Canada, here I come!

Suzanne

Whistler Blackcomb resort has announced the most exciting mountain development I have heard of yet.  A project that has been under construction for quite some time, their new Peak 2 Peak Gondola is scheduled to open on Dec 12th, 2008.  The cabins made their first span of the valley on September 19th unmanned, so it appears that they may very well hit their due date.  This gondola is a first in mountain lift technology as it spans the divide between the Whistler and Blackcomb peaks.  The highest point above the ground of the gondola is 1427 feet above Fitzsimmons Creek.

There are 28 cabins total, of which a special 2 have fenced-in glass bottom floors so that you can have a birds-eye view of the Fitzsimmons Valley below.  These two cabins are marked by their silver color whereas the other 26 are painted red.  Each cabin holds a remarkable 28 passengers with 24 seated and 4 standing; and with a ride time of only 11 minutes, that means they can transport 2050 people per hour each direction. 

Now, with all the high-speed promises and huge capacities, it sounds like it would suck energy by the ton, but this gondola is fairly green.  Since it doesn’t gain elevation from peak to peak loading stations, it is higher-powered but lower in energy consumption than traditional gondolas.  The energy use is similar to a high-speed quad chair.  And considering that Whistler already powers their resort with over 90% hydro-power, environmentalists will have nothing to gripe about.

Just like any other great grand opening, there is also a great contest to go along with this shred season’s grand opening of the gondola.  They are hosting a “Gondola Full of Gear” contest, which boasts a pretty hefty prize rollout: a trip for four to the resort including all travel, accommodations and lifts, either a ski or snowboard setup for each person on the trip, gear for everyone, streetclothes, plus a bunch of random ridiculous prizes by a multitude of sponsors… they even have your bartabs covered!  I hesitate to inform you since I already entered and have my fingers crossed, but you can check out all the prizes and enter here

You can also check out their site to view videos of the view while riding across the valley plus a bunch of other goodies on their Peak2Peak home site

Posted by Suzanne Akin on 10/15