Riding the OHSU tram

Today was the first day OHSU employees and students were allowed to ride the tram. I went up to the OHSU terminal to take pictures, and saw that very few people were getting on the tram. So I ended up going for a roundtrip on the tram!

I must say that it was quite a rush to be standing out on the platform, since they have not put up any substantial fence or wall yet, just a waist high plywood wall (I think they will be putting up a glass wall sometime soon).

How was the ride? Well, the view was INCREDIBLE! The tram moves along smoothly and silently (unlike ski lifts), at a good speed but far from warp speed. This is a good thing for the faint of heart...combining heights and speed could send a few DIRECTLY to the hospital (pun intended). The tram slows automatically when it reached the mid-way tower, a nice feature. For those unsure about riding it, I must say that riding elevators is much more gutwrenching than the tram. The heights were never a problem for anyone aboard the tram (as far as I could tell), and there was never any jerking or dropping. When the tram is 20 feet from the terminal, it gradually slows down making the landing very smooth.

So here are some pictures. The first 10 are from last August and the last 12 are of today.

Here is the geocache of them, since it is fun to compare the August and December pictures from the same locations.

For three short videos taken during the ride, go to my Putfile page.