Written by Lauren M. Whaley
Besides surpassing 500 - and then 600 - inches of snow this season, during February and March “It was mainly all bottom terminal,” said Tim Mason, interim operations manager for the resort. “They poured the North wall and then the South wall.”
During these last weeks of March, crews from Gunderson Stanley Concrete are forming the west wall. They will also construct a sub-floor, also called a “floating” floor, which will be underneath where the tram docks in the lower terminal.
Across the world, tram pieces have begun moving.
Nine containers have arrived in Houston from Europe.
“They contain equipment and tools for the bottom terminal as well as the lattice work for Tower One,” Mason said. “They arrived March 13. From there, the containers will travel by rail to Salt Lake City and then will be trucked in from there.”
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort crews are readying the Ranch Lot for the containers’ arrival on March 26. Four or five Swiss men from Garaventa will be at the resort to “receive” the equipment.
“If Garaventa says their stuff is coming, then their stuff is coming,” Mason said. “They’ve been really good about communicating the shipping schedules and sticking to what they say. They are the experts. … Everything is on schedule.”
But, it’s after the resort closes on April 6 that the real business begins.
“They’ll start going after it on Tower 1 and things after we close,” Mason said. “Right now, we are putting together a schedule the day after we close to plow out the mountain road. Pushing the snow off and breaking up the ice to the ground after the snow is plowed away will take most of April to complete.”
Speaking of snow – Mason said that winter does not want to give up for spring, which is wonderful for skiers and could prove to be difficult for construction crews. “As a skier, I love it,” Mason said. “If there is a sunny day one day a week, it’s nice. Winter isn’t giving up and that’s why we live here.”
Stay tuned for summer tram updates. Crews will really get moving once the village closes!