The crown jewel of Southern California Bouldering, Tram has gone almost completely unnoticed to most locals. Located on the Eastern rim of Mount San Jacinto, and guarded by the steepest, most continuous mountain face on the continent. The bouldering at Tram owes its existence to an arial tramway that makes access to the area possible. Ironically, its this very tramway that deters many from visiting the area. Tram offers around 800 problems ranging from 5.5 to V13. The area has a reputation for being short and steep climbing, which Tram excels at. However, contrary to popular belief, Tram has a plethora of top quality highballs. In fact, some of the best highballing in So Cal can be found here. Tram also boasts the highest concentration of problems in the V7-V10 range, in the entire region.
Virtually all of the development in this area has occurred by several dedicated groups of regular boulderers. The first to seriously boulder at Tram was Tyson Atwell. Shortly thereafter, another San Diegon turned up on the scene-Frank Cornelius. Frank developed many of the more popular problems. Flash Gordon, Franks Boulder, Dancing Queen (The Cube), and area 51 are some of Frank’s problems. Things began to take off at Tram in the mid 90’s with several crews vying for ascents. Rob Mulligan, Scott Sanchez and the Costa Mesa boys were one such crew.

Some of their problems include Angus, Boardwalk, and many other problems in the Beach/Boardwalk area. The rival faction-the Hangar 18 crew led by Zach Shields and Byron Shumpert also added many problems in the Area 51/ Greenpeace area. Other powerhouses frequenting Tram at the time were Wills Young and Dave Struthers. Dave added testpieces such as Greenpeace, and Stretch Armstrong. Wills established mega-classics to the likes of Vanishing Point, Black Moon (aka: Back in Black), Butterscotch, Over the Boardwalk, and Emerald City. Other locals that frequented the scene were the team of Rick Craig and Don James, who were responsible for The Dance Floor (Swingdance), as well as Kung-Fu Canyon. Around the turn of the century, a new force turned up on the mountain, and things would never be the same again. With relentless energy, and a talent for gathering heads, Joe Morgan would transform Tram into a world class bouldering destination. Joe was single-handedly responsible for many of the newer areas at Tram, as well as many of the modern classics. He would team up with the likes of Marc Roth, Dan Mills, Buck Branson, E.Z. Eric Harrison, Chris Lindner, Robert Miramontes, and Todd Daniels. To this day, many of the past locals are still fixtures at Tram, putting up problems like there is no tomorrow.

Weather
Tram could quite possibly be the most climbable area in So Cal as far as weather is concerned. Being just past the hump of the peak, Tram enjoys the shelter of the San Jacinto rain shadow. Winter can be moderate here as well, with only several feet of snow annually, and daytime temps. averaging between 45-60 degrees. Summers can be warm, with temps. ranging between 70-85 degrees. The only real weather concern is summer thundershowers that seem to pop up out of nowhere and create total chaos, complete with torrential rains, lightening, thunder, and hail. These storms usually last no more than a few minutes before they disappear as quickly as they came.

Directions:
al Tramway is located 10 minutes outside of Palm Springs, west of the city. If coming from the Los Angeles area, take Interstate 10 East to Highway 111. Take the 111 to Palm Springs, turn right at Tramway Road, and follow the road to the base of the mountain. If traveling West on Interstate 10, exit Indian Ave. and head Left (S), turn right on San Rafael and head for the mountain. San Rafael becomes Tramway Road.

Article by: R. Miramontes

Photos by: D. Corso, C. Anastasi, and
R. Miramontes

Prices for the Tramway
Day Pass:
Adult – $21.95
Children – $14.95 (3-12)
Seniors - $19.95 (60+)

Annual Pass:
Adult - $120
Children - $90

Summer Pass:
Adult - $50
Children - $25