Initially, roads consisting of strong ropes were used by residents of mountainous regions. In this way they were engaged in lifting loads to their homes. With the development of tourism infrastructure, this mode of transportation has acquired a different function - the transportation of people. Cable cars have become especially popular with the development of ski infrastructure. Which of them are considered the most unusual and famous?
Genting
The road, located in Malaysia, is known far beyond its borders due to the fact that it is recognized as the fastest in the world (of course, among cable cars). Genting is located at an altitude of 2000 meters and is the Malaysian capital of entertainment. For three dollars, anyone can use the services of the road and ride right over the jungle at a speed of 6 meters per second. If the weather is not cloudy, then there is a high probability of seeing wild monkeys frolicking below.
Cableway Gulmarg
Gulmarg - a resort located in the Himalayas, is famous for its road, which, in turn, is known for its high location. Most recently, the area was a disputed territory between India and Pakistan, but now the fighting has subsided, and the government is doing everything to attract tourists here. Prior to the opening of this transport route, travelers had to climb the mountains by helicopter, which made skiing a very expensive pleasure.
Ai-Petri cable car
This road, located in the Crimea, is known to many residents of other countries. This transport route is famous for having the longest unsupported gap in Europe, equal to two kilometers. For a fee of 15 dollars, a tourist (or a local resident) will be able to see the southeast of Crimea, striking in its beauty. The Ai-Petri cable car will give you 15 minutes of delight and enjoyment of wonderful views.
Road to Masada
Masada is an ancient fortress in the mountains of the Judean Desert, built during the reign of King Herod. Archaeologists and tourists who want to see marvelous places can use the shortest cable car in the world. Rising up, you will enjoy the landscapes of the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea to your heart's content.
Zhangjiajie
No cable cars in the world can compare with Zhangjiajie in sheerness. This path is recognized as the steepest. Here the tourist can see the mountains that inspired the famous Hollywood director James Cameron to create futuristic landscapes in the Avatar movie. By taking the risk of taking the path, you will spend an extraordinarily exciting 40 minutes. The ascent is not easy - temperature and pressure drops do not have a very pleasant effect on tourists. But the reward is worth it, because at the top you will find the highest natural cave in the world. And if the cable cars are bored, you can go down on a regular bus.
Sentosa Island
The cableway, located in Singapore, is famous for the fact that it was here that the cabins made entirely of glass were first used. The island is a real Asian Disneyland, which has many attractions, an aquarium and the cleanest beaches. Eighty-one cabins move along rope tracks and carry a huge number of tourists and locals. Several special booths are adorned with Swarovski crystals that shimmer in every color of the rainbow.
Tatev ropeway
Many ropeways are long, but none of them could compare with the Armenian way. The Tatev route is recognized as the longest. It was recently inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records. Its creation was perceived as a step towards the revival of the monastery, the path to which was difficult before the opening of the road (it lay through a steep serpentine). Now you can get to Tatev at any time in just 11.5 minutes by paying 6 euros (the lift is free for local residents). By the way, the duration of the record-breaking ascent is 5.7 km.
Cableways of the Russian Federation
In Russia, where the ski tourism industry begins to develop rapidly, there are many cable cars. In connection with the recent Olympics, the Krasnaya Polyana cable car is especially famous, located in the village of the same name in the Krasnodar Territory.
Krasnaya Polyana is an extensive network of cable cars that combines several ski areas into one whole (Mountain Carousel, Laura-Gazprom, Alpika-Service and Rosa Khutor). By visiting these places, you can not only enjoy skiing or snowboarding, but also relax in comfortable hotels, as well as taste hot and fragrant tea in numerous cafes.
Another famous way in Russia is the cable car in Nizhny Novgorod. What is the glory of this rise? The road that lies from Nizhny Novgorod to the village of Bor will allow you to enjoy the picturesque Volga River and provide a portion of thrills, because this is the only path in Russia that passes over water for almost a kilometer.
The cable car in Nizhny Novgorod was built to improve transport conditions, since the bridge across the Volga was very difficult to cope with the heavy passenger traffic.
