Weekly Roundup

29
Sep

2023

Weekly Roundup: Eco-Friendly and On-Demand – a New Gondola at LAAX

Swiss Alps ski resort LAAX Switzerland will soon be welcoming a brand-new gondola to their property after 15 long years of planning: the eco-friendly, on-demand FlemXpress. The FlemXpress, which will remove unused cabins from its track to prevent excess energy consumption and noise pollution, is, surprisingly, inspired by rideshare services like Uber. Image credits to Jörg Angeli (@joerga), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  • Steamboat Resort’s new Wild Blue Gondola will be longest and fastest 10-passenger gondola in North America. The first leg of the system opened last year, and with the completion of the new extension this year, the gondola will now travel 3.2 miles in 13 minutes up to some intermediate terrain. The addition will increase the total carrying capacity from 6,000 people per hour (pph) to 10,000 pph.
  • The world’s first on-demand gondola launches December 2023 at LAAX Switzerland resort. The new FlemXpress system will provide better access to UNESCO World Heritage Tectonic Arena Sardona. The first stage of the system will be open to the public for the 2023/2024 winter season. Through the stations, cabins will run self-propelled with no tire conveyors, and empty cabins will be taken off the line to decrease energy use. The system is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 50% and will have a capacity of transporting 1,500 pph in 10-person cabins.
  • Doppelmayr goes urban as the industry expands. With climate change and warmer environments, Doppelmayr suspects that cable car demand will shift more towards the urban setting; the shift started about 15 years ago. Doppelmayr currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest public-transit cable car system with the 33-kilometer ropeway network in Bolivia. They continue to build other urban projects such as Cable C1 in Paris, and they are hoping to expand in Asia as well.  


Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

Weekly Roundup
0
Comments
22
Sep

2023

Weekly Roundup: Exciting Improvements to Eaglecrest Ski Area, AK

The new gondola, part of Eaglecrest’s attempts to improve upon one of the most interesting, yet underrated ski areas in the United States, is expected to open in the Fall of 2025, if all goes according to plan. Image credits to Skeaglecrest, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  • Eaglecrest Ski Area in Alaska is adding a gondola and other resort updates. The gondola will run from near the bottom of the Hooter Lift up to the summit of Stairway to Heavenly on Pittman’s Ridge, with a mid-station below Avalanche Beacon Park. The gondola will be a pulsed gondola with 12 cabins grouped in four pods of three. The station will be large enough to house the cabins at night to protect them from the elements. Eaglecrest has been working on other maintenance while also increasing its snowmaking capacity.  SCJ Alliance, the parent company of the Gondola Project, has been retained to provide gondola expertise for this project. See a related Weekly Roundup here.
  • Cause of collision at Tremblant Resort in Canada revealed to be incomplete protocols. In July, a piece of construction equipment ran into a gondola cabin, causing the death of one person and another being seriously injured. The Toronto Star revealed that the collision occurred due to incomplete written procedures for moving heavy machinery around the resort. The procedures that were in-place were not known by everyone on site. Furthermore, the resort has been ordered that no construction equipment can be used until the protocols are improved. 


Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

Weekly Roundup
0
Comments
08
Sep

2023

Weekly Roundup: Glacier Views and Gondola Cabins in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France

Guests will soon be able to view the famous glacier found at Vallée Blanche ski run in France without having to walk up and down the infamous, ever-expanding flights of steps. Image credit to Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
  • Taos Ski Valley in New Mexico finishes Pioneer Lift replacement with other upgrades are underway. The lift was upgraded to a new fixed grip triple lift. At this point in time, the chairs are spinning and just waiting to undergo load testing before opening to the public. The lift is hoping to be open for the 2023-2024 winter season. Taos Ski Valley is also replacing Chair 4 with a new Leitner-Poma high-speed detachable quad that is planned to be open for the upcoming winter season. Both upgrades are a part of Taos’s Master Development Plan (MDP).
  • Mt. Hood Express is being retired and replaced with new lift at Mt. Hood Meadows in Oregon. Mt. Hood Express was in service for almost 30 years. The new lift will be a Leitner-Poma six passenger high-speed detachable lift. The new lift will have a capacity of 1200 passengers per hour and will provide access to more terrain. It is also anticipated to decrease wait times and improve skiers’ overall experience.
  •  La Mer de Glace Gondola will open in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France, for the nest ski season. The new gondola will run from the upper station at the train station down 600 meters to the glacier below. Before the gondola addition, guests did not need to walk down very far to the glacier; however, due to climate change, the glacier has slowly moved and more and more steps have been necessary to access the phenomenon. The gondola is part of a €53m project provided by the Compagnie Du Mont-Blanc lift company with the aim to increase accessibility to the glacier and increase skier access to the top terminal from the end of the Vallée Blanche ski run.


Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

Weekly Roundup
0
Comments
01
Sep

2023

Weekly Roundup: Expanded Excellence?

