emotional a decision this has been," Olson said. "The business decision to close the current tram was based around not wanting to compromise safety. It's desirable to get a new tram back here and we know that."

The decision to retire the resort's most famous lift at the end of the summer 2006 season was the culmination of more than a year of studies and careful analysis by experts. Approximately 18 months ago, resort officials decided to commission an engineering study of the entire lift, including a study of the track cables that support the carriage which holds the cars. A separate set of cables, the haul cables, pull the tram up the mountain and were replaced in 1998. Studies of the tram conducted by tram engineering firm Doppelmayer-CTEC were followed up with an analysis of Doppelmayer's data, conducted by Jim Fletcher of the Parametrix engineering firm.

Fletcher informed resort officials that the track ropes would need to be replaced at a cost of several million dollars, but couldn't guarantee that the work wouldn't impact other parts of the tram or increase its lifespan.

"Effectively, they were saying if you go this route, we can't guarantee you the long-term future of the tram," Olson said. "We had to wait until all the information was in to analyze our options, but that information has been coming in piecemeal over the past 12 months."

The Mountain Resort would not release the engineering documents.

"Our owners knew the tram was going to require closing down in the future, and we didn't want to be second-guessed on safety," she said. "They chose a route that to some people was hard to consider. In an ideal world, we would want more than a year, but our stance is to be proactive on this and start working towards a solution when we can get one."

Olson said the decision to retire the tram had no connection to the Snake River Associates proposal to expand Teton Village, a development the resort supports. Company officials expected a decision on the SRA plan in May, while the tram decision was reached on June 22.

"We came public with this because we knew there was misinformation and rumors about the tram and we wanted to address that community issue," she said.

The resort's decision to emphasize safety was praised by Bridger-Teton National Forest Jackson District Ranger Nancy Hall.

"I believe they're being proactive in trying to figure out a short- and long-term objective to move the public along that side of the mountain," Hall said. "I actually applaud them for taking into account public safety issues."

Hall said the tram had passed all its most recent inspections required by the government. The tram is constructed on public land that is part of the Bridger-Teton, and the resort operates under a special-use permit.

Constructed over a 24-month period between 1964 and 1966, the original budget for the tram was $1.6 million. Construction delays pushed the final cost to $2.5 million. The Jackson Hole Ski Corporation, precursor to the Mountain Resort, had to pay only a third of the final price, with the extra cost borne by the construction and bond companies.

To help pay for the project, ski area developers Paul McCollister and Alex Morley received $975,0000 from the Area Redevelopment Administration, a federal government program that loaned funds to depressed communities that relied on seasonal economies. At the time, employment in Jackson during the winter was practically nonexistent.

 The decision to shut down the icon that the resort has based its reputation on has been met with an avalanche of questions. Many see the announcement as just another example of the resort moving away from its original market of hardcore skiers and toward a more family-friendly image.

"There's nothing good that can come out of losing the tram," said Jason Tattersall, who has been skiing in Teton Village for 15 years. "It's a skiers hill. It doesn't matter what you put at the bottom of the mountain."

David Gonzalez, author of a comprehensive history of the resort, Jackson Hole on a grand scale, believes that when push comes to shove, the resort will find a way to build a new and better tram. He speculated that the announcement was one way to gauge the community's affection for the famous lift.

"Them threatening to take away the tram is akin to taking away a child's toy just to see how loudly the child screams," he said. "That would allow them to see how important the tram is to this business, and they'd replace it as I'd expect they're going to. They've enjoyed the publicity of having the best backcountry access in the lower 48 states. Every ski writer who comes to Jackson Hole starts their story by talking about the tram line."

Olson denied that the resort is ignoring its hardcore skiing clientele.

"Our owners and management recognize we have extreme, rugged terrain that appeals to hardcore skiers," Olson said. "That's who we are and who we'll continue to be."

Recent capital improvement projects such as the new Sweetwater chairlift and the start of construction of the Bridger restaurant are upgrades driven by market research and have been needed for years, she said.

"Our owners are broad in their vision," she said. The $55 million the Kemmerers have invested in the resort since 1992 was an effort to "speak to the needs of all our guests.

"Just because the tram has come to a head doesn't mean that all the other planning and development is going to be put on hold," she said. "These can run together and we can resolve the replacement of the tram and continue with these other improvements, which are improvements to our overall product."

 When the resort announced the closure, officials said they would be investigating all sources of funding to offset the cost of replacing the tram.

"We will need to have the support of the public and possibly the state to be able to move forward with a tram replacement alternative," president Blann said at a press conference.

The resort has no presumption that financial assistance will be coming from outside sources, Olson said. There is a precedent in other cities and communities that have created public/private partnerships.

"We can't afford to [finance construction] as a business, but the impact of just saying that resonates across the state from a business sense," she said. "That's the basis of the dialogue we hope to open here ­ to try and realize what can be achieved with outside help when the impact of not having a tram reaches across the state. Nothing here is presumed, but that doesn't mean we can't go out and initiate discussions and look at what realities, practicalities and options are available just like other businesses across the state do."

Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce president Steve Duerr said that the chamber hasn't been approached yet to take a position on the issue of public funding, but he praised resort officials for beginning a dialogue this far in advance.

