Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda in Myanmar. (wikicommons)
A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of cable cars, urban gondolas, and cable propelled transit:
Ascending to Golden Rock (Myanmar)
One of the country’s most famous destinations, the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (also known as the Golden Rock), will soon be accessible by cable car. The Myanmar Investment Commisson has green-lit a joint venture called Sky Asia Co. Ltd. to link the Buddhist pilgrimage site to a nearby camp via cable.
Banff gondola vs. traffic congestion (Canada)
Alberta’s popular tourist town already has a gondola up to Sulphur Mountain. But now the city is looking to utilize cable-car technology in order to alleviate traffic congestion created by the area’s many sightseeing attractions.
Look up in the sky. It’s…art! (US)
We often talk about the aesthetic possibilities of both cable cars and stations when it comes to advertising and beautification. Now, Sun Valley Resort in Idaho is using its gondolas for something of an aerial art show. The ski resort recently debuted its “Art Car”—a cabin wrapped in images by local artist Ralph Harris.
Stranger than fiction (US)
While it’s not really about cable cars per se, an upcoming musical production in San Francisco called The Cable Car Nymphomaniac certainly has an intriguing title and a pretty bizarre back story. (Thankfully, Lars von Trier is not connected to the project in any way.)