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The tricable gondola lift, also known as the 3S gondola lift, is a cable car system that was developed by the Swiss company Von Roll transport systems in Thun to unite the benefits of a gondola lift with those of a reversible cable car system. '3S' is an abbreviation of the German word dreiseil, meaning 'tricable'.
The first cable car system of this type, called Alpine Express I, was built in 1991 in Saas-Fee. In 1994, a further section, called Alpine Express II, became operational. The cabins of these cable cars have space for 30 people and travel at a speed of 6 m/s pulled by an endless hauling cable, and suspended from two carrying cables.
A lane thus consists of three cables, from which the system takes its name. As with most rotating cabin cableways, gondolas are detachable from the cables in order to allow easy disembarkation without disrupting the transit of other cabins on the system. The system offers plenty of advantages, including lower energy consumption, high passenger capacity and comfort, more frequent departures, increased wind stability, larger ground distances and rope spans, and a high driving speed.
Development and building of the Alpine Express I cost 70 million CHF. Von Roll built no more 3S cable cars after the two systems in Saas Fee. When Von Roll was acquired by the Austrian company Doppelmayr in 1996, Doppelmayr obtained the knowledge for 3S gondola lift construction. Doppelmayr constructed their first system in 2002, in Val-d'Isère, France.
Since then, the Italian company Leitner has also developed a 3S system, constructing their first system in 2009, in Ritten, Italy.
Doppelmayr has developed a tricable gondola carriage which generates electricity. The wheels that roll along the two support cables are attached to electric generators. The electricity is used to power seat heating, lighting, and other electrical features inside the cabins.
The 3S cable car in Kitzbühel, Austria bridges the Saukasergraben and connects the skiing areas of Kirchberg and Resterhöhe with one another. The lift opened in January 2005 and is 3,642 metres long. A journey takes approximately nine minutes from end to end. At its highest point, the cableway is 400 metres from the ground. The use of only one aerial lift pylon resulted in an unusual span width of 2,507 metres between the valley station and the 80-metre support pillar. Overall, the system cost 13.5 million euros with each cabin costing 100,000 euros.
The cableway was manufactured by Doppelmayr. The cable[ which? ] has a diameter of 54 millimetres. The electrical power consumption is 400 kW. There are 19 cabins in total, however the system can be expanded to 24 cabins if the need arises in the future. Each cabin seats 24 people, allowing the system to transport a total of 3,200 people in any given hour. One cabin has a glass floor, making it possible to view the 400 metre drop from a different angle.
In December 2008, Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in British Columbia became the first North American resort to install a 3S lift when it opened the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, which connects Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler with Rendezvous Lodge on Blackcomb. The installation of the Peak 2 Peak Gondola eliminated the need to use the base area gondolas to get between Whistler and Blackcomb, connecting the areas together.
The Olympic Village lift in Sochi, Russia, was built in 2012 by Doppelmayr. The lift has hangers designed to transport road vehicles, in addition to the regular passenger cabins. [1]
In February 2018, the Hòn Thơm lift, in Vietnam, became the longest passenger ropeway in the world, at 7.9 km long. The lift travels over several of the Phú Quốc islands, in the Gulf of Thailand. [2] The system was manufactured by Doppelmayr. [3]
In September 2018, the Matterhorn Glacier Ride opened in Zermatt, running parallel to the existing cable car up to the Klein Matterhorn. The top station is located at 3821 metres above mean sea level, making it the highest altitude tricable gondola lift in the world. A second tricable gondola lift up to the Klein Matterhorn from the Italian Testa Grigia valley station was completed in July 2023. [4] Both systems are manufactured by Leitner.
Cable transport is a broad class of transport modes that have cables. They transport passengers and goods, often in vehicles called cable cars. The cable may be driven or passive, and items may be moved by pulling, sliding, sailing, or by drives within the object being moved on cableways. The use of pulleys and balancing of loads moving up and down are common elements of cable transport. They are often used in mountainous areas where cable haulage can overcome large differences in elevation.
An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, telepherique, or seilbahn is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion. With this form of lift, the grip of an aerial tramway cabin is fixed onto the propulsion rope and cannot be decoupled from it during operations. In comparison to gondola lifts, aerial tramways generally provide lower line capacities and longer wait times.
Whistler Blackcomb is a ski resort located in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. By many measures, it is the largest ski resort in North America and has the greatest uphill lift capacity. It features the Peak 2 Peak Gondola for moving between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains at the top. With its capacity, Whistler Blackcomb is a busy ski resort, often surpassing two million visitors a year.
A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is typically connected to an engine or electric motor. It is often considered a continuous system since it features a haul rope which continuously moves and circulates around two terminal stations. In contrast, an aerial tramway operates solely with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals.
A detachable chairlift or high-speed chairlift is a type of passenger aerial lift, which, like a fixed-grip chairlift, consists of numerous chairs attached to a constantly moving wire rope that is strung between two terminals over intermediate towers. In contrast to the fixed-grip version, the chairs of a detachable chair lift detach from the haul rope for loading and unloading.
