What Is The Snowbird Tram And Where Is It?
The Snowbird Tram is located at the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah. Snowbird is located in Little Cottonwood Canyon about 45 minutes from the Salt Lake City Airport. The small town closest to Snowbird in the town of Sandy, Utah, a small suburb of Salt Lake City.
The tram travels 1.6 miles and has been in operation since 1971. It takes skiers and sightseers from the base of Snowbird Ski Resort up to the top of Hidden Peak (about 11,000 feet) in the Wasatch Mountains. Each car carries up to 125 people at a time and takes about 10 minutes to rise about 2,900 feet. There are two tram cars. The counter balance each other as one goes up and the other goes down. There is one blue car and one red.
Along with the Jackson Hole Tram, the Snowbird Tram is one of the most iconic ski lifts in North America. It is immediately recognizable to anyone who has ever skied at Snowbird Ski Resort. In the spring of 2022, Snowbird announced the replacement of the original tram cars that have been in operation since 1971. The photo in this article is of the original, classic Snowbird Tram cars.
What Is It Like To Travel To And Photograph The Snowbird Trams Cars?
Snowbird is a four season resort but it probably most popular in the winter when the ski slopes are open. The tram also runs in the summer for scenic rides and to take hikers up to the top of Hidden Peak. You can photograph the Snowbird Tram any time of year but winter is arguably the best time to get great photos of the Snowbird Tram.
When planning a trip to Snowbird, you’ll want to fly into the Salt Lake City airport and go from there if you are flying and not on a road trip. Once you get to the airport you can get a shuttle to Snowbird via Canyon Transport (and other companies) if you’ll be staying there. If you’ll be staying in a town like Sandy or plan to ski multiple resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons in the area you’ll probably want to get a rental car to make that easier. Thanks to the local bus system you can stay in Sandy or one of the other nearby towns and use the UTA shuttle buses to ski Snowbird and the other nearby resorts.
Once you get to Snowbird and figure out your lodging accommodations, you’ll need to get Snowbird lift tickets to ride the tram and ski (or just ride the Snowbird Tram). Like most ski resorts, lift tickets at Snowbird cost somewhere around $200 for a single day. You can probably get a lift an lodging package to save a bit or you can get the Ikon Ski Pass that will give you up to 7 days at Snowbird depending on which version of the Ikon Ski Pass you get. Snowbird used to offer a spring pass but that has unfortunately been discontinued.
There are lots of vantage point from which to photograph the Snowbird Tram. If you want to photograph it from the base of the mountain or the summit you don’t need to be a good skier (or hiker) if you go in the summer. If you want to photograph it part way down the mountain, you’ll need to do some hiking in the summer. If you’ll be there in the winter you’ll need to be a pretty strong skier to photograph it in some spots, particularly if you want to photograph it where the tram cars cross midway down the mountain.
What Does It Take To Get A Wall Art Quality Photo Of The Snowbird Tram?
Once you’ve got your transportation, lodging and lift tickets squared away for your trip to Snowbird, you’re ready to go shoot. If you want to get great photos of the Snowbird Tram you’ll probably want to go somewhere in the middle of the ski season or potentially in the spring when Snowbird seems to get the majority of its snow during some years.
Since Snowbird is a ski resort in the Wasatch Mountains your photos will look best if there is a nice blanket of snow on the entire landscape below the tram and on the surrounding mountain peaks off in the distance. Winters in recent years have been really unpredictable. Normally you’d expect mid winter to always be a great time. It may be but you’ll need to keep an eye on the weather and the snow pack.
It is really easy to get a photo of the Snowbird Tram from the top and bottom of the mountain and from many point in between if you are a decent to expert skier. Your best bet is to set aside some time to ski under the Snowbird Tram line while pausing to look up at the tram and out at the landscape beyond to scope out and frame up some shots. It takes the tram about 10 minutes to go top to bottom plus the time to load and unload. You could spent hours or even a full day moving around and coming up with different views and compositions.
When you are picking a day to photograph the Snowbird Trams and other areas in the resort, you’ll want to pick a day that is not storm day. Storm days will have bad lighting and potentially make it hard to keep the snow off your lens unless you have a pretty big hood on the end of the lens. Partly cloudy days will generate nice bright vibrant photos and ad some texture in the skies. The red and blue trams look great against the white snow covered landscape with a mix of sun and clouds above.
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing The Snowbird Tram At Snowbird Ski Resort?
When photographing the trams at Snowbird Ski Resort you’ll want to have a decent DSLR or mirrorless camera and a zoom lens. A good choice for a zoom lens would be a 24mm-105mm lens or something close to that. That will make it possible to get fairly wide angle photos of the large tram cars if you are close to the tram. You’ll be able to zoom in enough to make the trams take up a fairly good chunk of the photo if you’re zoomed all the way in to 105mm.
