History of the Mt. Ogden Tram Concept

• 1906-07: Earliest known tram proposal. The newspaper reports that Phil S. O'Mara and J. H. Barbour "have leased Malan Heights, with an option to buy, and are planning to have a cable road constructed" to a proposed "grand pleasure resort". An artist's sketch depicts the cable road going up the face of Malan's Peak. The plans also include a dam and artificial lake in Malan's Basin. Construction is promised to take place during spring 1907, with the cable line "ready for tourist travel . . . before midsummer."

• 1923-26: William R. Miller leases the Malan property, with an option to buy, and forms a company for the purpose of building a new resort to be accessed by a promised 10-mile-long automobile road and 4000-foot funicular railroad.

• Readers: If you have specific information on other early tram-related proposals, please share your information with us at .

• 1980's: Weber State University Geography Professor Deon Greer undertakes a study of a possible tram on Mt. Ogden.

• 1989: A Weber County public agency committee prepares a "preliminary feasibility report" on a proposed Mt. Ogden tram.

• 1998: Ogden City hires Fehr and Peers Transportation Consultants to conduct a feasibility study for a Mt. Ogden tram.
  • Intended to "put this issue to rest"
  • Cost $100,000
  • Recommends two alignments: Taylor Canyon to Noname Peak, or WSU to Strawberry Ridge
  • Recommends two technologies: jigback tram ($12M) or funitel ($25M)
  • Concludes that taking the tram would be one minute faster than driving to Snowbasin
  • Estimates that 10% of Snowbasin skiers would ride the tram
  • Estimates that a tram would attract 360,000 riders per year, and therefore pay for itself (jigback tram version only), assuming that there is a 600-car parking lot at the base and additional amenities such as a restaurant, gift shop, and visitor's center
  • Points out that riders would be local residents and visitors already in town--not additional tourists

  

• September 1998: Ogden City holds five public meetings to accept comments on the tram proposal; the reaction from those who attend is overwhelmingly negative. Residents also submit petitions with 41 signatures in favor of the tram, 581 signatures against.

• December 1998: Mayor Mecham recommends to the City Council that "Ogden City not develop, own or operate" a tram, and that the city support a hypothetical privately developed tram only if a list of conditions can be met including that no city or county taxes or fees be expended for the tram. The City Council unanimously concurs with the mayor's recommendation.

• November 1999: Matthew Godfrey is elected mayor of Ogden, after making no public mention of the tram issue (as far as we can determine) during his campaign.

  

• April 2000: Mayor Godfrey writes a letter to the White House urging that the Forest Service remove the Taylor Canyon property from the Snowbasin land exchange, so that a gondola can be built going up Taylor Canyon. A news article later reports that he is "working with Chris Peterson, Earl Holding's real estate manager, on the details." Godfrey explains that gondola passengers would ride UTA buses from downtown Ogden to the base of the tram, eliminating the need for a large parking lot on the east bench and turning the tram into "a downtown economic engine."

• May 2000: The Taylor Canyon property is conveyed to the Forest Service as part of the Snowbasin land exchange, as originally intended. Also, the Ogden City Council passes a resolution stating its commitment to use no city dollars to finance any costs associated with a tram. Godfrey states that the tram will now become a long-term rather than short-term issue.

• March 2002: The Ogden City administration receives (but does not publicize) a report from Roger Gardner of Leitner-Poma, Inc., providing specifications and cost estimates for a proposed three-part gondola system. One leg would run from downtown up 23rd Street to the east bench; a second leg along the east bench from 23rd Street to WSU with a stop at the mouth of Taylor Canyon; and a third leg would go up Taylor Canyon to Snowbasin. Correspondence accompanying the report indicates that Chris Peterson was involved in discussions of the proposal.

• November 2003: Mayor Godfrey is reelected, after making no public mention of the tram issue (as far as we can determine) during his campaign. However, in a private response to a Sierra Club questionnaire, he indicates that he would support building a tram only under a number of conditions.

• January 2004: As rumors circulate that Mayor Godfrey is again pursuing the tram concept, the Standard-Examiner commissions a scientific poll of Ogden residents, asking "Should a tram be built to the top of Mt. Ogden?" The results are 38% "yes" and 53% "no," with a margin of error of 11%. A reporter asks the Sierra Club to comment on the results, but no article on the poll is ever published.

  

• 2004: In January, Ogden City hires Roger Gardner, now with his own consulting firm, to conduct a feasibility study for an urban gondola between downtown and WSU. The study is completed in August at a cost of $62,000. The study considers two alternative routes: one up 23rd Street to the east bench and then south; the other up 23rd Street to Harrison and then south along Harrison to WSU. Preliminary correspondence with Gardner indicates that an "option from Weber State to Snow Basin Resort" was also contemplated even though it is not mentioned in the final report.

