5 replies to this topic

[nathanvg]

In Zermatt this week, I rode a very odd looking gondola. It appeared to have a second cable above the first for unknown reasons. The higher cable did not appear to be moving and was not attached to the gondola I rode in. Anyone know what this second cable is for?

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[chasl]

nathanvg, on Aug 30 2007, 02:29 PM, said:

In Zermatt this week, I rode a very odd looking gondola. It appeared to have a second cable above the first for unknown reasons. The higher cable did not appear to be moving and was not attached to the gondola I rode in. Anyone know what this second cable is for?

I would believe it is for evacuation.

[Peter]

I agree with Chasl, it looks like an evacuation ropeway that is totally separate from the main gondola.

[seilbahnbilder.ch]

I can attest that. Some more pictures of this gondola you can find on my website.

[SkiBachelor]

You can see the evacuation cabin at the top.

[skierdude9450]

There are two evac platforms with cars for the evac line circled in red.
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Here's some more pictures from lift-world.info:

This shows the drive to the evac line
http://www.lift-worl...66/photo742.php

Here's a closer shot of an evac car
http://www.lift-worl...66/photo743.php

I assume that the evac line is there because of the large high span where standard evacuation would be hard. This makes me wonder, how do they evac the Silver Queen Gondola in some of its spans?