A wider angle lens may be good for photographing other areas at Snowbird but probably won’t be helpful for photographing the Snowbird Tram. A longer lens could be helpful if ski away from the snowbird Tram line and find other interesting compositions. I suspect most such views would simply place the tram cars against the sky but haven’t explored this option much.
When photographing the Snowbird Tram you won’t want to carry a tripod with you and won’t need it. There won’t be any need for it, at least not in the winter. If you’ll be out at sunrise or sunset in the winter, a tripod may be worth having with you.
A circular polarizer is a good but not necessary accessory to have. It can help make the skies a bit more blue. On sunny days it can help cut down on glare on the tram cars, particularly on the windows of the tram cars. If you have it on the camera, you can give it a spin and see in real time how it can enhance you photos out on the slopes.
What Is The Story Behind This Photo Print Of The Snowbird Trams?
During the spring of 2017 I was out road tripping around the western US as usual. In 2017 I wasn’t skiing much because all the western ski resorts had absolutely absurd lift ticket prices and the so called mega passes weren’t really out yet aside from the Mountain Collective and a not that great version of the Max Pass.
Aside from a few ski days in Pennsylvania, the one time I tended to ski was out at the PSIA National Academy. Every year it is an absolutely AMAZING ski event that for many years was held at Snowbird Ski Resort. It is worth becoming a ski instructor and getting a PSIA level 1 certification just so you can go to the National Academy. After the 2017 PSIA National Academy was over I booked a couple extra nights at the Cliff Lodge so I could enjoy some free skiing at Snowbird.
I’d driven all the way out to Snowbird from Philadelphia for another national park road trip and wrapped the National Academy in as part of that trip. With a couple extra days to ski, I broke out the camera gear usually focused on national park landscapes and headed back out on the slopes. With the DSLR in a backpack on my back I took the Snowbird Tram up to Hidden Peak. Once off the tram I skied a little more carefully with the camera on my back and followed the tram line down the mountain.
Though I’d skied anywhere up to 100 days at Snowbird in the past and taken some photos on the slopes I’d never gone there to really try to get any print worth photos. Though the tram runs about every 15 minutes or so, the tram line is 1.6 miles. That first run down was a slow one just to see where the tram would be at any given time and what the scene would look like. I took a few photos from various locations on the mountain.
After the first run down the mountain the goal became to figure out where the trams crossed in the air and find the best possible vantage point to photograph them with the best possible background. Since the trams only run about every 15 minutes, this was a LONG run. The first step was to see where they crossed. The next step was to figure out where I’d need to stand to photograph the trams crossing up in the skies.
- How high would I need to stand on the hill?
- Could I get the surrounding mountains in the background?
- Could I get to that ideal spot without putting myself in danger of falling off a cliff?
In order to figure those things out I’d have to pick a spot, evaluate the view as the trams crossed, adjust where I was standing if the ideal spot was lower or take another run if the ideal spot was significantly higher up on the hill. It took a couple hours to figure out the right spot since I’d have to wait about 15 minutes between adjustments. Fortunately I did get a few runs in during that time.
By late afternoon I had a bunch of Snowbird Tram photos from various locations on the hill, all along the tram line. With limited time to ski thanks to expensive lift tickets, I wanted to get some real ski runs in and not spend the entire day on photography. After the ski day was done and a stop for a couple beers and wings for happy hour I headed back to the Cliff Lodge room.
What Formats Is This Snowbird Tram Wall Art Print Available?
This Snowbird Tram print is available on paper, canvas, metal, acrylic and wood. It is available on al materials in sizes up to 40×60 inches. If you’ll be hanging the Snowbird Tram print in an area with diffused lighting any finish on any type of print will look great. Prints with a glossy or metallic finish will look bright and vibrant. Matte prints will have a more classic and refined look. If you’ll be hanging the print in an area with bright direct light that might include exposed light bulbs then you’ll probably want to opt for a paper or canvas print with a matte finish that will not reflect the bright natural or artificial light.
If you’re looking to give the bathroom and Snowbird theme, you could opt for a shower curtain and add some matching bath towels. The combination will give your bathroom an awesome Snowbird ski themed look sure to impress anyone who loves Snowbird.
To spread the Snowbird theme to a bedroom or living room, you could choose a Sherpa fleece blanket. They image prints very well on the Sherpa fleece blankets and they are super comfortable to snuggle up under. Add some throw pillows and you’ll have an awesome look for the bedroom or the living room couch.
If you need something to replace the plastic shopping bags vanishing from stores around the country, why not opt for a heavy duty canvas tote bag? They come in a variety of sizes and can even be used as beach bags. If you’d like a smaller print of the Snowbird Trams and need a new case for your Samsung or Apple phone, the Snowbird Trams can be printed on mobile phone cases too.
Finally, if there is a skier who loves jigsaw puzzles, you can order a 500 or 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Each puzzle comes in a cardboard box with the image on the outside of the box for reference.
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