Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

Recorded April 8, 2017

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 relatively near the top of San Jacinto Peak and was constructed in rugged Chino Canyon. The twelve-and-a-half minute ride begins at the Valley Station at 2,643 feet and passes up North America's sheerest mountain face through five life zones on its way to the Mountain Station at 8,516 feet. Travelers start in the Sonoran Desert and arrive at an alpine forest. 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 cooler at the top than in the desert.