"I think that it's useful that we've gotten notice so far in advance so people can start thinking about it," he said. "I also appreciate that they're concerned about safety and want to make changes before there's a problem. The tram's been an important part of the community for its useful life. All good things come to an end and times change, and we'll have to figure out what that means."

The impending closure of the tram has led to considerable speculation among passholders over what on-mountain changes will take place in two winters when the lift is decommissioned. Olson said the resort hasn't resolved any operational issues for the 2006-07 winter. It has yet to determine how avalanche control will be conducted or how the resort's lucrative guide service will be affected.

"We don't have an official operating plan for 2006-07 yet, and we'll share the plan as soon as things come together," she said. "There's been no discussion of selective use of the tram at this point."

According to Hall, any new lift construction or changes in access to the upper mountain might require an adjustment to the resort's Forest Service permit or mountain master plan.

"It's hard to speculate and would depend on what they propose," Hall said. "There will be many aspects we have to look at through their permitted process to see if we'd have to do a permit modification."

Olson also said it's too soon to determine what effect the closure of the tram would have on lift ticket and season pass prices.

"Our business is seasonal and we probably won't address that until the end of this winter," she said.

Filmmaker Darrell Miller, 29, a Jackson native who has spent more than two decades waiting in tram lines, summed up the feelings of many in the valley's ski and snowboard community.

"I think it's the end of a beautiful era in Jackson Hole," he said. "There's a lot of people who've depended on the tram for happiness and sanity over the decades, and it's sad to see it go."

Saturday June 25, Jackson Hole News and Guide
By Michael Pearlman

The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort aerial tram will carry its last passengers at the end of the 2006 summer season, resort officials announced on Friday.

The resort's board of directors decided Wednesday to retire the ski area's signature icon after initial estimates concluded that it would cost $20 million to replace the 40-year old lift.

"This decision has been extremely difficult and quite honestly a very sad one," Jay Kemmerer, owner of JHMR, said in a statement. "However our family is committed to a zero-risk approach, so we think this proactive stance is the best. We know this may impact our business, business to Jackson Hole and the state, but we are committed to the best long-term solution for all our constituencies. We must move on."

Though a team of experts who inspected the tram earlier this year concluded that it could be safely operated for several more years, resort president Jerry Blann said he and the board opted to decommission the lift before any safety concerns arise.

"No one component was the issue, it was more a question of it reaching the end of its useful life," he said. "It's like a 40 year old automobile. It's not one component, it's a combination of everything."

The future of lift service for Rendezvous Bowl and Corbets Couloir - the resort's most famous run - is murky. Blann said the resort is considering multiple possibilities for accessing the top of the mountain, but said given the timeline required for construction, it will "undoubtedly be a year or two without lift service up there at this point."

The Kemmerer family has invested $55 million in facility upgrades since purchasing the Mountain Resort in 1992. This summer, capital projects include construction of a new triple chairlift, the remodeling of the Bridger Center and the first stages of construction of a full-service restaurant at the top of the Bridger Gondola.

"The $20 million cost to replace [the tram] cannot be justified from a business perspective," Blann said. "Tram costs have to compete with other upgrade priorities. We always have more needs than cash is available to provide."

The resort hasn't yet examined the fiscal impact of the tram's removal, however Blann speculated that the announcement might attract more visitors to the mountain next winter. He said that he hopes that the public, local, state and federal officials will join in a strategic tourism plan that includes ways to enable a replacement for the tram.

"Being the icon that it is and given its relation to tourism throughout the state, we think there's opportunities to tap some resources at the state level," Blann said.

If funding to replace the tram does not materialize, a range of alternatives is being considered, including the return of the surface lift, which serviced Rendezvous Bowl until it was removed in 1991. Though rumors of major tram upgrades have been circulating around the valley for months, the announcement that the resort's marketing centerpiece would be retired was met with surprised and confusion from local skiers. Photographer Wade McKoy, a passholder since 1974, pointed out that the aerial tram has always been inextricably linked to the resort's identity.

"Without the tram, it's not Jackson Hole. It's not 'The Big One', he said. "One of the things that makes the resort special is the 4,139 feet of non-stop vertical. That's what the people that I ski with want to do-laps on the tram."

Six-year passholder Geoff Sharp speculated that the absence of the tram would increase crowding at the base on powder days. "The only reason the gondola line stays bearable on a big day is because of the tram," he said. "The congestion at the bottom is going to be a problem."

Photographer Greg Von Doersten said the loss of the lift could have a significant effect on the resort's reputation among expert destination skiers. "I think not having it would greatly affect the resort's reputation and the backcountry terrain which Jackson has established its reputation on," he said. "It's certainly not going to be the Jackson Hole it was once known as if they can't come up with a way to fund a replacement. I'm sure they'll find a way to fund a new solution in the future."

Until a final decision on the future of the tram is reached, the building housing the tram dock, Teton Village clock tower and Nick Wilsons restaurant will remain in place, Blann said. Construction of the aerial tram took two years and the lift opened on July 31, 1966. The tram's cabins were replaced in 1989.

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