MOAB -- Ad campaigns may yet declare it "a rim with a view."
Emmett Mays calls it "a 25-year dream-come-true."In 1974 Mays bought an unusual chunk of property on Moab's west side -- in fact it IS Moab's west side, a buff to meaty-red talus slope, cliff and cliff top -- thinking he'd put a little something there a few decades down the line.
His idea? A scenic chairlift.
Now, when it comes to viewpoints, the Moab area is already a world-renowned ground zero.
Arches National Park is just to the north. The hulking LaSal Mountains rise to the east. Deadhorse Point State Park is perched above Canyonlands National Park, which sprawls to the west and southwest. The Colorado and Green rivers still carve their ancient courses through the vast, photogenic territory. And 40-plus years ago, thinking somewhat along the same line as Mays, uranium king Charlie Steen put his mansion on the side of a cliff north of town. Today that aerie is a restaurant.
But this chairlift and its vistas, the logic goes, will let folks take in much of that in a leisurely, easily accessible and technologically up-to-date sort of way.
"A 360-degree Kodak moment is what it is," Mays said.
"Of course, you can see the town too, but that isn't what people are here to see," added Greg Nelson, assistant manager of Portal Vistas LLC, the company behind the project.
Locals call the imposing scarp they're taming the Moab Rim. A sometimes hair-raising trail, used by mountain bikers, hikers and four-wheel-drive enthusiasts, already heads to the crest from the Kane Creek Road along the Colorado River, which barrels -- against most expectations -- into a nearby canyon opening, the "Portal" in the partnership's name.
The lift to the top, Mays said, "was going to be my retirement project."
Indeed, a few years ago he stepped down as manager of the area's telephone company. Now "Moab's Skyway," as he and his partners call the lift, "like 'highway' and 'byway,' " is just weeks away from being a reality.
The top and bottom terminals are in place, eight intermediate towers are up -- banded in canyon-country camouflage shades from cinnamon to gray -- and the main cable has been strung. The chairs themselves are being put in place.
"I've had my first ride," Mays said.
The project is being completed in two phases, he said. This spring the lift, parking lot, viewpoint and a scenic trail up top should be completed. By fall they will endeavor to complete a 300-seat entertainment amphitheater, a snack bar and a souvenir shop on the summit as well as additional trail connections.
The ride, a fixed quad similar to but slower than a ski-resort chairlift, will cover a distance of 2,395 feet, rising 900 feet through a cleft in the cliff to the top, Nelson said. The 10-minute journey will cost $5 to $7.
Although the concept has its critics, environmental and otherwise, Nelson said the designers have tried to make the lift blend into the rocky landscape. Ancient American Indian petroglyphs have been found on the site, and measures are being taken that the developers hope will protect them, he said.
The 33-seat system will be handicapped accessible, with reserved parking and specially designed ramps and platforms that will let those with wheelchairs roll on and ride in their wheelchairs to the top.
Racks will carry mountain bikes up as well.
If all goes well, Mays said, the chairlift will be up and running about April 1 -- just in time for Moab's 1999 Easter-to-November tourist season.