Photo credit: Marco Metzler via Flickr, license
- The Couldsplitter gondola in Lake Placid, New York is getting a $2.4 million update. The Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) has contracted with Doppelmayr USA to replace all the gondola cabins and related infrastructure, among other things. Doppelmayr manufactured and installed the original gondola 20 years ago.
- In France, ski resorts are spending millions of dollars reinforcing cable car supports and other structures due to thawing permafrost which previously served as a natural cement. It is believed climate change is the cause of the thawing permafrost, as well as the shrinking of glaciers and reduction in snow cover.
- TransLink’s outreach to over 30,000 people revealed that extending service into the Fraser Valley in Vancouver, Canada was the most popular idea for transit expansion. An aerial urban gondola to Simon Fraser University on Burnaby Mountain was the top suggestion, and is also integral to the University’s new campus master plan.
- After an investment of $8 million euros, the newly constructed Javor-Partizan gondola has officially opened in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Balkan Peninsula. The system is 1,100 meters long, with 36 cabins, and has a capacity of 2,700 skiers per hour. The gondola is located on Jahorina Mountain which is also the home of the Jahorina Olympic Center.
- Opportunities have expanded for access to mountain views and alpine recreation with the addition of eight gondola cabins to the Cornet Express chairlift in Queenstown, New Zealand. The cabins are wheelchair-accessible and will provide comfort and access for people of all ages and those with limited physical capabilities. The area is popular among hikers, mountain bikers, and naturalists.