Palm Springs Aerial Tramway's 'snow guessing contest' is over. Find out who won

Erin Rode, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·1 min read
Clouds cover part of the view for passengers descending down Mount San Jacinto via The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway on Dec. 10, 2021, in Palm Springs, Calif. The tram saw some snowfall during a storm on Thursday, but was it enough to declare a winner in the tram's annual snowfall contest, which asks participants to guess the date of the first snowfall totaling 1 inch? "I just checked and we only received a quarter (inch)," Greg Purdy, vice president of marketing and public affairs said, Friday morning. "I had the press release ready to go, though, as I thought we would hit 1 inch. Oh well!"

A powerful winter storm on Tuesday brought snow to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway's Mountain Station, officially ending the tram's snow guessing contest.

As of 11:30 a.m., Mountain Station had officially received 1 inch of measurable snow, meeting the threshold to end the contest. The annual event runs from Oct. 1 until the first measurable inch of snow falls at Mountain Station.

The first 10 contestants who guessed Dec. 14 are:

  1. Ben Broyles, California

  2. Janet Shutak of Palm Springs, Calif.

  3. Phillip Merriam of Highland, Calif.

  4. Bruce Palmer of Palm Desert, Calif.

  5. David Butts of Anchorage, Alaska

  6. Matthew Sarmiento/Edward Ramos of Palm Springs, Calif.

  7. Scott Nevison of Palm Springs, Calif.

  8. Curtis Conant of Palm Desert, Calif.

  9. Stewart Arledge of Santee, Calif.

  10. Geri Pederson of Arleta, Calif. (tie)

  11. Aurora Pedroza of Thousand Palms, Calif. (tie)

The winners will receive four regular tram admissions and a Palm Springs Aerial Tramway baseball cap. The tram received a total of 717 entries this year.

If you can't make it up the Tram today but want to see the snowfall, the Tramway operates a Tram Cam that features a live feed from Mountain Station.

Erin Rode covers the environment for the Desert Sun. Reach her at erin.rode@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @RodeErin.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Who won Palm Springs Aerial Tramway's 2021 snow guessing contest?