Grenoble cable car
Most often, cable cars run outside urban areas. But not in this case. Grenoble road is located right in the city. One of the most famous sights of France - the Bastille prison - before the creation of the path had approaches that were not very convenient for tourists. Then the government, in order to attract a large number of foreigners, created this road, which was destined to change the appearance of the city and become another of its symbols.
Rare cable cars can boast such interesting design booths. Designed for six people, they have an interesting and somewhat strange appearance, therefore, they were nicknamed by the people "cosmic eggs" or "bubbles".
The best cable cars in the world help a person enjoy breathtaking views of nature, as well as quickly get to their destination. If not for such transport routes, it would be very, very difficult to get to many amazing places on the planet.
Today, all over the world, especially in mountainous areas, cable cars are popular as a mode of transportation. The first of them was opened in 1866 in the mountainous regions of Switzerland. With her help, tourists moved to the observation deck with a magnificent view of the surrounding Alpine landscapes.
general information
During the period of the beginning of the active development of skiing, in the second half of the 20th century, the active construction of cable cars began throughout the world. Every year, roads of this design became more and more convenient and improved.
Now they are being built even in the most difficult and hard-to-reach places for people. Among the most diverse cable cars around the world, there are quite impressive structures, amazing in shape, location and length.
In this article, you can see various types cable cars and find out which is the longest cable car in the world. Among the many different designs, there are the most striking and unusual. Let's briefly consider some of them.
The world's most exciting and impressive cable cars
Chinese in Zhangjiajie National Park is the most breathtaking. The mountains here seem to float in the air. They are so high and steep that from their peaks the base is not visible in the fog. The view from the funicular cabins is so stunning that there have even been cases of tourists fainting. Of course, for the most part, the fact is that here, due to sudden pressure drops, the ears are blocked and the air temperature drops sharply.
It is no coincidence that this ropeway is called the “road to heaven”: some segments in the ascent have a slope of 70 °. It feels like it's crashing into the clouds.
Sternensauser (ski resort Hoch-Ibrig) in Switzerland is the most terrifying cable car in the whole world in terms of movement. The structure is a cable stretched at a height of 75 meters between the platforms. The longest cable car in the world of this type is the following. Passengers move under it under the weight of their own bodies, fastened with seat belts and wearing helmets. There is also a chair lift, during the movement of which a passenger can move at great speed (90 km per hour). This creates an eerie and at the same time exciting feeling of free flight.
"Genting" (Malaysia) - the fastest ropeway in the world and a real empire of entertainment.
This site is located on the highest point of the mountain (2000 m), so it can be seen from afar both during the day (the outlines of all structures and buildings) and at night due to the abundance of neon lights). Here, at the top, there are hotels, a beautiful amusement park and the only legal casino in Malaysia. A cable car leads here, passing over the exotic jungle, where you can see outlandish plants right from the funicular, amazingly beautiful flowers and monkeys scurrying through the dense thickets. The road through this impassable jungle was built in 1997.
vietnam ropeway
Winpearl in Nha Trang stretches from the provincial capital of Khanh Hoa to the island of Khon Tre (translated as "Bamboo Island"), where the world-famous amusement park of the same name with the road is located. This is one of the favorite vacation spots for guests of the country and the Vietnamese themselves.
Since commissioning in 2007, this facility of this type has been the longest cable car in the world. Above the water surface, it extends to 3320 m. And its height ranges from 5 to 75 m.
The road was built by representatives of a Swiss company. The whole structure represents huge columns supporting the cable car. In the evenings, it is very beautifully illuminated. The building is stylized in the form of the Eiffel Tower.
The cabin accommodates 8 people, and the travel time takes approximately 10 minutes. For comparison, it should be noted that you can get to the island by ferry in 20 minutes, and by boat in 7.
Previously, people got to the island only by water - on the appropriate transport.
The longest cable car in the world over the sea has a huge capacity - 1500 people per hour.
The oldest cable car in the Czech Republic
Today, the oldest cable car in the world is considered to lift passengers up Petřín Hill in the Czech Republic. Over the 120 years of its existence, its wagons transported more than 56 million people to the mountain.
