Peak 2 Peak Gondola
The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is a cable car in Whistler (British Columbia ), Canada, which connects the two skiing at Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Peak to each other via the steep and deeply incised valley of the Fitzsimmons Creek time. It currently has the largest wingspan of all cable cars and the highest altitude above ground.
Between the " valley" to the plateau below the summit of Whistler Mountain ( 2,181 m) and the " hill station " on Blackcomb Peak ( 2,436 m) there is only a difference in altitude of 255 m, but a distance of 4.4 km (air line). The two stations are, according to the company operating the largest cable car stations in the world. On each side there are two between 35 and 65 m high cable car supports, between a free span of 3,024 m. Although the ropes significantly sag on this distance, the gondolas are at the lowest point of the ride over the valley 436 meters above Fitzsimmons Creek.
The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is a 3S -Bahn, which was built in the years 2007 and 2008 by the Doppelmayr / Garaventa Group. The 28 detachable gondolas for every 28 people (22 seats, 6 standing) depend on two fixed track ropes and be a uniformly revolving, endless spliced cord with a speed of up to 7.5 m / s (27 km / h) moves. In the stations they are automatically disconnected from the towing rope and slow to get off. Then they drive hanging on rails around the curve to the boarding place. Finally, every 49 seconds a car accelerates, again coupled to the pull rope and down to the two supporting ropes the opposite direction. The cable car thus reached a capacity of 2,500 persons per hour per direction. At night, the gondolas of stabling will be hanging down in the garages of the two stations. The gondolas are painted red to two silver gondolas that have a glass floor.
The four support cables with a diameter of 56 mm with a length of 4,600 m each (including the time required for the anchoring and tensioning weight length) and a weight of 90 t. The pull-wire with a diameter of 46 mm has a length of 8850 m and weighs 80 tons. The cables were manufactured by the Swiss company Fatzer AG and wound on reels, which were brought by ship to Vancouver and from there by special transporters on Blackcomb Mountain.
The Peak to Peak Gondola is designed for wind speeds up to 80 km / hr. Tests on other 3S webs were up to 120 km / h out at wind speeds. The gondolas are equipped with a radar warning device ( Obstacle Collision Avoidance System), warns the aircraft in front of the valley crossing cable car.