Word got out about my housesitting gig. Suddenly, friends of friends of friends called and wondered if they could come and visit for a night or two or a week. I never refused. Three Danish friends who were visiting LA on behalf of Nordisk Film wanted to visit. They timed their visit for July, thinking they’d nail the best weather Southern California had to offer – which was true for a stay in Santa Monica, but a whole different beast in Palm Springs.
The Danes were literally stunned by the heat – rendered immobile and nearly mute. I recall that it was only in the 106-degree range, but they rarely came out of their air-conditioned rooms until well after sunset – and then went directly into the pool. During the day, they stared out the windows, unable to reconcile the beauty of the environment with a relentless heat that had the power to mortally stun them like cattle in a slaughterhouse.
After several days, I took pity on them and whisked them up the street to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway station. I got them on the tram and within 15 minutes, they were breathing cool, pine-scented air. They smiled and laughed, and early in the evening – as the temperature cooled down – they happily shivered. They were reborn. This has been the reaction of nearly every summer rider since the first tram climbed Mount San Jacinto on Sept. 12, 1963.
A young engineer named Francis Crocker rode with a friend from Palm Springs to Banning, 80 years ago. Cars didn’t have air conditioning then, and the men sweated profusely as they drove down the hot, dusty road out of Palm Springs. Crocker couldn’t keep his eyes off San Jacinto Peak, high above them. Despite the blistering desert weather, there was still snow on the mountains. Crocker thought about how amazing it would be if people could be transported instantly up to those cool climes.
And just like that, a dream was born. The dreamer in Crocker might have dismissed it as a mere fantasy, but the engineer in him thought it could be done. Crocker wanted to “go up there where it’s nice and cool,” according to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway website, and he made it happen.
Though it was dubbed “Crocker’s Folly” by a local newspaper writer, the young engineer’s enthusiasm soon attracted a powerful ally – Earl Coffman. He was co-manager of The Desert Inn and son of local pioneer/entrepreneur Nellie Coffman. He had the power and credibility to convince members of the community that a tramway up the 10,834-feet-tall Mount San Jacinto was no folly.
Madison Morgan is the public relations manager for the Mount San Jacinto Winter Park Authority. She said Crocker and Coffman looked all over the Valley for possible routes to the top. “They looked at the other side of this mountain, and they looked at Snow Creek,” she said. “They finally decided on this canyon. Originally, it was going to have two stations, because at the time, they didn’t have the technology to have wires go this far; [it] didn’t exist.”
Coffman was able to rally local opinion, and the state legislature voted twice to fund the project, according to the Tramway website. However, the deal was ultimately crushed by then-Governor Culbert Olson. World War II put a kibosh on the plan’s momentum, and it wasn’t until 1945 that new legislation was passed in the state and signed by Governor Earl Warren, creating the Mount San Jacinto Winter Park Authority.
Public funding was never used for the Tramway. Private revenue bonds in the eventual amount of $8.15 million were raised to fund the project (and paid off in 1996), and much of the land for the station was donated. Another war – the Korean War – delayed the start of the project, but it finally got underway in 1961 – 26 years after Crocker had a vision. The engineering obstacles were staggering. The first tower was accessible by a road. But, men, materials, and equipment had to be flown in by helicopter for all of the other towers. “The helicopters flew some 23,000 missions during the 26 months of construction … to construct the four other towers and [the] 35,000-square-foot Mountain Station,” the Tramway website notes.
Since the first trip skyward in 1963, more than 20 million people have taken the approximately 10-minute ride to the top. In September, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway will celebrate its 62nd anniversary.
Crocker reportedly became a regular rider on the tram, often declaiming to his fellow passengers the facts, figures, and travails of the enterprise. He died in 1992.
It was a warmer day than usual in mid-March when I took my first ride on the tram since the pandemic. When I moved to Palm Springs from New Mexico in 2015, a colleague advised me about an interesting precursor to remote working. He told me that during the summer months, I should go into my office, gather my papers and laptop, and then proceed directly to the tram. I could spend my day working at the Mountain Station, go for a hike during my lunch break, stay for a cocktail and dinner, and then descend to the Valley as temperatures fell. I followed his advice many times. And I was much more productive than I would have been sweating into my ergonomically challenging desk chair while the ceiling vent blasted smelly, frigid air at the back of my head and caused a mid-afternoon migraine.
I was one of the first riders on the tram; I introduced myself to John Lear, the tram’s driver.