It all started with the fact that members of the Czech tourist club went to Paris in 1889 and were greatly amazed and delighted with the view of the Eiffel Tower. A copy of it was later built on Petřín Hill, and later, in less than a year, a cable car was built. The trailer on rails with surprising ease lifted 50 passengers to a height of 102 meters at a time. Its peculiarity was that the cables rotated with a water wheel. In connection with the First World War in 1916, the road stopped its work for the first time, and only in 1932 it was re-launched, but with an electric motor and slightly lengthened (up to 551 m).
In 1965, landslides destroyed part of the rail track, and only 20 years later the historic funicular started working again. Since then, it has been operating and is part of the entire city transport system.
There is in Armenia, not far from the city of Goris, an amazing monastery (IX-XIII centuries), called Tatev. Until 2009, it was abandoned for a long time and began to gradually collapse. According to the approved project of the program called "Revival of Tatev", the cable car was built here in 2010. It led to this beautiful monastery nestled in the rocks. Almost immediately after the opening, the Wings of Tatev cable car was listed as the longest cable car in the world in the Guinness Book of Records. Its length is almost 6000 meters. It connects 2 villages - Tatev and Halidzor.
320 meters is its highest height above the gorge. Max speed cabin, accommodating 25 passengers at the same time - 37 km per hour. It takes a little over 11 minutes to complete the entire journey.
Prior to the appearance of this path to Tatev, people traveled along a steep serpentine running along a cliff with an inclination of 45 degrees, which in winter time often washed out. Today Tatev can be visited all year round. The cable car ride is free for locals.
The length of this cableway is 3661 meters. It should be noted for comparison that the length of the road is seven times longer and is approximately 27,000 meters.
To date, the longest cable car in Russia has been built in Nizhny Novgorod. It is the only one in Europe with a flight length of 861.21 meters above the water surface, in connection with which it is included in the Book of Records of Europe and Russia.
There are 28 booths in total, automatically illuminated and equipped with radio communication, and each of them can accommodate 8 people. The movement is carried out at a speed of up to 22 km per hour.
The largest cable car in Europe (see photo above) with the longest span over the water surface was created for the convenience of local residents. The road connects the cities of Bor and Nizhny Novgorod, located on two opposite banks of the Volga.
Conclusion
What progress has been made! Who would have thought that in such a relatively short time, amazing structures could appear that allow people to move around the most inaccessible and impassable places: between huge peaks, over the jungle, between islands above the water surface of the sea, and even in cities.
It is unlikely that skiing would have become so widespread if you had to climb the mountain on foot. From the moment when the first lifts appeared, their design has been constantly improved, and the cable cars themselves have become more comfortable and safer. the site visited the Rosa Khutor ski resort, where Aleksey Petrovich Tretyakov, deputy head of the ropeway service, gave us a tour and talked about how a modern lift works, using the example of the Olympia cableway, which raises guests of the resort to Rosa Plateau (1170 meters above sea level).
"Olympia" is a gondola-type cable car, consisting of two stations - the upper (drive) station, where the engine and backup generator are located, and the lower (bypass) station. First we climbed inside the drive station. Personally, I've always been curious about what's inside.
Those interested in the details of the work of the cable car, I ask under the cat.
The video shows the operation of the mechanism that unhooks the cab from the rope and slows down the cab. At 0:50, the moment when the cab enters the station is shown in slow motion.
At (1:09) the same moment, but already at maximum speed (6 m/s). When the cabin flies into the station at full speed, a special lever with a roller falls on the guides (red inclined rails), and goes down, respectively, the clamp rises and gradually releases the cable.
The first wheels (in the video with black tires) that press the cabin suspension system spin at the speed of the cable. On the 7th wheel, the clamp is completely unhooked (1:14), and the cab no longer moves with the help of a rope, but with the help of a conveyor of wheels. Pulleys are fixed on each wheel (1:07), and with the help of a reduction belt drive, each next wheel spins a little slower than the previous one, gradually reducing the cab speed to the minimum (1:27). At the same time, the rope continues to spin at the same speed (at the exit from the station, on the contrary, on each wheel the speed increases to the speed of the rope).
