Peak 2 Peak Gondola

Whistler Mountain opened in 1965 and Blackcomb in 1980, and for years they were separate mountains linked only through the village at their base. After Intrawest bought Whistler Mountain in 1997, the two were run under one lift ticket. Planners wanted a direct link, and the idea is said to have come from a 1997 trip to Zermatt, Switzerland. Some residents worried that the gondola opened no new ski terrain and might push up pass prices.

Peak 2 Peak is a Doppelmayr tri-cable (3S) system, described as the first of its type in North America. It is about 4.4 km long, moves at 7.5 m/s and has a stated capacity of 4,100 people per hour. It has 28 cabins, each holding 28 people; most are red and white, and a few are glass-floored (Whistler Blackcomb describes 'a few' glass-bottomed gondolas in rotation, with a separate line for them). The cables, made in Switzerland, include four stationary track ropes and a haul rope, and the terminals house drive motors, with an auxiliary diesel engine for power failures. The design allows operation in winds up to 80 km/h, and a radar-based system warns aircraft of the cables. The budget was reported as CDN$51 million.

The gondola's free span between towers measures about 3 km, reported variously as 3.024 or 3.03 km, and it held the world record for the longest free span between ropeway towers until 2017, when the Eibsee cable car in Bavaria exceeded it by 189 m. Its height above the valley floor, 436 m, is described as still the highest for a gondola. Because other types of aerial lift have different records, check the wording of any record claim.

Groundbreaking took place on May 21, 2007. The cables were shipped from Switzerland and pulled across the valley over about twelve weeks, the first cabins crossed on September 19, 2008, and the grand opening was held on December 12, 2008. The opening was followed in February 2010 by the Winter Olympics, for which Whistler was the host mountain resort.

The two glass-floored cabins are blue, so they are easy to spot when queuing, but there is no guarantee of getting one. The gondola serves both winter skiers and summer sightseers and hikers, though operating periods, tickets and weather closures are set by Whistler Blackcomb, so check with them before travelling. Voyzo's private vehicle and driver can take you to the Whistler Village base, so the gondola ride is a single part of a longer day rather than a logistics puzzle.