Post by hulia-j

A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of cable cars, urban gondolas, and cable propelled transit:

• YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE: Around 60 people were stranded mid-air on Wednesday when the Emirates Air Line in London experienced forty minutes of technical difficulties. Water, first aid, and lots of apologies were all offered to the riders once the system started up again and everyone was safely returned to the ground. Theory has it that the system melt down was due to the high heat in London that day.

• DR. NO: The Greens MP Cassy O’Connor in Tasmania, said the idea of a cable car to the summit of Mt Wellington is “pie-in-the-sky”. According to Ms O’Connor, the system would be “…environmentally damaging, visually awful, economically unfeasible and an absolute nightmare experience for visitors.”

• NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Conversely, next month, Ken Chapman, founder of the Cairns Skyrail in Australia will visit Hobart to discuss the feasibility of the Mt Wellington cable car. Chapman points to similar public debates over the Skyrail, which today it is considered one of the most successful tourism developments in Australia.

• THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH: Fifty years of James Bond films and not one scene has ever been shot in Canada (the horror!) The Toronto Star has compiled a list of seemingly appropriate 007 action scene locations, which include everything from an ice hotel in Quebec City to the high flying, dare-deviling, rocky-mountaining, Peak 2 Peak gondola in Whistler.

Happy Day 1000 at the Gondola Project. (Didn't think we'd make it? What ever gave you that idea...)