Each cable car is also equipped with an anti-collision system to prevent the cabins from colliding with each other. In the video at 1:29, you can see how the sensor that tracks the location of the booths lights up, it sends signals to the computer, which controls the distance between the booths.
Sensors that monitor rope clamping. The red plate flexes upwards when the cab clamp passes under it, and two independent sensors record the force of the rope clamp.
Clamp sensors
The readings from the sensors are fed into the computer, which will immediately stop the cable car if the car clamp does not grab the rope tightly enough. The photo below is just a computer screen on which you can see the readings of the sensors and the threshold values at which the personnel are notified and the cable car automatically stops. If this happens, the driver will reverse the cabs, drop people off and check the mechanism. If the cabin is clamped to the normal value, then work will continue, if it is emergency again, then the cabin is driven into the repair box, and it will be carefully checked. In any case, the computer will not release the booth with a weak clamp on the line.
As the doors at the booth open, in principle, you can see that the system is the same - inclined guides into which the lever with the roller enters, the lever rises, and the doors open with the help of a hydraulic mechanism. When leaving the station, the guides lower the lever.
Then we went to the room where the operators of the cable car work. Workplace operator is behind big window, where you can see the landing and landing area and is equipped with a computer, duplicate means of communication with other cable car stations (wireless walkie-talkie and wired telephone), a cable car hydraulic brake lever (red thing on the right in the photo).
Behind the operator there are several large cabinets with equipment.
Buttons for planned (smooth) stop and emergency (abrupt) stop of the cable car engine, as well as other buttons
Touch screen computer that controls the cable car
Closet insides
The cable car control system is equipped with a modem, and at the request of the ski resort, if problems arise, the manufacturer (Doppelmayer) can connect and remotely monitor the operation of all system nodes. Aleksey Petrovich also said that every year all cable cars undergo a mandatory check - the cabins are loaded with sandbags, carry out cargo tests and test the cable car in the most severe modes. The rope itself also undergoes regular inspection, which includes a test called magnetic flaw detection and is similar to an x-ray. This process is aimed at finding damage, deformations and broken wires, as well as checking the rope for an increase or decrease in diameter. Particular attention is paid to checking the link, this is the place where the rope is connected, in other words, this is the knot that connects the ends of the rope, which makes it a single ring. But this is another story that requires a separate story.
In order not to encounter the fact that the cable cars are closed during a preventive measure while visiting the resort, .
In order to better examine the structure of the supports, we rode on an open technological cabin.
A wind system is installed on some cable car supports, with a wind of 15 m / s it will slow down the speed of the cabins to 1.5 m / s and inform the cable car personnel about this by sound alarm and indication on the control panel. And with an increase in wind speed to 17 m/s, the speed of the booths will decrease to a minimum of 0.3 m/s. The maximum road speed is 6 meters per second.
Support with wind system
To prevent the rope from jumping off the rollers, each support has sensors that fix this situation, and traps next to the rollers that will prevent the rope from falling.
Rope traps on a pole
On the negative supports (where the cable runs under the rollers), the traps are also reversed accordingly.
negative support
The Olympia cable car differs from other cable cars in Krasnaya Polyana in that one of its sections passes over the gorge at a height of 126 meters. From here it opens very beautiful view. In winter, I sometimes had to ride in the same booth with beginners who panicked a little on this section. Like, if the electricity is turned off, then how will they remove us from here. In general terms, I knew that they would shoot somehow, but I found out how exactly just now - there are winches with a cable at the extreme supports on both sides of the gorge. If necessary, the rescuer climbs the support, on a suspended bike rides the rope to the cabin hovering over the gorge, loosens the cabin clamp by 2 millimeters with a special device so that it can slide along the rope, hooks the winch cable to the cabin and pulls the cabin to the lift support, from where to remove people is easy enough. As you can see, there is absolutely no cause for concern.
