Monarch Ridge Tramway Station, Colorado

Above the parking lot at Monarch Pass is Monarch Ridge, a point on the Continental Divide 700 feet higher than the pass. The concession company that owns the store, built an aerial tram up to the ridge in 1966. Though there are other trams and lifts at ski hills on the Divide, this is the only purely scenic tram on the Divide, and operates in the summer, instead of the winter. The tram was made by the Heron Engineering Company of Denver, which makes chairlifts for ski operations around the state. The four-person fiberglass cars were made by the Atlas Engineering Company in Salt Lake City. The 1,440-foot long diagonal trip to the top takes just a few minutes, and offers fine views of the pass and the nearby Monarch Ski Area. The hilltop terminal building has a 30-ton concrete counter-weight on its back side, which holds up the tram cable, and provides even tension on the line. On top of the tram building is an observation level, ringed by an outdoor deck providing views in all directions, that extend for 150 miles on clear days. Inside are interpretive overlooks that point out surrounding topographic features. Outside are a variety of electronic transmission and communication facilities, including an AT&T microwave tower, and an automatic weather station, operated by the FAA. Wind gusts of close to 150 miles an hour have been recorded here, and snow levels average 350 inches a year—30 feet.