The first truck carrying the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola’s sky cabins arrived on August 26 and another arrive today here at Whistler Blackcomb.
Ten trucks, in total, loaded with sky cabins will eventually make their way across Canada to their final destination in Whistler. Weiss-Rohlig Canada is coordinating transport logistics from CWA’s factory in Olten, Switzerland.
The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola terminal buildings are getting dressed with cladding and Rodeca, a translucent building element, while drywalling is taking place inside in the command rooms.
The track ropes are all pulled and tensioned and the next milestone will be the splice and installation of the haul rope. This will take place in the next two weeks.
There are four track ropes currently strung across the valley, creating two stationary “train tracks” going each way. Doppelmayr’s unique 3S gondola technology has each cabin traveling along these track rope cables with the 46mm haul rope cable looped across the valley and pulling in the middle of each set track.
Opening day is getting closer and closer and the sight of cables strung across the valley is leading skiers and riders to dream about their momentous first ride across. Obviously, with a journey across a valley that breaks several world records, safety is the first thing on Whistler Blackcomb’s, and our guests’, minds.
Doppelmayr’s lift fabrication, safety redundancies and secondary systems are designed for increased operating reliability. Major elements include:
The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola sky cabins were shipped from CWA’s factory in Olten, Switzerland on July 21. Stefan Huter, of Doppelmayr gave final approval of the sky cabins on July 18 and they were on their way by July 21. They were shipped in groups of six with each group departing on July 21, 23, 25 and 29. The final group of four, making up 28 sky cabins in total, will leave on July 31. It will take five to six weeks to get to Whistler and they are slated to arrive at the end of August.
When construction began on the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola, the track and haul rope line across Fitzsimmons Valley was identified on all aviation maps for the Whistler area and communicated through the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) service.
Brand-new technology developed in Norway called OCAS (Obstacle Collision Avoidance System) has been installed on the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola. This state-of-the-art system constantly scans the area surrounding the P2P line with radar. If aircraft is detected, the radar alerts the system and immediately tracks the aircraft, calculates its speed, heading and altitude. If a collision hazard exists, the pilot is warned by flashing high intensity strobe lights and an audible warning transmitted over all aircraft radio frequencies.
OCAS’s Norwegian team was in Whistler the first week of July to install and test the P2P system. The system is now operational with track ropes strung across the valley.
The OCAS system is much safer than traditional marking systems and is less obtrusive because it only activates if an aircraft is in the area. In the event of failure, OCAS will automatically produce messages to NOTAM.
The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola terminal buildings house the largest lift terminal hardware manufacturer Doppelmayr/Garaventa has ever built. To create the concrete footings, lift platforms, masts and columns 4,000 cubic metres of concrete had to be trucked up the mountains.
Whistler P2P Terminal:
Blackcomb P2P Terminal:
Summer is in full swing and everyone is buzzing about the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola. Construction is moving along and the rope stringing process is nearly half done. Two track ropes are completely across and tensioned, and the third rope is currently being pulled up the flank of Whistler Mountain.
The delivery of five gargantuan reels of cable on June 17 was a huge milestone in this project’s construction journey and since that date each reel has made the slow journey up to the Blackcomb terminal station to await stringing.
Great progress has been made on the Whistler and Blackcomb terminal buildings. These giant buildings, located adjacent to the Rendezvous Lodge on Blackcomb and the Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler, will house the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola. Once finished, these buildings will be the biggest lift terminal structures in the world. …Read More 
Critical components arrive after 11 week journey from Switzerland to Whistler
Five cable reels for Whistler Blackcomb’s PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola are in the homestretch of a 18,000 kilometre/11,000 mile journey as they arrive by train in Whistler June 17. After traveling over 11 weeks via truck, barge, boat and rail; the final leg of the journey consists of a literal push from the Whistler valley to the Blackcomb PEAK 2 PEAK lift station located at 1860 metres/6,102 feet.
Each gondola cabin can hold 28 people and can transport 2050 people/hr each way.
