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Does any one know what happened? Or any info
1
Moab Gondola
Started by ski lift maniac, Mar 22 2006 07:07 AM
21 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 22 March 2006 - 07:16 AM
i don't know, but there was also a ctec quad chair not far away from there that is also abandon.
are they still standing?
are they still standing?
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Posted 22 March 2006 - 03:27 PM
I was in Moab a couple years ago and was curiouss so I emailed Doppelmayr. I can't find the reply from Dopp, but thhe said that it never got a permit to open. I also took a lot of pictures, but I can't seem to find those either. I don't think the top restaraunt was ever finished.
Heres an article from the Salt Lake Tribune awhile ago
End of a Cliffhanger, Gondola owner may sue Grand County over failure of Moab venture
Vandals painted "scam" across the word "tram" on the mining carts that advertise the potentially promising but now defunct Moab Mining and Tram company. (Skip Knowles/The Salt Lake Tribune)
By Skip Knowles
The Salt Lake Tribune
MOAB -- Edward Abbey might love it, but Moab's great tram flim-flam gives Rick Jewett heartache.
On Dec. 6, vandals rolled a huge spool of steel tram cable off the cliff above U.S. 191 in Moab, then smashed windows and trashed the site of a controversial and unoperational gondola-tram at the entrance to town.
The 7-foot spool rolled down the cliff, across the highway and slammed into a motel. The desk clerk heard it hit the wall of the Archway Inn at 2 a.m., leaving a hole in the stucco near the entrance.
Vandals also painted "scam" across the word "tram" on the painted mining carts that advertise the defunct Moab Mining and Tram company, reflecting the town's sentiment toward the rusting eyesore at the entrance to touristy Moab.
The owner of the failed gondola-tram, Lake Tahoe-based engineer and gondola builder Rick Jewett, jumped on a plane and flew out to check on his $3.2 million investment, now an idle hulk.
"I saw all the broken windows," Jewett said. "It was pretty pathetic. You wonder what kind of people you're dealing with in this county."
Jewett, who has an ongoing feud with Grand County officials over the cost of a business license, equates the vandalism with ecoterrorism.
He built the tram with a vision of taking tourists to the top of the red-rock ridge on the north end of town, where they could explore an underground mining museum, stop at a restaurant or hike among petroglyphs.
Between snacks, gifts and rides, he hoped to pocket $15 from each visitor.
On April 13, 2001 -- a Friday -- the business was fully operational after two years of building. Employees were hired and Jewett was ready to flip the switch.
Instead, he has a high-profile target for rock throwing and a town full of people wishing he would get the tram running or tear it out.
And he is considering suing Grand County. What went wrong?
Jewett launched construction in 1999 when money problems arose. In November of the next year, he bought out his partner, and in January 2001 he moved to Moab with his wife and finished construction.
But when he attempted to obtain a business license from Grand County planner Mary Hofhine he "began a long and sad process that brought us to where we are today," Jewett said.
The tram plan had been approved by the county -- despite strong resistance in the community and raucous public hearings -- with the requirement that he obtain a conditional use permit that would allow him to run a business on property zoned for other purposes, such as grazing.
But the county also demanded Jewett pay for a bond to fund the removal of the tram, before he could have a business permit.
Jewett estimated tram-removal costs at about $31,500, and the county engineer said that the amount was adequate, Jewett said.
He was ready to pay it, but it did not include costs to remove the buildings at the top of the tram because they are on private property.
And that's the rub.
The county demanded an additional $66,500 -- enough to remove the buildings and restore the site.
"No one has ever posted a bond like that," Jewett claims. "I can't trust that -- paying $66,500 and they can turn right around and revoke the license [by requiring a modified conditional use permit]. Their pattern is to make sure they do all they can to refuse to allow this business to open. The county has overstepped its bounds in requiring a bond to remove a building that is permitted to be there, by right, on private property."
Jewett, though, negotiated the bond, Hofhine argues.
"The reason you can do a conditional use is because you set conditions [to make exceptions to zoning]," she said. "He dug his heels in for some reason.. . . He was the one who offered to put up the bond, because lots of people didn't want the tram. A $3 million business that can't put up a bond for seven years? I think there's something more there and he's not letting us know."
Hofhine lives straight across from the tram and has been to the top. She liked what she saw: a restaurant with a deck and a landing for the tram.