For a photographer, of course, it is much more convenient to ride in an open cabin, nothing blocks the excellent view from the lift :-)
Below, at the bypass station, everything is about the same, only without an emergency drive. To the left of the landing zone there is a garage for cabins (when there are not many guests at the resort, in order not to load the cable car with excess weight, some of the cabins are removed and driven here). For example, in winter there are a maximum of 77 booths on the line, and today only half - 38. The booths are also being repaired here.
Garage
Here it is, the cable car.
The active development of ski tourism over the past decades has contributed to the continuous improvement of the infrastructure necessary to lift skiers and snowboarders to the top of the mountains. The creators of cable cars come up with new designs that allow tourists to get up as quickly as possible and in the most comfortable conditions.
The history of cable cars goes back about 500 years. The first prototypes appeared in Asia. The locals invented aerial cable cars, which were based on cables made of interlaced fibers. Instead of the current wagons, large baskets were then used in which people and goods could be transported.
In 1515, an improved version of the cable car appeared: then the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Matthaus Lang von Wellenburg, designed trolleys moving along wooden rails with the help of a hemp rope due to muscular strength. These roads were freight roads, but over time they specifications improved, and in the 19th century, passenger lifts appeared, similar to modern cable cars.
First, a funicular was created - a pair of wagons moving along inclined rails. The first such devices appeared in US cities. In the 1870s, the first gondola-type road appeared in Germany, for which an iron cable was used. In the 1930s, the first chair lift was built at the Sun Valley resort in the USA.
The real boom in the construction of cable cars came in the second half of the 20th century, when the construction of ski resorts for mass tourism began in many countries. By that time, engineers had created many types of cable cars - funiculars, gondola, cabin, chairlifts, rope tows and others.
The largest holdings specializing in the production of ropeways in the world are the Leitner-Poma and Doppelmayer-Garaventa groups. The first holding includes, among other things, the French company for the design and construction of cable cars Pomagalski S.A. or Poma S.A.S. It was she who became the main supplier of equipment for Russian ski resorts developed by the Resorts North Caucasus”, - “Arkhyz”, “Elbrus” and “Veduchi”.
“In order to build one cable car, it is necessary to involve about 50 people - engineers, designers, installers, locksmiths. It will take half a year to design it, another three months - expertise, then construction begins. The whole idea, from a sheet of paper to putting the structure into operation, takes about a year and a half,” said Anton Chudaev, General Director of Poma LLC (a branch of the French company Poma S.A.S. in Russia).
But, of course, the duration of the project depends on the degree of complexity of the cable car. What they are - read in the photo report "Interfax-Tourism".
Unsupported cable car ("baby lift")
"Baby-lift" is a small lift without intermediate supports, designed to organize skiing, snowboarding or tubing on slopes up to 300 meters long with a small height difference (up to 100 meters). It is a stretched cable with fixed plastic yokes, for which the riders cling.
The installation of such a lift is very simple and is carried out in a short time, since it does not require a foundation. "Baby lift" provides for the movement of tourists at low speeds, which is very convenient in the areas of the mountains where skiing is taught.
In Russia, a “baby lift” can be seen at the Veduchi ski resort, which is located in the Chechen Republic in the picturesque valley of the Kharachoy-Akhk River.
cable car belt type(travolator)
A travelator is a mechanical track that takes riders to the descent. It is characterized by comfortable and safe climbing at low speed on slopes with a small difference in altitude, it is also used on training slopes. Outwardly, it resembles a huge tape for moving products at the supermarket checkout. Compared to the "baby lift", the cable cars have much higher throughput.
The travolator is used on many slopes for beginners: it is in the training area of the ski resort "Veduchi" in Chechnya, in the tourist village Romantik of the resort "Arkhyz" in Karachay-Cherkessia and in the Kabardino-Balkarian resort "Elbrus", where there is a park for teaching skiing and Saby Park snowboarding.
Fixed Clamp Chairlift
Rope and chair lifts allow you to deliver visitors to ski resorts to the right place in chairs that are fixed on a rope. It is thanks to the seats that several skiers at once (usually from two to six) have the opportunity to comfortably climb to the beginning of the track. At most modern ski resorts, the chairs of these cable cars are equipped with heating, and a protective wall (transparent cap) is also often provided from the back, sheltering skiers from bad weather.