Though he has a commercial license to drive large trucks, he chose to drive the tram because “it’s fun,” he said. “I like the mountain and the cold. It’s nice to see the snow and drive away from it and not [be] in it.” Lear makes 20 to 30 round trips each day, and said he never finds it boring. “There’s always something different, whether it’s the weather or [if] I see something different on the mountain. And there’s always guests to talk to. You meet people from all over the world. One day, there will be a car full of French people, or another day, there will be a car full of people from China.” He said occasionally, a passenger will become nervous “because of the height or the revolving tram or altitude sickness. I talk to them and have them look at me, and pretty soon the ride’s over and they’re fine. You just never know who it’s going to be.”
I was reminded of a conversation I had years ago with another tram operator. He described a huge, muscled guy – as big as an NFL lineman and full of bravado – who got on the tram. Halfway up the mountain, he was in a fetal position on the floor, weeping.
But, that’s literally a one-in-a-million event. I’m not a fan of heights, but I found that a ride to the Mountain Station was no more nerve-racking than a ride on a medium-sized Ferris wheel. It’s true that every time the tram runs over the cables at the towers, the car tends to shake a bit. But, it’s not as scary as the fact that half of the passengers in the car seemed to mark the moment by letting out faux-hysterical yelps. That did not help.
I had not taken the trip for a few years, so I forgot about the revolving platform on the cars. It was introduced after the Tramway’s massive, multimillion dollar makeover in 1999. An internal plate in the car revolves 360 degrees during the ride so all of the passengers can view the mountains and the Valley below. It’s wonderful, after you get used to the idea of spinning and rising at the same time.
On this particular trip, I was much more taken with the dramatic rise and shape of the mountain than I was views of the Valley. It’s dramatic and, yes, majestic. The crags are so steep and jagged that it’s impossible to imagine the courage and determination of the engineers and workers who designed and constructed the tram.
I was joined on the ride up the mountain by Morgan and an old friend, photographer Fredrik Brodén. Morgan explained that the Mount San Jacinto Winter Park Authority is a public agency. Residents from Riverside County and the City of Palm Springs sit on the board that oversees the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Though the Authority owns and operates the Mountain Station, everything after the first tower belongs to the state park. “The idea is that the tram provides transportation to the state park [with the intent] to not over-commercialize and not do anything that would be environmentally harmful to the state park,” she said. “The Authority exists to make sure everything the tram is doing abides by the laws that we agreed to back in the ’40s.”
In fact, the tram is the only motorized access to one side of Mount San Jacinto State Park. Hiking trails can be followed from the Idyllwild side of the park, but motorized vehicles are not allowed. So, the hiking trails and overnight camping areas are pristine. Backpackers pack their stuff in and pack it out. There are no RVs, fifth wheel campers, or yahoos with giant coolers full of light beer.
When we arrived at the Mountain Station, I was overwhelmed with how improved the place seemed. A $13 million renovation began in 2019 and was completed in 2023. It restored the station to the original vision of noted mid-century architect E. Stewart Williams. So, there was plenty to do without stepping outside of the station. The huge, open-air space encompasses nature exhibits, a film room used to show nature documentaries, Peaks Restaurant, Pines Café, and the Lookout Lounge – probably one of the top 10 spots in the world for enjoying a cocktail and unparalleled views.
When we stepped outside of the station to go hiking, I was immediately glad that I brought a down jacket. The difference between temperatures in the Valley and up on the mountain is astounding. It might be only a 30-degree difference, but it felt like 50. The air was cold, crisp, and clean, and the snow on the ground was a reminder that winter was not quite finished at the top of Mount San Jacinto.
Morgan said while the warmer months are certainly popular with day visitors and backpackers, many people come during the peak winter months to snowshoe and cross-country ski. The novelty of spending your morning in the Valley, floating on a raft in a pool, and tanning, and then spending the afternoon building a snowman, is a novelty you should experience, no matter what your age is. A short but brisk hike brought circulation and warmth back to my extremities. But, no remedy except time could help my lungs adjust to the altitude.
After such strenuous exertions, the only sane alternative was to go to the Lookout Lounge for an aperitif. Brodén and I perused the fanciful cocktail menu. There was a Lookout Hot Toddy, a Maple Old Fashioned, an Espresso in the Clouds, a Spicy Negra Margarita, and – my personal favorite – a Naked and Famous with mezcal, Aperol, chartreuse, and fresh lime juice. We kicked back, sipped our drinks, and took in the views. We were, indeed, very high.