"It was really quite pretty, the stone was quite beautiful," she said.
Despite the vandalism damage and theft, Jewett says he could easily write a check for the $66,500 and get the thing running for $10,000 to $20,000 more. But he does not trust the county.
"In my mind it's a highly speculative and illegal bond requirement," he said. "I'm supposed to hand them a check for $66,500 and the next day they can revoke my license? I'm scared it's the tip of the iceberg."
Jewett is no puttering dreamer. He designed the Olympic Tram at Snowbasin for the men's downhill, as well as the long Strawberry gondola at the resort, and has built trams all over the world.
Jewett filed a claim against the county but the county did not respond within 90 days. Jewett has a year to sue in state court.
Town sentiment has already ripened.
"Around here people call it the Tram to Nowhere," said chairlift owner Scott McFarland at Moab Rim Adventure Park, whose successful tram runs more than twice as high as Jewett's, up to scenic Moab Rim.
The Rim chairlift accesses a popular 4-wheel drive, hiking and mountain bike trail system, unlike Jewett's tram. McFarland bought his chairlift, then called Skyway, last summer. He added a free-ride mountain bike park and is charging $25 for day passes.
But Jewett's outfit goes up a hill most people can walk in 10 minutes, McFarland said. Others agree.
"I can't figure out why he ever did it. It doesn't make a lot of sense," McFarland said. "A tram is supposed to take you some place and that one doesn't."
Scott Newton at the popular Poison Spider bicycle shop calls the abandoned tram desolate, going nowhere near the famous Slickrock trail, as rumored.
"I wish it would be opened up or torn down. It's an eyesore," he said. "It has been a weird deal since day one. He's not going to make any money, there's nothing up there, the views aren't great. There's no biking or hiking trails up there. It doesn't take you to the Slickrock."
Dave Bagley at Slickrock Cycles was more optimistic.
"It's unfortunate it played out the way it did," he said. "It would have been a potentially cool tourist thing, a place to do some backcountry hiking. Something should be done, or it needs to be taken down."
Skeptics should go up his tram and look around, Jewett said.
"You'd see a great view, Anasazi ruins, petroglyphs, views of arches and relics from the time of Butch Cassidy," he said.
The county has taken a lot of flak over the no-go gondola, said Hofhine.
"But no matter what is built in Grand County people will have a problem with it," she said.
Back at Jewett's Moab Mine and Tram site, tire tracks, beer cans and letters with names and addresses were left on the most recent night of vandalism.
Two suspects were identified, but Jewett has lost faith in the investigation. It has been four months with no arrests of the vandals. The two suspects said they were there and heard glass breaking but that they did no damage.
Grand County Sheriff's Sgt. Kirk Brewer is working the case and has posted a $1,000 reward.
"Hopefully someone will come forward," Brewer said. "We're not ruling these guys out but you gotta have the evidence to back it up to make a good arrest."
"Something will come up," he said. "I told them this will never go away, they'll always be looking over their shoulder."
knowles@sltrib.com
Heres an article from the Salt Lake Tribune awhile ago
End of a Cliffhanger, Gondola owner may sue Grand County over failure of Moab venture
Vandals painted "scam" across the word "tram" on the mining carts that advertise the potentially promising but now defunct Moab Mining and Tram company. (Skip Knowles/The Salt Lake Tribune)
By Skip Knowles
The Salt Lake Tribune
MOAB -- Edward Abbey might love it, but Moab's great tram flim-flam gives Rick Jewett heartache.
On Dec. 6, vandals rolled a huge spool of steel tram cable off the cliff above U.S. 191 in Moab, then smashed windows and trashed the site of a controversial and unoperational gondola-tram at the entrance to town.
The 7-foot spool rolled down the cliff, across the highway and slammed into a motel. The desk clerk heard it hit the wall of the Archway Inn at 2 a.m., leaving a hole in the stucco near the entrance.
Vandals also painted "scam" across the word "tram" on the painted mining carts that advertise the defunct Moab Mining and Tram company, reflecting the town's sentiment toward the rusting eyesore at the entrance to touristy Moab.
The owner of the failed gondola-tram, Lake Tahoe-based engineer and gondola builder Rick Jewett, jumped on a plane and flew out to check on his $3.2 million investment, now an idle hulk.
