It's called a skyride 'cause it rides thru the sky.
May 13, 2008 2:04 PM   Subscribe

Know of any gondola skyrides?

I'm trying to produce a list of gondola skyrides. But first some ground rules:

1. Must be gondola -- no chair lifts or t-bars.

2. Must be accessible to the general public (e.g., not inside an amusement park).

3. Must currently be in business.

Bonus points for anything involving water.

Extra bonus points for anything involving waterfalls.

(Note: I already know about the Spokane Skyride.)

Thanks for the help!
posted by GarageWine to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (26 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
you mean like the Roosevelt Island Tramway?
posted by CrazyJoel at 2:12 PM on May 13, 2008


How about the gondola for Grouse Mountain, in Vancouver, BC?
posted by impactorange at 2:16 PM on May 13, 2008


The Portland Aerial Tram is pretty cool. The Sandia Peak Tramway in Albuquerque is neat, although expensive.
posted by Staggering Jack at 2:20 PM on May 13, 2008


In California:

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
There's a gondola at Heavenly ski area in Lake Tahoe, and Mammoth Mountain.

Mammoth, bizarrely enough, is still open for skiing and will remain so for a couple weeks. In the Summer, Mammoth and Heavenly both turn into mountain bike parks, but I'm pretty sure you can just go ride the gondola if you really want to.

Otherwise, the only other ones I know of are in amusement parks like Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, and Sea World.
posted by LionIndex at 2:27 PM on May 13, 2008


Squaw Valley, CA
posted by rhizome at 2:27 PM on May 13, 2008


In Park City, Utah, the Cabriolet from the parking lot up to the "village" of the Canyons resort is a gondola.

Winter photo.
posted by weston at 2:32 PM on May 13, 2008


Best answer: You might check out these wikipedia links as well:
List of Gondola Lifts
List of Aerial Tramways
posted by Staggering Jack at 2:35 PM on May 13, 2008


Telluride, Colorado has one that's open year-round, as it is also used as a sort of public transportation between Telluride and the ski resort town of Mountain Village on the other side of the mountain. I actually worked on the gondola there for two summers in high school, so if you have any questions about gondolas in general I may be able to help, feel free to Mefi Mail me.
posted by i less than three nsima at 2:39 PM on May 13, 2008


The Grenoble Telepherique goes up a mountain and over a river.
posted by mkb at 2:41 PM on May 13, 2008


Off the top of my head: Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch, NH puts gondola cars on their high-speed summit quad for summer sightseeing (they run chairs on it during ski season.) Not on the Wiki lists.

As for over/near water -- look at the Niagara Falls Spanish Aerocar and the Montmorency Falls tram near Quebec City (both made it to Wikipedia.)

Also, there are communities of folks who really, really like aerial rides and could probably help out. Try asking on skilifts.org's forums.
posted by Opposite George at 3:04 PM on May 13, 2008


there's a couple in Barcelona, if i recall correctly. there's one that goes up the mountain, and another that goes over the harbour, i think. Here's a picture of one of them.
posted by buka at 3:07 PM on May 13, 2008


Aspen Mountain Silver Queen Gondola.
posted by ericb at 3:08 PM on May 13, 2008


Ober Gatlinburg (just a trashy little piece of my childhood).
posted by kimdog at 3:15 PM on May 13, 2008


Here's a big table: Urban Aerial Cableways. Note that in Japan and maybe other places they're called ropeways (I've ridden the ropeway up to Matsuyama castle) but some people call these "cable cars" (which is all wrong to this to this San Francisco aficionado).
posted by Rash at 3:31 PM on May 13, 2008


Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch, NH, has an aerial tram.
posted by dseaton at 3:44 PM on May 13, 2008


Whiteface Gondola in Lake Placid, NY
posted by saffry at 5:13 PM on May 13, 2008


"Wide, white, and tall, bet you can't ski 'em all . . . come join the fun at Lutsen Mountain!"
posted by Kibbutz at 5:38 PM on May 13, 2008


Banff, Alberta, Canada.
posted by arcticwoman at 5:49 PM on May 13, 2008


I'm confused -- are no not looking for ski lift gondolas? Are those open to the public by your definition?
If ski resorts are okay:
Jackson Hole
Aspen/Snomass
Stowe, Vt.

And, hey, look here's a wikipedia list!
posted by dpx.mfx at 5:51 PM on May 13, 2008


(oops, Staggering Jack beat me to that one)
posted by dpx.mfx at 5:54 PM on May 13, 2008


Skyline Gondola, Queenstown, New Zealand. It overlooks water, hills, town. Alas, no waterfall.
posted by Yavsy at 8:29 PM on May 13, 2008


The London Eye.
posted by pompomtom at 9:25 PM on May 13, 2008


Like buka said, two in Barcelona - one from Barceloneta across the harbour to Montjuic, one up Montjuic itself. Luckily for the vertigo-prone, the hill's a nice walk too.
posted by carbide at 11:48 PM on May 13, 2008


Steamboat Springs, CO - open year-round
posted by jrichards at 6:32 AM on May 14, 2008


Wyler tramway in El Paso
posted by jaimystery at 9:55 AM on May 14, 2008


The tramway at Masada involves a distinct LACK of water...
posted by JMOZ at 11:27 AM on May 14, 2008


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