Skyline Drive, a scenic highway that would have run for about from La Madera Ski Area in the south, along the crest line to U.S. Route 85 west of Placitas, a stretch now served by New Mexico State Road 165 via Capulin Canyon. The Albuquerque Wildlife and Conservation Association, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and the New Mexico Mountain Club had all registered their opposition by to the plan in 1965. Also included with the plan were roadside recreation areas and three aerial tramways. The routing for Skyline Drive was adjusted twice at an August 8, 1966 public meeting, and by autumn of 1969, of forest along the crest was cleared for the new road. Alarmed locals started a campaign which included postcards and petitions, and successfully halted construction. Author James A. Morris wrote of the construction of the road: The scar from the road clearing is still visible on the ground and in satellite images as of 2021. In 1964, Nordhaus was inspired to build an aerial tramway from Albuquerque to the Crest after seeing other trams during a trip to Europe. Bell Engineering of Lucerne, Switzerland, was contracted to design and construct the tramway. Construction lasted two years, and was aided by over 5,000 helicopter trips. Testing took an additional 60 days. It entered service on May 7, 1966. In 2006, the city of Albuquerque celebrated its tricentennial, and installed a display of 300 high-power LED lamps atop the Crest. The display remained on the Crest for 18 months, from April 23, 2005 to October 6, 2006. In 2017, the US Forest Service adopted plans outlined in the Sandia Peak Ski Co.'s 2016 master plan for a "Four Seasons Activity Area" at the Crest, including a food service yurt, two ziplines, and a mountain coaster (a type of tracked sled ride), to be built in the summer of 2022. When finished, it will provide additional year-around recreation at the ski resort. The coaster would have had a station near the tramway terminal on the Crest. It would have been the first mountain coaster in New Mexico and the southernmost in the US at the time. As of August 2022, reception to the idea of a mountain coaster was mixed, in addition to high costs expected for evaluating the environmental impact on the mountain and the project was currently being shelved. Geology The Sandia Mountains are