A comfortable and safe cable car with a fixed clamp is a chair lift, the seats of which are permanently attached to the carrier-drawing rope. When approaching the station, the operator carefully monitors the speed of the chairs, since it depends on whether the skier or snowboarder will have time to get on the lift or not.
Such a road is installed, for example, at the Arkhyz ski resort - this is a four-seater Sputnik chairlift with a fixed clamp.
Detachable chairlift
IN Lately chairlifts with detachable clamps have become widespread. They are the most popular, convenient and fast transport for winter sports enthusiasts.
According to Boris Shlom, General Director of National Ropeways LLC, the detachable clamp system in the 1980s was a revolutionary step in the development of cable transport systems, and now it is no less in demand.
“The principle of operation of such equipment is the ability to unhook cabins or chairs (depending on the type of lift) at the entrance to the landing station. That is, the chair or gondola slows down and is transferred from the main traction rope to the rollers, along which it travels through the entire landing zone. It turns out that in the zone of embarkation and disembarkation of tourists, the speed is low, you can safely sit in a chair or a gondola, while the speed becomes higher throughout the cable car,” he said.
According to the expert, ropeways with non-detachable clamps should be used only for lifting to small tracks up to 700 m long. Despite their low speed (1.8-2 m/s) and capacity (less than 2000 people/hour) , such cable cars are quite capable of providing a comfortable and safe landing for climbing beginners skiing to the green and blue slopes. However, a cable car with detachable chairs can increase productivity up to 2000-4000 or more people per hour at a speed of 5-7 m/s.
“And since the speed of the road with a detachable clip is higher, therefore, its productivity too. The resort can deliver more passengers to the top and thereby increase the throughput and tourist flow,” B. Shlom added.
In January 2018, a 4-seater chairlift with a detachable clamp was put into operation at the all-season ski resort Veduchi. And on Arkhyz in the tourist village of Lunnaya Polyana, a 6-seater cable car called Lunar Express is installed, the seats of which are equipped with protective caps.
Detachable gondola lift
These are closed cabins that can accommodate from 6 to 20 people, they can often be seen in cities, and in especially picturesque places they are made with panoramic windows. Near the station, the speed of the cabin is reduced as much as possible so that passengers can get out without hindrance. Going around the station and moving to its opposite side, the cabin accelerates again, and the clamp catches on the rope. The maximum speed is approximately 6 m/s, which allows you to quickly lift a large number of skiers and snowboarders up.
According to Anton Chudayev, gondola and chairlifts with a detachable clamp are the most reliable. “These ropeways have a higher speed than others and, accordingly, higher productivity,” he said.
Such a cable car operates, for example, at the Elbrus resort. In December 2015, its third stage was completed, which brings tourists to the Gara-Bashi station at an altitude of 3847 m - this is a record figure not only for Russia, but also for Europe. The duration of the ascent is approximately 20-25 minutes. From the final station, the gaze of those riding in one direction opens up a magnificent panorama of the Caucasus Range, in the other - views of the two-headed peak of Elbrus, an ancient volcano.
Also, gondola cable cars were built at the Arkhyz resort. The Milky Way is already working, and the Northern Lights, according to the representatives of the resort, will open in the new ski season.
Pendulum cable car
One of the varieties of gondola (cabin) lifts is a pendulum cable car. Cabins of pendulum lifts move towards each other along the carrying ropes, and their movement is provided by a traction rope. Such a cable car is suitable for places with difficult terrain, for example, it will easily transport passengers through valleys, gorges, rivers or glaciers.
Compared to other lifts, it has a number of advantages. So, the length of spans without support can reach 3 kilometers, one cabin can accommodate from 6 to 230 passengers. The capacity of the pendulum cable car, depending on the speed (up to 12 m/s) and the length of the road, ranges from 500 to 2 thousand people per hour.
