Peak 2 Peak Gondola
It held the world record for the longest free span between ropeway towers at 3.03 kilometres (1.88 mi) until 2017 when the Eibsee Cable Car exceeded it by 189 metres (620 ft).
[1] It is still the highest point above the ground in a gondola at 436 metres (1,430 feet),[2] although a temporary aerial tramway in Switzerland used between 1979 and 1986 had larger span.
[4] Whistler Blackcomb promotes the gondola as an attraction and uses it to transport skiers in the winter months, as well as sightseers year-round.
A traditional chairlift or gondola would have had to go all the way down one mountain, across Fitzsimmons Creek, and up the other side, resulting in a long lift ride and environmental impacts.
[6] HSBC Bank Canada and Scotia Capital agreed to provide Intrawest with financing for the project, allowing it to move forward.
Intrawest announced the gondola project to employees and the Resort Municipality of Whistler's Council on September 19, 2005, and held a community open house shortly thereafter.
[7] The Doppelmayr Garaventa Group would supply the gondola itself, with Timberline Construction as the general contractor and Glotman Simpson as the Consulting Engineers.
[12] Vancouver, Washington was used because it owns the largest mobile harbour crane on the West Coast of North America.
[13] To handle the 90-tonne reels, a German-made Goldhofer heavy-haulage trailer and tractor made its way from Montreal, QC to Whistler to take care of the transport from the train yard up the mountain.
The trailer also features a hydraulic sliding system, which enabled the reels to be unloaded from the railcars in Whistler without a crane.
Their entire 18,000-mile (29,000 km) journey from Switzerland to the top of Blackcomb Mountain was coordinated by OmniTrans Corporation.
While the cables were pulled for twelve straight weeks, terminal construction continued with the gondola machinery being mounted on concrete foundations.
On August 29 and 30, the two ends of the haul rope were spliced together in a 220-foot (67 m) braid to form a continuous loop that could pull the cabins.
[15] The first twelve cabins crossed the span on September 19, 2008 with a single Doppelmayr engineer, Mathias Zudrell, aboard.
[16] The remaining cabins were put on line and the system underwent extensive testing until its Grand Opening on December 12, 2008.
At the time, Whistler-Blackcomb was attempting to secure a tax exemption from the Resort Municipality of Whistler for the increased assessments caused by the new terminal buildings.
Testing at other Doppelmayr 3S installations have measured sustained winds at 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) with no decrease in performance.
[22] The grand opening ceremony on December 12, 2008 featured Steve Podborski as emcee and Red Bull Air Force members BASE jumping from the middle of the gondola.
[24] In order to exit the gondola, Dickinson and a female accomplice (Kathleen Adams) had to pry open the doors causing an estimated $10,000 worth of damage.
[25] One day later, BASE jumper Mike Douglas condemned the stunt saying "This guy seems to have gone about it in all the wrong ways.
