A quick look at some of the things that happened this week in the world of urban gondolas, cable cars and cable propelled transit:
Pope in La Paz (Bolivia)
The entire country of Bolivia welcomes the Holy Father as he tours the country. To ensure security, it seems that the entire Red Line was closed for passenger transport for 10 minutes as his motorcade passed by underneath. *Correction, July 20, 2015: due to language barriers, we earlier reported that he rode the cable car which seems to be incorrect.
Germany’s Highest Peak Gets Cable Car (Bavaria, Germany)
By 2017, a 120 person cable car will connect Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany with an elevation of 2962m. The system will be 4.5km in length and have a capacity of 700 persons/hour. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that it will have just one record setting tower at 127m in height. The current record for the tallest cable car tower belongs to the Austrian cable car Gletscherbahn Kaprun at 113m.
Base to Base Gondola Update (Olympic Valley, California)
The Base to Base Gondola proposal was announced back in April 2015. Now project proponents have uploaded a new video asking for more community support. If built, the cable car will connect the two ski resorts of Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows.