Folks are lined up to ride the tram to Sandia Peak at 9 a.m. on a windy Wednesday in October. If riders are lucky, they might get the operator sporting an infectious smile, long black hair with bleached blond tips pulled back by his Sandia Peak Tramway bandana.
“So you folks are gonna get ready for our blue tower. It’s coming up. It’s kind of spooky so people get kind of scared, but it’s actually fun,” Terrance Tsosie tells riders as he shuttles them up the mountain. “You folks can get as loud as you can, or raise your hands in 3, 2, 1…”
The riders who are packed into the sold out passenger car actually do raise their hands and yell. It’s all part of an average day for Tsosie, who has amassed a sizable social media following of locals and tourists alike.
Tsosie has worked at the Sandia Peak Tramway since 2015 and he’s earned some internet clout posting about his lofty position at the tram to thousands of followers on his social media accounts. Tsosie, who picked up the torch from his uncle who showed him the ropes — or cables — has become a local celebrity of sorts, thanks to timelapse videos of him at work and selfies with celebrities he’s met on the job. His coworkers say Tsosie’s internet presence continually brings in new visitors looking to meet the tram operator who goes by “Positive Terrance” and his easy going and optimistic nature has earned him the nickname “Pozzie” at work.
Positive prowess
Tsosie says when he graduated high school, all he wanted to do was work in music. His nickname “Positive Terrance” is a nod to the straight edge music subculture created by musicians and fans who abstain from drinking and smoking, but the nickname quickly took on a new meaning when people started to realize that the rocker from the Naschitti community of the Navajo Nation has a heart of gold. Even when he’s not at work and enjoying a good rock show, Tsosie wants to take care of his positively infectious smile.
“I love to throw down in the pit, but I’m always worried about my teeth,” he says.
When given the chance to talk about himself and his social media persona, Tsosie steers the conversation toward music. He says everyone knows him for loving a band called Turnstile from Baltimore and his social media accounts are decorated with pics of him wearing the band’s merch. He’s a fan of the harder, faster, more energetic musical genres, and from ages 19 to 26, he worked as a band promoter in Gallup.
He’s still a part of the music scene but it isn’t his main hustle anymore.
“I just realized I wasn’t happy, you know? Putting forward the effort and not being recognized for it,” Tsosie says. “When I started working at the Tram it was different because I would do the tram operating and people would hear me talk about things, and it would lead to some people saying, ‘Hey, you want to go on a hot air balloon ride tomorrow?’”
Inspirational quotes such as “these gold leaves keep me on track” or “no man is a lost cause” caption hundreds of posts on his social media pages. Online posts also include photos of him throwing up a set of heavy metal horns in front of a couple who just got engaged on the Sandia Peak observation deck, posing with the mayor, or kicking it with celebrities, letting the citizens of Albuquerque and his thousands of followers know he’s up there keeping things positive.
Tsosie says there are a lot of famous people he’s seen and met over the years — Josh Brolin, Vanessa Hudgens, Hugh Jackman, cast members like Sadie Sink of Stranger Things — and he’s got the selfies to prove it. Tsosie says getting the photos has been easy and a quick scroll through his social media accounts will yield photos of just about every celebrity he’s met — except Lawrence Fishburne.
“He’s the only one that was like, ‘No picture, please.’” Tsosie says.
Based on his demeanor alone, no one would ever know Tsosie was denied a photo opportunity by Morpheus himself and most are likely unaware that the ever-smiling tram operator found himself traversing the mountain for money thanks to a family member.
Tsosie says his uncle Brian Captain got him the job when Tsosie was staying with his parents in Naschitti.
“Really home’s with my parents,” he says. “Which is like hours and hours away. I actually haven’t seen them in over a year. On the reservation there’s not much going on for bands that I wanna see.”
Tsosie worked with his uncle for six years before Captain’s death in 2020. Michael Donovan, general manager at Sandia Peak Tramway, says he’s gotten to know the family personally and holds a special place in his heart for them.
