What is cooler than riding the worlds longest unsupported ropeway span?

by Scott Carmichael on

Well, jumping off it of course! That is exactly what 2 base jumpers did a few days ago at the new Peak2Peak ropeway in Whistler. Peak2Peak connects the slopes at Whistler mountain with those at Blackcomb mountain allowing skiers to pick the slope with the best powder.

The ropeway itself is an amazing piece of engineering, designed and built by Austrian firm Doppelmayr. The project features an astounding 1.88 miles of cable between just 2 of the towers, making it the longest unsupported span of any ropeway in the world.

The ride alone was clearly not enough to celebrate the opening, so Red Bull (of the “gives you wings” soda) paid 2 base jumpers to climb on top of a gondola, and make the jump to the ground, almost 1400 feet below.

At about 1:05 into the clip, you get a view from the ground, looking up at the gondola, giving you an idea just how insanely high this thing is.

(Via: Gizmodo)

Canadian gondola crash

by Annie Scott on

It’s that nightmare you have every time you ride a gondola. Not the one where your car falls, but the one where the tower goes down and all of the cars fall.

Yesterday at Whistler Blackcomb Resort, 177 km north of Vancouver, tragedy struck when a support tower for their gondola system snapped in half. Falling gondola cars hit a bus stop and a house, and another was suspended over an icy creek.

The good news is that all 53 passengers were successfully rescued, and while 5 required medical attention, no major injuries were reported.

Check out the story here on CNN for video footage.