Deer Valley Ski Resort in Utah. Photo by D Ramey Logan CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Brundage Mountain Resort constructs high speed quad. The new Doppelmayr high speed detachable quad is replacing Centennial Triple at the Brundage Mountain Resort in Idaho and should be up and running by the next ski season. Blackhawk helicopters brought tower pieces for the 16 towers up the mountain where crews then secured the pieces. The new lift will have 92 chairs with a capacity of 1,800 passengers per hour.
  • Wanglongmen Cable Car, China’s first passenger cable car, is making a comeback. The original system was built in 1945 and was operational until 1993. The site was designated as a municipal heritage site in 2009. Recently, the restoration of the system was approved. The aim is to preserve the original architecture while still integrating modern, contemporary elements. The original system had two 50 passenger cabins and ferried close to 90,000 passengers in 8 months after its original opening date.


Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

Weekly Roundup
0
Comments
25
Aug

2023

Weekly Roundup: The New Pioneer Express Embarks in Taos Ski Valley

Following the replacement of the Pioneer Express chairlift, Taos Ski Valley has auctioned off the old lift chairs, as many resorts often do following significant updates or upgrades. Proceeds have gone to the Taos Regional Ski School Program and will continue to help the organization offer free and low-cost outdoor recreation for local children. Image credit to Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.


Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

Weekly Roundup
0
Comments
18
Aug

2023

Weekly Roundup: Gondola to Ferry Pilgrims and Tourists Alike in Assam, India

Coming soon to Assam, India: an exciting new gondola! Aiming to ease congestion and reduce travel times to and from the famous Maa Kamakhya Temple, this line would strive to move tourists, locals, and pilgrims alike twice as quickly as the traditionally used railway. Image credits to SurajJC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  • Assam Government plans to build a gondola to help transport pilgrims and tourists up to the Maa Kamakhya Temple in Assam, India. The proposed monocable detachable gondola (MDG) system would take 7 minutes to travel 1.8 kilometers from the Kamakyha Corridor to Kamakyha Railway Station. The system would carry 1000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd) and is anticipated to reduce travel time by 55 to 60 percent for passengers arriving via railway.
  • Argentière Cable Car’s iconic tower crumples to make way for new gondola in Chamonix, France. The original system was built in 1963 and went up over 6000 vertical feet to the top of the Grand Montets. In 2018, the historical system’s mid-station was closed due to a fire and has remained closed ever since. Plans were then made to replace the system with a tricable detachable system (3S) by Doppelmayr. With construction underway, a video of the iconic tower, P4, being taken down was released, to which skiers responded with comments paying tribute to the system.
  • Power outage strands hundreds of people at the top terminal of Banff Gondola. A lightning storm caused a power outage throughout Banff and Canmore which caused hundreds of people to remain stuck at the top terminal. Passengers were also marooned in gondolas on their journey back down the mountain until being safely off-loaded with back-up power. While some people hiked the 5.5-kilometer trail back down to the parking lot, others chose to remain at the top terminal until they were able to be transported down by Alpine helicopters.


Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

Weekly Roundup
0
Comments
11
Aug

2023

Weekly Roundup: Montenegrin Tourism to Spike as Kotor-Lovcen Gondola Nears Launch Day

After a month’s delay, the opening of the Kotor-Lovcen Gondola is only days away. The line, which connects the coastal town of Kotor to the Lovcen National Park (pictured above), is widely regarded as one of the most important Montenegrin tourism infrastructure projects. Image credits to Michal Klajban, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
  • Montenegro is preparing to launch the Kotor-Lovcen Gondola next week, on August 14th. The gondola will connect Kotor to the Lovcen National Park after thirteen months of construction. While originally it was meant to be launched on July 13th, about a month earlier, it was delayed for unknown reasons. The project’s contract was signed for 20 million euro ($21.9 million USD) to be constructed by Novi Volvox and Leitner. See a related Weekly Roundup here.
  • The Swiss Ski resort of Flims Laax Falera is constructing an unconventional new gondola. The new FlemXpress will be equipped with 120 cabins, each of which will be capable of transporting 10 passengers and have a total capacity of 1000 skiers per hour. All 120 cabins will be equipped with a pair of phone charging stations and a ventilation system. However, what sets it apart from other gondola systems is that unloaded cabins will not travel the line; instead they will wait at the bottom station until needed. This new design also allows passengers to load into non-moving cabins and will enable wheelchair-bound passengers to ride. According to the manufacturer, this means that the FlemXpress will use 50% less energy over the course of the year compared to conventional lifts. The first stage of the project, the Flims-Foppa and Foppa-Startgels connections, is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
  • Hungary is making plans for the construction of a new cable car in the region of Northern Hungary. It is planned to be 2300m (1.4 miles) long, and run from the Tokaji Fesztiválkatlan, an open-air concert venue and theater, to the Kopasz Hill TV Tower. The cable car was estimated to cost between 6.4 to 7.7 million euros (7.05 to 8.48 million USD) to build last spring, but may cost more now due to increasing prices in labor and material.


Want more? Purchase Cable Car Confidential: The Essential Guide to Cable Cars, Urban Gondolas & Cable Propelled Transit and start learning about the world's fastest growing transportation technologies.

Weekly Roundup
0
Comments