What to Know
- Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
- The annual contest, which opens on Oct. 1 each year, asks people to guess when the first inch of snow will be measured at the tram's upper station
- Winners receive four tickets to the tram and a Tramway baseball cap
ARE YOU IN THE SNOW? Do you know when exactly the frosty weather will return, and, when it does, what might result? Will there be icy windows, or chilly puddles, or plenty of flakes for the kids to enjoy? Lots of people have a sense for sensing when a nice blanket, or at least a hefty dusting, will visit a certain location. And, if they don't exactly exhibit a knack? Then they are able to make some fairly impressive guesses, the kind of calculations that reveal the guesser's true love of wintertime. And several Californians did just that, beginning on Oct. 1, 2021. For that's the annual date, pretty much each and every year, when the...
PALM SPRINGS AERIAL TRAMWAY... kicks off its Snow-Guessing Contest. What's at the chilly heart of this sweater-and-scarf showdown? The upshot is simple: Guess when the first measurable inch of snow will fall at Mountain Station, which is the destination that the famous tram, a mid-century wonder of engineering, travels up, up, up to from Valley Station, located down in the desert. Participants send in postcards with their guesses, and the earlier that postcard arrives at the tram's offices, the better. And ten snow-knowing smarties got some good news on Dec. 14: Snow fell, more than an inch, at the alpine area. The measurement was taken at 1:30 p.m., and the photos sent down Mt. San Jacinto tell the snowy story: Winter has arrived.
THE TRAM... continues to run through the holiday season, delivering snow seekers to a winter wonderland up the mountain. There's dinner, too, and a gift shop, and big views of the Coachella Valley. Do check the attraction's holiday schedule before purchasing your ticket and planning your trip. And if you want to be a part of the 2022 contest? Start watching the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway's social pages in late September, for the big announcement. Winning 2021 entries hailed from Palm Desert, Thousand Palms, and, oh yes, Anchorage, Alaska, which is a spot that knows its snow. And the prizes? Four tram tickets, and an embroidered baseball cap, too.
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