JACKSON - It's a cool summer day, and 20 people descend more than 4,000 feet of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in 12 minutes. A bull moose grazes below. Rock scree slides off itself, falling hundreds of feet in seconds.

"I don't have any speech for the way down, so just amuse yourselves," the operator says, then turns up the reggae music. People hang near the open windows, obliging themselves of the mountain breeze.

At the bottom of the easy ride, the operator opens the doors with an easy push of his hand.

"Not bad for my first day," he says. Some tell him he did, in fact, do a good job. Others get the joke - this is not his first day.

"And, say 'happy birthday' to Mark on the way out - it's his birthday," he tells the visitors.

It is unlikely it is Mark's birthday, though nearly everyone wishes him well. It is also highly doubtful the man's name is Mark.

Welcome to the Jackson Hole tram - the signature lift of the resort and the central image of its brand. Although the tram is not the mountain's workhorse - that award goes to the newly constructed Bridger Gondola that transports nearly 2,000 people to the near-top of the mountain in an hour - it represents the wicked terrain and the mountaineering exposure one would expect from a ski resort in the Teton Range.

In fact, the tram only carries 270 people to the resort's 10,480-foot peak in an hour. But most people don't care. It bombs them to the top, making accessible some of the toughest terrain and getting the ski day started with a bang.

"The tram, there's nothing like it," said Mark Reindell, a regular Jackson Hole skier. "Even when you get on it, there's signs that say, 'You may die on this terrain.' It just gets you psyched for the adventure."

But that adventure may soon stop unless resort officials find a way to replace the tram, which is 40 years old. And that means finding money.

Resort officials announced last week that the tram, though now perfectly safe, will soon need repairs to things such as track cables, which suspend the 55-person boxes. Once those were replaced, new brakes would likely be needed. And perhaps new towers to accommodate newer brake technologies. New top and bottom receiving stations might be next.

In short, as resort President Jerry Blann said, the tram is like a 40-year-old car that needs constant maintenance. After a while, the realization comes that you need a whole new car. And in this case, that new car comes with a $20 million price tag.

So, officials decided to retire the tram after the summer of 2006 (it takes tourists up in the summer for a peek at high-alpine terrain and an unparalleled view). That decision shocked residents who have come to associate Teton Village with the tram.

It also has raised questions about the business aspect of the resort, which has branded itself through images of the tram since the early 1970s.

Money questions

It has also raised questions of the importance of the tram to the rest of the state. Without it, will skiers still come to Wyoming and spend money?

Of course, resort officials think they will still come, though there is speculation as to whether more will come this year knowing it may be the tram's last.

Still, the resort has poured money into other projects, such as building the gondola and constructing other lifts. Some have accused the resort of taking away from the extreme-type skiing for more "family-friendly" improvements to capture those dollars, but resort communications director Anna Olson said the effort is simply to diversify the market.

Blann said the resort isn't counting on any outside money coming to help replace the tram but did say the tram has statewide appeal.

"We think because of the nature and image of the tram, for sales tax derived from something like the tram, it would be a good investment for the state," he said. "We think there's a business case to be made for some sort of partnership with the state."

Gov. Dave Freudenthal stopped short of endorsing this idea but left the door open. He said an amendment to the Business Ready Communities Act might allow for state funds to be used to help build a new tram.

The law originally allowed counties, cities and towns to apply for money to help improve infrastructure essential to economic development, allocating about $15 million per year. The amendment allowed recreational and resort facilities access to the money, as well.

"It is clearly part of a shared experiential base for visitors to Jackson," Freudenthal said. "Everyone in the state has a story about the first time they rode the tram and what they saw up there. Some things become icons in the state."

There are a lot of options, Blann said, and part of the resort's push to get the information out more than a year before the tram's closure was to allow time to explore these options.

Other possibilities could include partnerships with the town and county, he said.

Life without the tram?

For now, most say even without the tram, they would still come.

Karlee Pangburn, visiting for the first time from Minnesota, said if the tram weren't available she'd come up the mountain on another lift to witness high-mountain scenery.

Ryan and Brooke Stamatis of Texas said they'd still come up the mountain, but the view from the top of the tram is shocking.

"You'd have to be blind to not be impressed," Ryan Stamatis said. "You can't get a view like this anywhere else."

Aside from the view and the ski runs it renders accessible - including the famous Corbet's Couloir, a chute requiring skiers to jump off a cornice at least 12 feet - it also represents the culture of the resort.

What will skiers say now to indicate what time they got to the mountain, whether it's early ("first box") or at noon ("lunch box")? (The terms have no relation to whether one actually rode the tram.)

Where will skiers congregate to talk about the day if not for the snaking circular lines of the tram?

What will skiers throw excessive amounts of snowballs at on the last day of ski season?

Where will workers proliferate fake stories about employees with fake names? After all, it's probably "Mark's birthday" every day on the Jackson Hole tram.

Reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@trib.com.