Whistler-Blackcomb | Peak 2 Peak Gondola

Whistler, opening in 1965, and Blackcomb, opening in 1980, had their intense rivalries. Through the 80's and 90's, they constantly upgraded there lifts to some not seen anywhere else. In 1997, Intrawest, who owned Blackcomb, bought Whistler, and fully merged the resorts as one. There was still one problem, though. The resorts were only connected through Whistler's main base, and getting between mountains meant skiing all the way down to this base, and going back up the other. This was inconvenient for those wanting to switch mountains mid-day, and it meant most people had to choose which mountain to ski for the day. For years, the idea to connect both mountains across the valley had been there, but finding something that would be practical was difficult. Then came the idea of a 3s Gondola, used by several resorts in Europe. One good example of this is the 3S Bahn at KitzSki, connecting the Kitzbühel and Kirchberg areas of the resort. Intrawest decided to invest in this kind of lift system, and the proper funding for such an expensive machine was granted. The ground was broken on May 21st, 2007 in a ceremony, thus beginning construction. I recommend watching the video linked here:    • The Engineering Genius Of The Largest Ski ...   as it goes much more in depth of the challenges and the feats undertaken to build the machine, but I'll summarize a little here. All equipment was built by the Doppelmayr Garaventa group, Garaventa plant in Goldau, Switzerland, and Doppelmayr plants in Wolfurt, Austria, and Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. Maintenance roads had to be used for carrying the haul rope and track rope spools up by truck. Workers had to be suspended over 100 feet in the air to build the massive towers, the tallest being 213 feet (65 meters). Construction took two summers, and was just barely finished on time for the 2008-09 season. Two seasons later, having won the bid for in 2003, Whistler hosted the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Peak 2 Peak is a Doppelmayr Garaventa 28-passenger 3S-Gondola. Unlike a traditional gondola, the 3S technology, originally conceived by VonRoll in the 90's, involves two extra track ropes in addition to the haul rope, for more stability and support over huge spans. Speaking of which, Peak 2 Peak when built held the record for the longest unsupported span between towers, at 1.88 miles (3.03 kilometers) until 2017, when the Eibsee cable car in Germany broke that record by 189 meters. However, Peak 2 Peak still holds that record for any detachable ropeway. This gondola also holds the record for highest lift off the ground, at 1,430 feet (436 meters). That's high enough to fit two Seattle Space Needles, or the Empire State Building, with room to spare. Peak 2 Peak is high enough to base jump, which has happened on it, both legally and illegally. At 2.73 miles (4.4 kilometer) it is by far the longest continuous ropeway at Whistler-Blackcomb, surpassing Whistler Village Gondola Stage II. This lift draws a lot of tourists from around the world, and often times, a quarter of the passengers are foot traffic without skis/snowboards. The gondola has 28 cabins, two of them having glass bottoms, and can only hold 20 people. In this recording, we got one of these cabins, which as you can see, the cabin is set up by having people sitting along the outside with a railing around the glass bottom. Peak 2 Peak is the first, and still currently only 3S Gondola in North America. The next 3S that's most likely to happen is the Little Cottonwood Canyon Gondola, which would be the longest connected 3S in the world. Until then, if that gondola ends up being built, Peak 2 Peak will continue to reign as one of the most impressive ropeways in the world.

Timestamps:
0:00 Whistler Drive Terminal
3:29 Ride Towards Blackcomb
3:51 Tower 1
3:56 Ride Towards Blackcomb
6:02 Tower 2
6:07 The Span (Ride Towards Blackcomb)
15:07 Tower 3
15:13 Ride Towards Blackcomb
16:00 Tower 4
16:05 Ride Towards Blackcomb
16:31 Blackcomb Return Terminal

Recorded on April 11th, 2022
GoPro Hero 10 Black, 1080p Video Quality, 30 fps and Horizon Leveling