As the CEO of Poma S.A.S. in Russia, Anton Chudaev, the complexity of building any long cable car depends primarily on the terrain. “Designers and engineers are looking to see if the slope needs to be reinforced. They put up avalanche fortifications and protective barriers to ensure the safety of the skiers,” he said.
The pendulum cable car, built back in Soviet times, operates at the Elbrus resort. It consists of two lines and starts at the lower station Azau (2300 m), passes through the interchange station "Staryi Krugozor" (3000 meters) and ends at around 3500 meters at the station "Mir". In the zone of the stations you can visit barbecue houses and cafes, and at the Mir station there is a high-mountain Museum of military glory of the defenders of Elbrus and the Caucasian passes during the Great Patriotic War.
"Bright future" of ropeways
According to JSC "KSK", in the future, in the resorts of the North Caucasus, mainly chairlifts and gondola lifts will be built, but at the resort "Veduchi" unusual novelty― ring cable car of the 3S system with a minimum of supports, which will give passengers a complete feeling of floating in the air. It is also particularly wind resistant and has low power consumption.
“There are a little more than a dozen such ropeways in the world. It will connect the north- and south-oriented slopes of the resort and pass directly over the gorge; its design length is almost 4.5 kilometers. The cabins of such a 3S cable car move along three ropes - two carrying and one traction, which makes the whole system very reliable and productive. The cabins themselves are, in fact, air excursion buses: they can accommodate up to 35 people with ski equipment, and during the trip through large panoramic windows it will be possible to admire the view of the mountain ranges,” said Khasan Timizhev, General Director of North Caucasus Resorts JSC.
According to him, the cable car will be able to transport up to 2.8 thousand people per hour. “Only three supports up to 100 meters high will be installed for it, so that the guests of the resort will have the full feeling of flying,” added the head of KSK JSC.
Also, according to Anton Chudayev, another modern, one might say, innovative cable car with a hybrid engine will appear at the Arkhyz resort. “It's more environmentally friendly, consumes less energy and is almost silent. This will be appreciated by those skiing at ski resorts, because instead of the noise of the cable car, they will enjoy the sounds of the surrounding nature, ”explained the general director of Poma LLC.
To the heights - on Russian cable cars
The demand for ropeways in our country is increasing every year. Moreover, it is not only about ski resorts - they also occupy their place in cities as a popular alternative view urban transport. So, in February 2012, a cable car was put into operation across the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod, and in November a cable car was opened in Moscow, connecting Sparrow Hills and Luzhniki.
There are plans to build a city cable car gondola in the center of the capital Chechen Republic. “The cable car is not only a modern mode of transport, but also a zone of attraction for tourists, the number of which in Grozny is increasing every year. Many of them dream of looking at our wonderful city from above. The cable car gives such an opportunity,” Odes Baysultanov, First Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for North Caucasus Affairs, said at the presentation of the project, which took place in Grozny the other day.
“It is very important that cable cars made in our country work at domestic ski resorts and in Russian cities. Unfortunately, those production sites that were created in the Soviet years are now practically lost. It is necessary to establish new modern production - this is a matter not only of technological growth, but also of the country's global prestige," he commented.
For the design, production, maintenance, operation and sale of cable cars in Russia in partnership with North Caucasus Resorts JSC and POMA S.A.S. this year, the National Ropeways enterprise was established. Its main production site is located in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, in the city of Maisky, but over time it is planned to cooperate with other Russian factories.
“The joint venture has challenging tasks: to create safe, cost-competitive, modern cable cars that will be supplied not only to the domestic market, but also to the CIS countries, and in the future to other states. We are convinced of the success and believe that one day the market share that products under the Russian flag will take will be comparable to the share of European leaders in the production of cable cars,” concluded Odes Baisultanov.
A new cable car has been opened in Krasnaya Polyana. Previously, it was operated only by guests of the Olympics, but now it is available to everyone. The new cable car has become the longest in the country.
