Wallowa Lake Tramway: The next 50 years

Published 5:00 am Friday, June 18, 2021

WALLOWA LAKE — More of the same exciting rides and new features can be expected during the next half-century of life in the Wallowa Lake Tramway, said co-owner Mike Lockhart .

Like many businesses, last year — when the tram marked its 50th anniversary — was dominated by surviving the pandemic. He said nothing special was done to mark the first half-century of county’s top tourist attraction.

“I didn’t think about that until this morning,” he said.

Originally constructed in 1970, the tram was first owned by a stock corporation known as High Wallowas, which was later forced to sell, Lockhart said.

“It started with a bunch of dedicated people who wanted to build an attraction that would be special, which this is, in my opinion,” he said.

Maintenance is primary goal

Perhaps the primary goal Lockhart and co-owner Bill Whittemore have for the tram is to continue to maintain and upgrade it. The attraction operates from late May to early October, and some people would like to see that expanded. That’s unlikely, since the “shoulder seasons” of late fall and early spring are necessary for their maintenance work.

Lockhart estimated the tram would cost about $10 million to replace.

However, he said, “It isn’t worth $10 million and that’s why we’re doing everything we can to restore it to keep the place operating safely. There’s very little here that dates back to 1970.”

He said they are continually on the lookout for parts they can use on the tram — or have made new.

“A lot of the parts we have right now we have to have made ourselves” at a local machine shop, he said, but “there are still parts around” that can be purchased.

Safety is key

Their efforts to keep the tram operating safely have proven successful.

“It’s important that we do this maintenance. We are the No. 1 attraction in Wallowa County and there’s a lot of people who factor that into when they come to Wallowa County.”

Once, they had to evacuate the top because of high winds.

“It’s all about safety, from every operation we have from the lift to food service to everything else,” he said.

Evacuation is no easy task. Under the seats of each car is a cord that is used to let a rope down to the ground and passengers get into harness to be lowered to the ground. He said the tram works with local first-responders when necessary. But such calls are rare.

“We haven’t had one in 20 years,” he said.

The only mishaps on the tram have been minor injuries suffered, such as a rider slipping upon getting into or out of one of the cabins.

One thing that tram riders often wonder is how supplies reach the summit, particularly the Summit Grill. Outside are two large propane tanks that would hardly fit in a cabin. Lockhart said there is a roadway up the back side of Mount Howard that comes up near Ferguson Ridge. Large items can be brought up that way. Most supplies, however, are brought up on the tram via a “boxcar” — an open, yellow car.

A road accessible only by all-terrain vehicle provides access to each of the towers that carry the cable.

Improvements made

Most of the improvements made by the current owners have been about maintenance, Lockhart said.

“Over the past three years, we’ve done some extensive remodeling,” he said, replacing parts where needed.

“We started a very aggressive maintenance program. We’ve taken every assembly off,” Lockhart said, and had a machine shop in Enterprise refurbish parts during the offseason.

They also have made some additions to the attraction. When they bought it, there was only the terminal at the summit. Riders would go up, hike around, enjoy the view and ride back down. But the current owners poured a concrete slab, added a patio and the Summit Grill.

Improvements considered

The owners also are considering additions they can create. Already the tram does some catering to skiers.

“We take people up in the spring and they hike over to East Peak and do a mountaineering-type of skiing,” Lockhart said.

In the 1990s, they considered adding ski runs down the back of Mount Howard that would end near Ferguson Ridge Ski Area.

Lockhart hopes to be able to add interpretive tours of the mountaintop, including the history of the moraines, if they can find the right person to do the interpreting.

That could be happening soon,” he said. “But that’s a special person we’d have to find.”

There also has been discussion of campsites in the area, but those would depend on the markets, the economy and what the U.S. Forest Service says of the ideas, since two-thirds of the tram is on its land.

Local support

While the tram largely survives on tourist dollars, the owners don’t neglect the locals who support it. A planned “Business After Hours” event for Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce members is planned soon, as is a Father’s Day event for first-responders. Lockhart said they also want to honor educators and others who worked hard during the coronavirus pandemic.

“They worked extra hard here in Wallowa County, as compared with what was going on nationally,” he said of the educators. “They worked hard for our children — we put them first. There may be a few other groups, but there’s a limit as far as what we can do. We can’t ignore our businesspeople who were at risk, but at least they got some reward for their endeavors. We just feel we want to do something to say thank you.”

The future?

Lockhart has hopes for the future of the tram.

“There’s things we would like to see happen,” he said. “There’s a possibility someone besides me could think (more) about winter sports.”

But for now, they just want to keep improving what’s there.

“We’ve been going 50 years and we’d like to add a few more things,” he said. “We don’t know what the life of the lift is, so we’ll have to see.”

Elevation: Base 4,450 feet; Summit 8,150 feet.

Distances: Vertical 3,700 feet; Horizontal 1.83 miles; Trails 2½ miles.

Time: One way 15 minutes.

Header: 150 hp electric motor with a 55 hp auxiliary

Towers: highest is 74 feet; average tower height is 30 feet.

Top terminal counterweight: 28 tons

Gondolas: Swiss-made four-passenger cabins with a detachable grip. One car leaves the terminal every 90 seconds.

Land: One-third is privately owned; two-thirds is owned by U.S. Forest Service Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

From the top, you can see four states: Oregon, Idaho — including Seven Devils, Washington and on a clear day, the Bitterroot Mountain Range of Montana.