“Brian was another special person. He was a console pilot here, and a shift supervisor as well, worked for the tram for many years,” Donovan says. “When I came back to the tram, as the operations manager, Brian was very instrumental in helping train me.”
‘Somebody that just crawls into your heart’
Tsosie’s commitment to the job is undeniable, he estimates that he’s made the round-trip tram ride more than 3,000 times — 200 of those trips have been on top of the tram’s passenger car.
“I’m a cabin operator, but I wish it was called ‘tour guide’ because I feel like we do guided tours,” Tsosie says.
Donovan agrees, and says Tsosie is “somebody that just crawls into your heart” and connects with the older crowd just as much as he does the young passengers.
“They’re actually ambassadors to Albuquerque. You’d be surprised on any given tram ride, the questions that our cabin attendants are asked about where to eat, where to go, art exhibits, you know, other off the beaten path things to do,” he says. “Terrance is uniquely connected to the art, skateboard, and a lot of alternative music scenes in Albuquerque, to help people connect fun things to do.”
Tsosie says he loves his job so much, he doesn’t skip work on days most people would prefer to sleep in.
“If I wasn’t working on my birthday, I don’t think I’d celebrate it much,” Tsosie says. “Everyone sings me Happy Birthday. They find out because your coworkers tell them, but you don’t tell them. It feels like a birthday birthday. So it’s cool.”
He is often requested by repeat guests. Trish Wonders, who has worked with the tram for over 18 years, has known Tsosie since he started.
“When we reopened after Covid, Terrence didn’t come right back,” she says. “People would show up and they’d say, ‘We want to be on Terrence’s tram,’ and when he wasn’t here they’d turn around and leave.”
Tsosie says that everyone starts out with a month of being a tram cabin operator, but those who prove themselves can be promoted to the “upper terminal overnight” position. Tsosie, who now holds that honor, says one of the perks of overnight shifts is getting a good night’s rest and waking up to the sun rising over the Sandias.
“I just love nature,” he says. “There’s squirrels that hang out on the observation deck and I always eat sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. I’ll just eat it somewhere on the observation deck and then a squirrel will come up and stand up raising his hands and I’ll record it.”
Tsosie says when the tram is in “dock” overnight it’s charging, kind of like a really big phone plugged into a wall.
“Someone needs to be on the panel to control it to come back down, so that’s why we need someone overnight,” he says. “When you’re up there, you’re just looking out for people, kinda like security because people actually drive up and hike around there and it’s kinda spooky.”
He says he hears strange noises at night but it usually ends up being a mule deer, which makes for some cool content to post. He often spots bears or ringtail cats and says every now and then an adventurous night hiker will pay him a visit, but they’re usually just lost.
“People will knock on the door and be like, ‘Can we use the restroom?’ or ‘I’m lost, I need help, I didn’t know it’d be so tough to hike up here,” he says. “It’s a situation I don’t want to deal with, but at the same time, I’m the only person up here that can help.”
Tsosie says he likes overnights more now. He’ll relax and watch something on Youtube or Netflix that makes him laugh like The Simpsons or Family Guy.
“I love comedy. I don’t wanna watch Horror. One thing that scared me for a long time was a year ago I watched Midsommar,” Tsosie says. “When I did my overnights I was scared, like, is there gonna be a cult up here? I was like, ‘I’m never watching something like that again.’ Or horror. Like never.”
Tsosie’s positive attitude and life outlook rubs off on everyone he meets at his job — even celebrities — and it’s hard not to smile when you see him. On that windy Wednesday morning, it’s even colder at the peak, but Tsosie’s kind words and unwavering grin warm things up as he ushers riders off to his coworker Wonders, who welcomes them at the upper terminal.
“All right, we’re gonna dock here. Get ready. Bump,” he says to passengers who laugh a little at his joke, and a little with relief that the car has rested safely. “Trish is gonna open the door for you. It is chilly up here, so it’s good to have a jacket.”