"I saw all the broken windows," Jewett said. "It was pretty pathetic. You wonder what kind of people you're dealing with in this county."
Jewett, who has an ongoing feud with Grand County officials over the cost of a business license, equates the vandalism with ecoterrorism.
He built the tram with a vision of taking tourists to the top of the red-rock ridge on the north end of town, where they could explore an underground mining museum, stop at a restaurant or hike among petroglyphs.
Between snacks, gifts and rides, he hoped to pocket $15 from each visitor.
On April 13, 2001 -- a Friday -- the business was fully operational after two years of building. Employees were hired and Jewett was ready to flip the switch.
Instead, he has a high-profile target for rock throwing and a town full of people wishing he would get the tram running or tear it out.
And he is considering suing Grand County. What went wrong?
Jewett launched construction in 1999 when money problems arose. In November of the next year, he bought out his partner, and in January 2001 he moved to Moab with his wife and finished construction.
But when he attempted to obtain a business license from Grand County planner Mary Hofhine he "began a long and sad process that brought us to where we are today," Jewett said.
The tram plan had been approved by the county -- despite strong resistance in the community and raucous public hearings -- with the requirement that he obtain a conditional use permit that would allow him to run a business on property zoned for other purposes, such as grazing.
But the county also demanded Jewett pay for a bond to fund the removal of the tram, before he could have a business permit.
Jewett estimated tram-removal costs at about $31,500, and the county engineer said that the amount was adequate, Jewett said.
He was ready to pay it, but it did not include costs to remove the buildings at the top of the tram because they are on private property.
And that's the rub.
The county demanded an additional $66,500 -- enough to remove the buildings and restore the site.
"No one has ever posted a bond like that," Jewett claims. "I can't trust that -- paying $66,500 and they can turn right around and revoke the license [by requiring a modified conditional use permit]. Their pattern is to make sure they do all they can to refuse to allow this business to open. The county has overstepped its bounds in requiring a bond to remove a building that is permitted to be there, by right, on private property."
Jewett, though, negotiated the bond, Hofhine argues.
"The reason you can do a conditional use is because you set conditions [to make exceptions to zoning]," she said. "He dug his heels in for some reason.. . . He was the one who offered to put up the bond, because lots of people didn't want the tram. A $3 million business that can't put up a bond for seven years? I think there's something more there and he's not letting us know."
Hofhine lives straight across from the tram and has been to the top. She liked what she saw: a restaurant with a deck and a landing for the tram.
"It was really quite pretty, the stone was quite beautiful," she said.
Despite the vandalism damage and theft, Jewett says he could easily write a check for the $66,500 and get the thing running for $10,000 to $20,000 more. But he does not trust the county.
"In my mind it's a highly speculative and illegal bond requirement," he said. "I'm supposed to hand them a check for $66,500 and the next day they can revoke my license? I'm scared it's the tip of the iceberg."
Jewett is no puttering dreamer. He designed the Olympic Tram at Snowbasin for the men's downhill, as well as the long Strawberry gondola at the resort, and has built trams all over the world.
Jewett filed a claim against the county but the county did not respond within 90 days. Jewett has a year to sue in state court.
Town sentiment has already ripened.
"Around here people call it the Tram to Nowhere," said chairlift owner Scott McFarland at Moab Rim Adventure Park, whose successful tram runs more than twice as high as Jewett's, up to scenic Moab Rim.
The Rim chairlift accesses a popular 4-wheel drive, hiking and mountain bike trail system, unlike Jewett's tram. McFarland bought his chairlift, then called Skyway, last summer. He added a free-ride mountain bike park and is charging $25 for day passes.
But Jewett's outfit goes up a hill most people can walk in 10 minutes, McFarland said. Others agree.
"I can't figure out why he ever did it. It doesn't make a lot of sense," McFarland said. "A tram is supposed to take you some place and that one doesn't."
Scott Newton at the popular Poison Spider bicycle shop calls the abandoned tram desolate, going nowhere near the famous Slickrock trail, as rumored.
"I wish it would be opened up or torn down. It's an eyesore," he said. "It has been a weird deal since day one. He's not going to make any money, there's nothing up there, the views aren't great. There's no biking or hiking trails up there. It doesn't take you to the Slickrock."
Dave Bagley at Slickrock Cycles was more optimistic.