A funitel is a type of cableway, generally used to transport skiers, although at least one is used to transport finished cars between different areas of a factory. It differs from a standard gondola lift through the use of two arms attached to two parallel overhead cables, providing more stability in high winds. The name funitel is a portmanteau of the French words funiculaire and telepherique.
Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group is an international manufacturer of ropeways and people movers for ski areas, urban transport, amusement parks, and material handling systems. As of 2023, the group had produced over 15,400 installations in 96 countries. Their annual revenue in 2022/2023 was 946 million euros. The Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group was formed in 2002 when Doppelmayr of Wolfurt, Austria merged with Garaventa AG of Switzerland to form the world's largest ropeway manufacturer.
Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
An aerial lift, also known as a cable car or ropeway, is a means of cable transport in which cabins, cars, gondolas, or open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more cables. Aerial lift systems are frequently employed in a mountainous territory where roads are relatively difficult to build and use, and have seen extensive use in mining. Aerial lift systems are relatively easy to move and have been used to cross rivers and ravines. In more recent times, the cost-effectiveness and flexibility of aerial lifts have seen an increase of gondola lift being integrated into urban public transport systems.
Doppelmayr USA, Inc is an aerial lift manufacturer based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a subsidiary of the worldwide Doppelmayr Garaventa Group. The United States company was formed in 2002 after the merger of Garaventa of Goldau, Switzerland, and Doppelmayr of Wolfurt, Austria. Between 2002 and 2010, the company was named Doppelmayr CTEC. From 2011 the company has operated using the Doppelmayr brand name, in common with most other Doppelmayr Garaventa Group subsidiaries.
The Singapore Cable Car is a gondola lift in Singapore, providing an aerial link from Mount Faber on Singapore Island to the resort island of Sentosa across the Keppel Harbour.
The Klein Matterhorn is a peak of the Pennine Alps, overlooking Zermatt in the Swiss canton of Valais. At 3,883 metres (12,740 ft) above sea level, it is the highest place in Europe that can be reached by aerial tramway or gondola lift, as well as by any other means of transport. The Klein Matterhorn is part of the Breithorn massif and overlooks on its south side the almost equally high flat glacier named Breithorn Plateau, just north of the international border with Italy. The name "Klein Matterhorn" is a reference to its much larger neighbour, the Matterhorn, which lies 7 km (4.3 mi) away across the Theodul Pass.
Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people movers, and surface lifts. Poma has installed about 7800 devices for 750 customers worldwide.
Leitner-Poma of America, known simply as Leitner-Poma, is a United States aerial lift manufacturer based in Grand Junction, Colorado. It is the American subsidiary of French-based Poma, which is owned by the Italian company HTI Group. The North American company was formed in 2000 when the Seeber Group, owner of Leitner, bought Poma and merged both companies' North American subsidiaries. Leitner-Poma of America operates a Canadian subsidiary based in Barrie, Ontario called Leitner-Poma Canada Inc.
The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is a tricable gondola lift at Whistler Blackcomb Resort in Whistler, British Columbia, linking Whistler Mountain's Roundhouse Lodge with Blackcomb Mountain's Rendezvous Lodge. It is the first lift to join the two side-by-side mountains. It held the world record for the longest free span between ropeway towers at 3.03 kilometres until 2017 when the Eibsee Cable Car exceeded it by 189 metres. It is still the highest point above the ground in a gondola at 436 metres, although a temporary aerial tramway in Switzerland used between 1979 and 1986 had larger span. The gondola was built by the Doppelmayr Garaventa Group in 2007 and 2008 at a cost of CDN$51 million. The Gondola is the first Doppelmayr "3S" tri-cable lift in North America; there are four similar but smaller lifts in Europe which were built in 1991, 1994, 2002, 2004 and 2010 in Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany. Whistler Blackcomb promotes the gondola as an attraction and uses it to transport skiers in the winter months, as well as sightseers year-round.
Nippon Cable Co., Ltd. is a Japanese corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is engaged in the design, production and installation of jig-back and material ropeways, gondola lifts, funiculars, chairlifts, car parking systems, ramp elevators and amusement park rides. The company also owns and operates resorts in Japan and Canada, including a 25% interest in Whistler Blackcomb, the largest ski resort in North America and host of alpine and nordic skiing events during the 2010 Winter Olympics, and Sun Peaks Resort.
The Genting Highlands Premium Outlets Cable Car, is a gondola lift system connecting Awana Transport Hub, Chin Swee Temple and SkyAvenue in Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia since December 2016. The Awana Transport Hub terminus consists of the new Genting Highlands Premium Outlets Terminal, the station building and a new 8-storey car park while the other terminus is located at SkyAvenue.
Media related to Tricable detachable gondola lifts at Wikimedia Commons| Aerial lifts |
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