Monarch Crest Tram

Any time you get above 11,000 feet, it can be hard to catch your breath. But atop Monarch Pass, a breath of fresh air has been pumped into a longtime outpost with the 2023 revival of the revamped Monarch at the Crest visitor center next to a decades-old tramway.

Nearby Monarch ski area bought the property 2 miles up the pass in 2022, transformed the main building and are operating the gondola, which has six old-school buckets that can each hold four people. The electric-powered tram — a slow ride to 12,012 feet on the Continental Divide — has been turning every year since 1966 (minus the 2020 pandemic summer).