"It's unfortunate it played out the way it did," he said. "It would have been a potentially cool tourist thing, a place to do some backcountry hiking. Something should be done, or it needs to be taken down."
Skeptics should go up his tram and look around, Jewett said.
"You'd see a great view, Anasazi ruins, petroglyphs, views of arches and relics from the time of Butch Cassidy," he said.
The county has taken a lot of flak over the no-go gondola, said Hofhine.
"But no matter what is built in Grand County people will have a problem with it," she said.
Back at Jewett's Moab Mine and Tram site, tire tracks, beer cans and letters with names and addresses were left on the most recent night of vandalism.
Two suspects were identified, but Jewett has lost faith in the investigation. It has been four months with no arrests of the vandals. The two suspects said they were there and heard glass breaking but that they did no damage.
Grand County Sheriff's Sgt. Kirk Brewer is working the case and has posted a $1,000 reward.
"Hopefully someone will come forward," Brewer said. "We're not ruling these guys out but you gotta have the evidence to back it up to make a good arrest."
"Something will come up," he said. "I told them this will never go away, they'll always be looking over their shoulder."
knowles@sltrib.com
- Peter<br />
Liftblog.com
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#6
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Posted 22 March 2006 - 04:03 PM
This is a really weird act of vadalism that doesn't make any sense to me at all. True enviromentalists would have raised hell before the gondola was even built but this group waited until it was finished, showing that they don't actually care about the enviroment, but would rather just hurt the investor financially.
I also don't get the whole scam thing either. Probably just some punks like ELF.
I also don't get the whole scam thing either. Probably just some punks like ELF.
- Cameron
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Posted 22 March 2006 - 04:54 PM
I don't think the lift itself cost much. It seemed to be really low tech, a pulse gondola with counterweight tensioning. It only has a few towers.
- Peter<br />
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#10
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Posted 23 March 2006 - 08:07 AM
The quad was moved to a ski area out that way, I forget the name, last year or the year before. It ran for awhile as a scenic chairlift and there was also an effort to have biking, but it never quite worked out...the towers were painted a brownish colour to match the environment.
The gondola operation just isn't economically feasible - no one can figure out how to run it with a profit. I don't think it ever opened.
The gondola operation just isn't economically feasible - no one can figure out how to run it with a profit. I don't think it ever opened.
#11
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Posted 23 March 2006 - 08:28 AM
The Gondola was built by Chris Shelabarger and Rick Jewet... Rick owns thr operation outright now, the town of Moab wants a 500,000 bond to open. They have done some work in the last few months, paved the parking new ticket booth etc. But still not open yet for use. The ctec triple that was over behind Burger King is gone and it did move.
What now?
#12
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Posted 23 March 2006 - 04:17 PM
Here are some pictures I took of the Moab Scenic Skyride quad chairlift when it was still operational.
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- Peter<br />
Liftblog.com
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#13
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Posted 23 March 2006 - 05:28 PM
Peter, can we use those on the site?
I would have gotten some pictures of that lift when I was in the area but I had to get to LPOA before it closed and totally forgot about it on the way home.
I would have gotten some pictures of that lift when I was in the area but I had to get to LPOA before it closed and totally forgot about it on the way home.
- Cameron
#14
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Posted 23 March 2006 - 05:53 PM
Sure, sorry about the lower quality, I scanned them from film prints
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#15
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Bald Eagle Lifts: Defying Gravity
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Posted 23 March 2006 - 05:54 PM
Is that lift still there?
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Posted 23 March 2006 - 05:56 PM
Apparently others have said it is not. It must have shut down recently, because it was mentioned as being "highly successful" in the article above. I wonder what ski area it was relocated to?
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#19
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Posted 25 March 2006 - 11:41 AM
Because the lift never opened up for business, I think that's the reason why it was never listed in the lift installation survey since it was treated as an unfinished lift. However, SAM could have also forgot to list it too.
- Cameron
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Posted 06 May 2013 - 04:04 PM
I drove through Moab this past weekend and the gondola is still standing and very vacant. From the pictures on skilifts.org, it looks like the cable hasn't moved and the cabins are still hanging where the lift was originally stopped. Had my family with me and they were itching to get to Arches so I wasn't able to stop and take pictures. Viewing it from the north, it really is a short gondola that goes nowhere.
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