Cable car in Krasnaya Polyana
The complex in Krasnaya Polyana consists of three gondola lifts. The longest of them is the 3S cable car. It is the longest ring cable car in Russia. Its length is 5.3 kilometers. The participants of the Sochi Olympics were the first to test the new cable car. Now it is open to everyone. The 3S cable car is intended primarily for sightseeing purposes. Tourists climb it from the lower station "Alpika-Service", located at an altitude of 550 meters above sea level, to the Psekhako ridge to a height of about 1.6 thousand meters. There is a ski and biathlon complex here. Each of the 50 cabins can accommodate 30 tourists. The cable car can transport about 3 thousand people per hour. Despite its length, the cable car has only five pillars, one of which is 78 meters high and is the highest in Europe.
Having climbed the Psekhako ridge, tourists can use another cable car, which allows you to look at the objects built for the Olympics: biathlon tracks, stadium. This road is capable of transporting 2,000 tourists per hour.
Recently in Krasnaya Polyana, another cable car of the Alpika-Service resort began its work. It raises tourists to a height of 780 meters above sea level to the bobsleigh track on the Aibga ridge. This cable car uses cabins for eight people and chairs for six people. Its capacity is 3 thousand people per hour.
The new cable cars were built by Gazprom specifically for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
Gallery
6 photos
Nizhny Novgorod cable car
In 2012, the cable car across the Volga was opened. It connected Nizhny Novgorod and Bor. The main purpose of the structure is the transportation of passengers from one coast to another. With the introduction of the cable car, it was planned to unload the car traffic on the Bor bridge, the daily passenger flow of which is 25 thousand people. The cable car was built as an alternative to buses. It was created in three years. The project itself was presented by the French company Pomagalski back in December 2007. The Nizhny Novgorod cable car is capable of transporting more than 1,000 people per hour. One cabin is designed for 28 people. The length of the cable car is about 3.7 kilometers, of which about 900 meters lie above the water surface. Passengers can get from one coast to another in 13 minutes. The highest height above the surface on which the cabs pass is 82 meters. Over the two years of its operation, the cable car has already transported more than 4 million people.
In the future, several more cable cars may appear in Nizhny Novgorod. The possibility of their construction is now being discussed. One of the projects involves the creation of a cable car from Zarechny Boulevard to Gagarin Avenue.
Gallery
5 photos
Ropeway Miskhor – Ai-Petri
Ropeway Miskhor - Ai-Petri in 2014 became the winner in the competition "Seven Modern Wonders of Crimea". This is one of the oldest cable cars in Russia. It began to be built back in 1967, but due to the technical difficulties faced by the builders, it was opened only 20 years later, in 1987. The length of the cable car running over the pine forest of the Yalta Mountain and Forest Reserve is 3,000 meters. The journey takes about 15 minutes. Cabins (there are four in total) are designed for 30 passengers. They raise tourists to a height of 1.2 thousand meters, from where scenic view on the southern coast of Crimea. The cable car has its own characteristics. So, between its two stations there is an unsupported span, the length of which is almost 1.7 thousand meters, and the elevation angle reaches 46 degrees. For a long time it was the longest section in Europe without supports, until a cable car was built in Germany with a span of about 2 thousand meters. In 2013, the cable car was modernized. The carrier rope was replaced and all stations were repaired. The cable car has its own diesel plant, which allows passengers to be lowered even in case of problems with the electrical network.
Gallery
7 photos
Cableways in Dombai
There are currently five cable cars in Dombai, including one gondola cable car. Cableways are designed primarily for lifting skiers. One of the newest and most modern is the gondola road, the construction of which was started in 2004 and completed in 2006. It lifts tourists from a height of 1.6 thousand meters to a height of 2.3 thousand meters. Its length is 1.8 thousand meters. The gondola lift transports up to 2.4 thousand people per hour. Cabins are designed for eight people. Gondolas are very comfortable. There are ski pockets, comfortable seats and automatically closing and opening doors. This cable car starts at the end station of the pendulum cable car on the banks of the river on the slope of Moussa-Achitara mountain. Then on a six-seat cable car you can climb to a height of about 3 thousand meters, and then on a four-seat cable car - to the highest point of Dombay, 3168 meters. The total climb time is about 20 minutes.
