Post by nickchu

• A new aerial tramway is part of a vision to reduce traffic congestion in Banff National Park. The so called ‘Eco-transit hub’ would also include rail and shuttle service. These transportation modes would tie in with the recently completed 500-stall parking lot, which sees 200-300 cars a day as day-trip visitors leave their cars on the edge of town, in the free parking, and head into town on foot.

• As expected, an report completed by Technical Safety BC showed no problem with the Sea to Sky Gondola haul rope prior to it being deliberately cut. The investigation said there were no defects with either the haul rope or its design that contributed to the rope separation which sent about 30 gondola cabins to the ground in August. Instead, the report confirmed the rope wires with “substantially cut while under tension” causing them to separate.

• The new state-of-the-art Grindelwald Gondola, featuring 111 ten-passenger cabins, will open in December. Located in Switzerland’s Jungfrau region, the new lift replaces one that is more than 40 years old, reducing reduces travel times and doubling the system’s capacity to 1,800 guest per hour.

• A gondola linking Lake Tahoe ski resorts is being challenged by a group who has filed a lawsuit to try and block construction. The 2.2-mile gondola passes through Tahoe National Forest and connects Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows ski resorts. It’s reported the gondola would transport about 1,400 people an hour in eight-passenger cars on a trip that would take about 16-minutes and require approximately 33 towers. 

• Check out this video of the views guests will enjoy on the new Disney Skyliner gondola which connects Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios with four resort hotels. The complimentary gondola opens on September 29 and the nearly 300 cabins feature graphics based on Disney films, attractions and characters. Each cabin can hold up to 10 guests.