Estes Park Aerial Tramway Opens 2006 Season May 27th; Attraction with Ties to Ski Industry, 10th Mountain Division Kicks Off 51st Season

The Estes Park Aerial Tramway, which has safely transported millions of visitors to the scenic 8,700-foot summit of Prospect Mountain, opens its 51st season of operation on Saturday, May 27th. The Tram will operate daily through September 10th.

Estes Park, CO (PRWEB) May 19, 2006 -- The Estes Park Aerial Tramway, which has safely transported millions of visitors to the scenic 8,700-foot summit of Prospect Mountain, opens its 51st season of operation on Saturday, May 27th. The Tram will operate daily through September 10th.

Riders enjoy a four-minute ride that takes them 1,100 vertical feet up the mountain, gliding along up to 200 feet above the mountainside. Riders enjoy breathtaking views of the Estes Valley, Estes Lake and Estes Park Village below and the surrounding mountain peaks, including 14,255-foot Longs Peak, the ranges of the Continental Divide and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Visitors are welcome to stay at the summit as long as they wish, taking in the scenery from the observation deck and enjoying lunch or a snack at the deli. Some hike the trails of Prospect Mountain, or bring a picnic and enjoy an outdoor meal among the trees. Others just relax and enjoy the scenery and fresh air. Some couples even make the trip to the top to get married! (visit http://www.estestram.com/Views/views.html to sample the views from the top)

Directions

The Estes Park Aerial Tramway is located at 420 East Riverside Drive in Estes Park, Colorado. From Elkhorn Ave. (Business US 34) turn south onto Moraine Ave. and stay in left lane. The entrance to the Tram is across the river.

Admission

Adult round-trip tickets are $9.00. Riders over 60 years of age are $8.00. Children 6 to 11 years old are $4.00, and children under 5 ride free with a parent. Group discounts are available, including a $1 per rider discount for groups of more than 20, and a $2 per rider discount for groups of 50 or more people.

Hours of Operation

The Estes Park Aerial Tramway 2006 season begins May 27th and ends September 10th. The Tram operates daily from 9:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. No reservations are required. Photography is better, weather is more favorable and lines are shorter in the early morning or late afternoon. The operating schedule may be affected by adverse weather.

For more information about the Estes Park Aerial Tramway, call 970-586-3675, email info@estestram.com or visit www.estestram.com.

Tramway History

The Tramway was designed and built by Robert Heron, a Canon City, Colorado native and Colorado School of Mines graduate. Heron worked on mining tramways as a young engineer in Denver. During World War II, the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division trained at Camp Hale, near Leadville. The 10th contacted Heron's employer to design a portable tramway to carry supplies and ammunition and evacuate casualties in steep mountain terrain, replacing mule trains, which would take many hours to complete the same tasks.

Heron and the 10th tested nine different portable tramway configurations over two years. The final design was used in the famous Battle of Riva Ridge in Italy, where the 10th battled a German Panzer regiment. Heron's tram hauled ammunition, water and food up the 1,500-foot ridge, and evacuated 50 U.S. casualties down from the ridge over two days.

A book, “The Tramway Builders,” by Philip A. Lunday and Charles M. Hampton gives the history of the tramways contracted by the 10th Mountain Division and the men who built them. This out-of-print book is available for free in PDF format on the 10th Mountain Division Association, Inc. Web site at http://www.10thmtndivassoc.org/chronology.html#tramway.

After the war, Heron and his brother, Webb, became pioneers in the design and construction of tramways and chairlifts for the ski industry. One of their first projects was constructing the first lift at Aspen Mountain, and later they built the first lift at Breckenridge. They installed one of the first double chairlifts in the world at Berthoud Pass in 1946, and built another at Squaw Valley in 1949. The company installed the first triple chairlift in the world at Boyne Highlands, Michigan, and later installed the world's first quad lift there, in 1964.

Heron's company became Heron-Poma, which later became Poma, then Leitner-Poma, a company that continues as one of the world's leading chairlift companies. Some of the more than 70 chairlifts built and installed by Heron-Poma are still in operation in the U.S. today.

Heron was a long-time member of the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board, which was founded in 1964 and still inspects and regulates more than 300 ski lifts and trams throughout the state. Heron was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1985.

The Estes Park Aerial Tramway was a pet project for Heron. It was built for between $200,000 and $300,000, and opened to great fanfare – including a front-page Denver Post story – in August 1955. In addition to the Estes Park Aerial Tramway, Heron Engineering also designed and built the passenger tramways at the Royal Gorge, as well as the summit of Monarch Pass. The Tramway is still owned and operated by the Heron family today.

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