51 replies to this topic

[WBSKI]

Ok, that makes a bit more sense. Its sort of suprising they havent show us any terminals yet, probably soon..

[liftmech]

You guys have a busy summer ahead... two terminal relocates and massive construction on one side, big rebuilds and massive construction on the other.

[Aussierob]

Yep, we should be busy boys, particularly the lift mechanics. The gondola upgrade labour is being provided by us instead of Poma, so very little maintenance will get done until thats finished.

[jasdmd0]

At a max height over the valley floor of 1350' give or take a couple of feet, you're practically going to have to stock some bark bags in the cabins That though should be one incredible ride when completed, and argueably may very well become one of the 2 or 3 most iconic lifts in North America.

I can just see the NBC promos for 2010 with copter fly-overs of one of the terminal with cabins coming and going

[poloxskier]

jasdmd0, on Apr 20 2007, 05:47 AM, said:

At a max height over the valley floor of 1350' give or take a couple of feet, you're practically going to have to stock some bark bags in the cabins That though should be one incredible ride when completed, and argueably may very well become one of the 2 or 3 most iconic lifts in North America.

I can just see the NBC promos for 2010 with copter fly-overs of one of the terminal with cabins coming and going

Especially if glass floors are used like on some of kitzbuhel's cabins.

[Aussierob]

poloxskier, on Apr 20 2007, 02:06 PM, said:

Especially if glass floors are used like on some of kitzbuhel's cabins.

We are getting two cabins with glass floors. Should be quite a view.

[poloxskier]

Sounds like an incredible view! I cant wait to ride it!

[Limelight]

Anyone see the huge front page story about this in the Seattle Times the other day?

[Bill]

Quote

Coming to Whistler: gondola on an epic scale

By Kristin Jackson
Seattle Times travel staff

Not content with simply hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, the Whistler ski resort in British Columbia will begin construction next month on a record-breaking lift.

Dubbed the "Peak to Peak Gondola," the lift will take skiers and summer sightseers on a high-elevation aerial ride between the resort's adjacent Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. "There's no lift of this size and type in North America, really the world," said David Brownlie, chief operating officer of Intrawest Mountain Resorts, which runs Whistler-Blackcomb, in an interview Thursday. "It's an engineering feat."

The $45 million gondola — the most expensive ski lift in North America — will be built over the next two summer seasons and open in December 2008. Its 28 "sky cabins" will each carry 28 people on the mountain-linking ride — up to 4,000 people an hour through the air at the resort about 80 miles north of Vancouver, B.C.

To grasp the new gondola's size, envision one of the world's most iconic spans, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate spans about 1.2 miles; the gondola will be a total of 2.7 miles long, with just four towers holding up its cables. The bridge is about 220 feet above the water; the Whistler gondola will travel as much as 1,361 feet above the ground.

The gondola's most striking feature will be its 1.8-mile-long unsupported span where it swoops high across the narrow, rugged Fitzsimmons Valley on cables suspended between a tower on the edge of each mountain.

What Intrawest calls the world's longest free span of its kind could be a breathtaking ride, especially if skiers or sightseers end up in one of the two cabins that will have glass-bottomed floors, giving an unobstructed view of Fitzsimmons Creek tumbling through the valley more than 1,300 feet below and of the jagged peaks and glaciers.

For skiers and snowboarders, the new gondola will let them move quickly between the upper-level runs of Whistler and Blackcomb; they'll no longer need to ski to the bottom of one mountain and take a series of lifts up the other to get to high-alpine runs. For summer visitors, it will mean a scenic ride and quick access to hiking on both mountains.

The gondola will travel between Whistler's Roundhouse Lodge and Blackcomb's Rendezvous Lodge, both skier hubs at about 6,000-feet elevation that already are served by many lifts.

While not truly at the peaks of the mountains, the lodges give fast access to the highest lifts. It will take 11 minutes to get between the two mountains on the gondola, with a cabin departing every 49 seconds.

There has been some criticism by Whistler politicians and environmentalists, both of tax breaks given to Intrawest for construction of the gondola and of its intrusion on wilderness views up the undeveloped Fitzsimmons Valley from Whistler village. Brownlie said the gondola will be about 2 ½ miles up the valley from the village.

The gondola will be built by Doppelmayr, an Austrian-based company that builds ski lifts. A similar mountain-to-mountain gondola opened a few years ago at the Kitzbuhel ski resort in Austria. While not quite as giant as Whistler's, Intrawest officials say it's helped boost skier visits there. They hope their gondola will do the same for Whistler-Blackcomb.

The resort suffered a drop in U.S. visitors — a major portion of its market — after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, some poor snow years and the continued decline of the U.S. dollar that makes trips to Canada more expensive.

Whatever the gondola's impact on skier and sightseer numbers, it may have one other long-term effect. With global warming threatening ski resorts — and Whistler already prone to soggy snow on its lower-elevation runs — the new lift will join the highest and best-snow parts of the mountains.

Kristin Jackson: kjackson@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2271

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

[WBSKI]

A bit off topic but I checked out Callaghan Valley today and I was really impressed. The biathlon range is cut and foundations in, same for the jumping area and the racing trails which are really well designed. If people are interested in seeing pictures, you can send me a PM. It is the 2010 Nordic/Jumping Venue, brand new, will open officially next year.

[Aussierob]

I'm going to try to keep the pictures of construction flowing along, but if you want daily updates, the webcams on each mountain will be pointing at the terminal construction sites. We start plowing snow tomorrow.

[skierdude9450]

I find it funny how they photoshopped WB's logo onto a Kitzbühel car for the line shots.

[WBSKI]

I am going to get up to whistler in the next two weeks sometime. Where is the 3S cabin now that whistler mtn is closed? I will get some pics of the Solarcoaster if possible. I assume they are moving Catskinner next year?

[Peter]

Right now the cabin is still sitting there, it is on the webcam. Is that cabin actually going on the 3S? It will probably get trashed by the time the thing is finished.

[SkiBachelor]

I don't think people will vandalize it while it's sitting in plain site. If they are caught, they probably would loose their ticket.

[liftmech]

Aussierob, on Apr 18 2007, 06:22 AM, said:

We are closing Wizard/Solar for maintanance and will reopen them for Summer (glacier) operations around the middle of June. Solar will get shortened after we close on July 29th. Catskinner will be shortened and the Solar/Catskinner unload area regraded before the winter.

Answer your question, WBSKI?

[Peter]

The cabin disappeared from its spot today.

This post has been edited by Skier: 24 April 2007 - 05:41 PM

[Aussierob]

We're well into moving snow. I will have some photos tomorrow hopefully. Just to add a twist, operations have decided they want to open Wizard/Solar on the weekends for at least the next few weeks.

[hoodoo]

Aussierob, on Apr 20 2007, 04:11 AM, said:

Yep, we should be busy boys, particularly the lift mechanics. The gondola upgrade labour is being provided by us instead of Poma, so very little maintenance will get done until thats finished.

I just spoke with the Poma crew that arrived in Whistler Mon...sounds like they are doing the Gondola upgrade...

So I imagine the tram will be an additional lift ticket? Hard to imagine how they will make their money back on this one...

[Aussierob]

There are a few Poma guys here, but a lot of the grunt work is being done by us. The P2P will probably be a $10 upgrade on a day ticket and about $70 on a seasons pass. Haven't seen the business case, but apparently it will pay for itself.