• Fall 2004: Ogden City, the Wasatch Front Regional Council, and the Utah Transit Authority begin a study of transit options for the corridor between downtown Ogden and WSU. At the city's request, the study looks into an aerial gondola option in addition to the more traditional transit options (light rail, streetcar, and bus rapid transit). Roger Gardner's study is used as a starting point for analyzing the gondola option, and he is retained for further consultation on this analysis.

• December 2004: The Lift Ogden Committee is organized under the leadership of Ed Allen, father-in-law of Mayor Godfrey.

• February 2005: Salt Lake Exchange Accommodations, apparently owned by Chris Peterson, acquires the 1440-acre Malan's Basin property on the west side of Mt. Ogden. Somewhat later, Peterson floats the idea to the Lift Ogden Committee of building a resort in Malan's Basin with a gondola connection to WSU.

• June 2005: The results of the downtown-WSU transit corridor study are announced. Of the transit modes considered, the streetcar is rated the highest, followed by a version of bus rapid transit. The gondola option is not recommended due to its projected high cost per rider. (According to rumors, Mayor Godfrey continued to request UTA funding for his proposed urban gondola during the following months, but was ultimately turned down.)

  

• August 2005: A 16-page color brochure promoting the gondola concept is published and widely distributed by a private coalition. The cover art, however, is apparently borrowed from the city, and the city's logo appears in the center. Although the City Council objects, the brochure remains available on the Lift Ogden web site for some time with the cover unchanged.

• September 2005: At a City Council work session, Mayor Godfrey describes the proposed gondola project consisting of an urban gondola, a mountain gondola, and a resort in Malan's Basin. Peterson, in attendance, states that he will make his resort plans available to the public in approximately 60 days. When asked whether Mt. Ogden Golf Course would be affected by the project, Mayor Godfrey says only that if it is affected, it would be improved.

• April 2006: Mayor Godfrey and Chris Peterson publicly announce that the proposed project includes not just the gondolas and the Malan's Basin resort, but also a major new development in Ogden's foothills on property that Peterson would purchase from the city and WSU. The city would sell him the golf course as well as all of its contiguous property east and south of the golf course. Hastily drafted maps and artist's conceptions of the development are put on display, but it appears that no detailed planning or feasibility analysis has yet taken place.

• April through June, 2006: Peterson, Godfrey, and Lift Ogden mount a coordinated campaign for the gondola/development proposal, complete with lawn signs, newspaper ads, four public slide shows by Peterson, an extensive series of presentations by Godfrey to groups of invited citizens, a gondola cabin on display around town, numerous letters to the editor, and finally, a loud rally outside the Municipal Building on June 20, after which many of the proponents storm the City Council chambers and demand that the Council "take the next step." Peterson tells the Council that he is spending $100,000 putting together a detailed proposal which should be ready in a few weeks.

  

• July 2006: In a lengthy letter to Mayor Godfrey, Peterson explains that he has retained Salt Lake attorney Tom Ellison to assist him in obtaining the needed approvals for his project. He also proposes a set of steps in the approval process, including a "pre-development agreement" to be completed by August 4, and the creation of a new "Planned Community Development zone" (PCD) ordinance by October 31. The letter provides no dates for subsequent stages of the approval process, or for Peterson to provide any further information about the project.

• August 2006: At a City Council work session on August 8, Peterson and Ellison publicly present their proposed approval process. The idea of a pre-development agreement is apparently dropped some time later. On August 16, Ellison provides the city with a proposed draft zoning ordinance, now titled "Mixed Use (MU)" instead of PCD. Lift Ogden takes down most of its lawn signs around the city.

• November, 2006: The Ogden City Planning Commission begins holding public hearings on two zoning ordinances that are intended, at least in part, to accommodate Peterson's proposed development. By the time the ordinances are forwarded to the City Council, however, most of the provisions to accommodate Peterson are removed.

  

• February-March, 2007: Weber State University releases the results of geologic and economic analyses of potential future uses of its undeveloped property east of Skyline Drive. Approximately half (60 acres) of the property is considered developable, and is valued at about $10 million. However, the cost to the university of replacing the property, should it be sold, is put at over $40 million. The WSU Trustees then vote to add this property to the university's master plan, effectively deciding that it will not be sold for private use. In response, Mayor Godfrey calls the analysis a "farce" and a "lapse of academic integrity." In April, the Utah Board of Regents directs the university not to sell the property.

• July 2007: About a week after declaring that he will seek a third term in the upcoming election, Mayor Godfrey announces that he has changed his mind and will not sell the Mt. Ogden Golf Course after all. He also alludes to the impracticality of the golf course redesign that he and Peterson had been proposing. Godfrey still expresses optimism that the rest of the gondola project can occur, with houses built elsewhere in the foothills and the urban gondola built without a subsidy from Ogden City. In response, Peterson says that Godfrey's decision leaves his project in a "precarious" state.

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Last modified 23 July 2007