First Tram Snowfall Of The Winter
PALM SPRINGS (CNS) – Palm Springs residents were treated to a view of the first snow on the San Jacinto range Saturday.
And the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway’s annual snow guessing contest officially ended with the first inch of measurable snow at the Tramway’s Mountain Station, according to Leba Zimmerschied, a spokesperson for the Tramway.
The Tramway currently has approximately 2-½ inches of snow in Long Valley, Zimmerschied said.
Long Valley is at the top of the tram on Mt. San Jacinto, 8,516 feet above sea level.
The Tramway launched a contest Oct. 1 to see who could guess the date of its first snow.
The 10 contestants who guessed the correct date were: Evy LaForce of Cathedral City; Ric Namey of Desert Hot Springs; Jennifer Cozens of Bermuda Dunes; Sierra Seltzer of Desert Hot Springs; Giovanni Martinez of Desert Hot Springs; Bill Crowl of Palm Desert; Lisa Jones of Bermuda Dunes; Rick Darius of Palm Springs; Elaine Kontra of La Quinta and Diane Samuels of Palm Desert, she said.
The winners will receive four Tram admissions plus a Palm Springs Aerial Tramway picture frame, Zimmerschied said.
A total of 789 contest postcard entries were sent in, Zimmerschied said.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway ride begins at Valley Station in Chino Canyon, in north Palm Springs, at 2,643 feet above sea level, and passes up the San Jacinto Mountain to the Mountain Station in Long Valley.
Visitors to the Tramway have been transported into the mountains overlooking the Coachella Valley since 1963, according to the Tramway Authority. It was opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to near the top of the San Jacinto Peak.
