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Tram breaks down, strands 150 riders atop Mt. Howard
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ENTERPRISE — About 150 people got an extended visit on Mount Howard Saturday when the Wallowa Lake Tramway was shut down due to a mechanical problem and stranded the visitors atop the mountain for the day. The visitors were eventually ferried down the back side of the mountain in four-wheel-drive vehicles after a service road was opened up. No one was stranded in the cars on the line when the tram shut down, tram partner Bill Whittemore said. The tram, which opened at 10 a.m., quit operating about 10:30 a.m. and is still not running, Wallowa County Undersheriff Steve Rogers said. A log skidder was used to plow open the service road up the back (east) side of Mount Howard. Some trees had to be removed to clear the way. Four-wheel-drive vehicles from Wallowa County Search and Rescue, Wallowa County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and the U.S. Forest Service ferried people to Ferguson Ridge Ski Area, where Moffit Bros. buses transported them back to Wallowa Lake. The convoy of four-wheel-drive vehicles had to make two trips up the mountain. It was slow going through snow and mud, Rogers said. The last of the people were evacuated about 10:30 p.m., Rogers said. The tram developed a mechanical problem that necessitated shutting it down. “We lost a sheave (pulley) that we could not get at easily” on tower No. 3, Whittemore said. “The evacuation went well. Everybody was happy,” he said. The tram, which opened June 30, is expected to be back in operation Wednesday, he said. |
