Cable to the Sky (2009)

For over 40 years the Big Red Box at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, carried skiers, hikers, paragliders, and sightseers up to the 3,400-meter summit of Rendezvous Mountain. But nothing lasts forever, so when cable inspector Norm Duke found evidence of stress fractures inside the aging steel track cables, there was no choice but to tear down and replace Jackson's iconic aerial tram. At a cost of $31 million, this 2-year mega-construction project is a top-to-bottom, state-of-the-art replacement. It will operate in 120-kph winds and 25-below zero temperatures, all with the quiet precision of a giant Swiss watch. Construction crews battled a record-breaking snowfall, zero visibility, high winds, and impassable mud-slick mountain roads to build its five towers and two terminals, and string more than ten miles of heavy steel cable. Filmed over a 2-year period, from Swiss factories to the mountains and towns of western Wyoming, Cable to the Sky tells the compelling story of dedicated men who risk their lives in a battle to finish this state of the art megastructure before winter closes in.