PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola

Whistler Blackcomb’s Unlimited Adult Seasons Pass is available for the Early Bird price of $1,529 which includes unlimited access to the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola. The Unlimited Seasons Pass can be purchased without access to the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola for $1,460. In season, PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola access can be added to those passes for $89 (unlimited use) or $7 a day. After the Early Bird offer ends on October 13th, the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will be included in all Unlimited Adult Seasons Pass for a price of $1879.

The Adult Spirit Pass, only available to people working in Whistler who participate in the Whistler Chamber of Commerce Spirit Program, is available for $1,149. It includes unlimited access to the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola all season.

All season passes offer unlimited skiing and riding over 200+ days in the winter and free sightseeing for 119 days in the summer. Information on additional pass options and passholder perks are available online. Daily ticket rates as well as information on the EDGE card will become available closer to the winter season.

Two of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola sky cabins will have glass bottoms. Skiers, riders and sightseers will not actually stand on the glass bottom in the middle of the sky cabin, it will be enclosed by a fence-type barrier. This will allow for a birds eye view of the Fitzsimmons Valley below.

The sky cabins with glass floors are coloured silver while the remaining 26 are red. All sky cabins will feature real glass in the windows for less scratching then traditional Plexiglass windows and amazing views up and down the valley all year long.

Yes! One of the main benefits of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola is that it further enhances Whistler’s appeal as a four-season destination resort.

The summer experience at Whistler Blackcomb will be revolutionized by the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola. Sightseers and hikers riding the gondola will be treated to stunning vistas of the valley and Fitzsimmons Creek and will experience the beautiful alpine landscape of Garibaldi Provincial Park from a new perspective. Wheelchair access in the gondola sky cabins ensures that this adventure is inclusive. Meanwhile, the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will open up a whole new alpine hiking experience on Blackcomb, increasing the current network of trails to over 60 kilometres.

Summer operating dates will be extended with the addition of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola. The gondola will run from mid May through to mid October, and guests can access the gondola from either the Blackcomb base or the Whistler Village base throughout the summer until Labour Day. As the world’s longest continuous lift system – up Whistler, across PEAK 2 PEAK, and down Blackcomb – summer guests will be treated to a whole new experience at Whistler Blackcomb.

The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola is a record-breaking gondola that spans a great distance but because it does not gain elevation the energy consumption is much less than a traditional lift. If the load is balanced, just the friction of the track and haul ropes need to be overcome.

To put things into perspective the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will use less energy than the Whistler Village Gondola and will be similar in daily energy consumption to smaller high speed quads such as the Emerald Express and Jersey Cream Express.

Finally, because Whistler Blackcomb operates in British Columbia there is the added benefit of utilizing hydro power, which is considered a renewable resource, to power its operations. More than 90 per cent of B.C’s energy comes from hydro projects located throughout the province rather than electricity derived from the burning of fossil fuels.

The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will be our fastest moving lift, able to accommodate 4,100 people per hour. The ride time is 11 minutes and it is moving at 7.5metres/25feet per second. To put that into perspective the Village Gondola runs from 4.5m/15 feet per second to 5.5m/18 feet per second and the Peak Chair runs at 2m/7 feet per second. Each PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola Sky Cabin can carry 28 people.

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, left today, July 31. It will take five to six weeks to get to Whistler and they are slated to arrive at the end of August.

Crews will begin placing each of the 28 cabins on the line in mid to late-September, however the first cabin could be on the line by early September for station set-up and preliminary testing.

CWA Constructions is a partner of Doppelmayr/Garaventa.

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 will be the most wind tolerant lift at Whistler Blackcomb, able to run in winds up to 80km/hr. The 3S Gondola ensures stability since it travels along two track ropes while being pulled by a third haul rope.

Last January, in Whistler Blackcomb’s stormiest month, the Peak elevation at 2,182m/7,160ft only saw two days where winds exceeded 80kms/hour. Comparatively, at the mid-mountain elevation of 1,660m/5,450ft, wind surpassed 50km/hour only six times during the month. The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola is located at 1,850m/6,069ft, an elevation that is less affected by the heavy winds that can occur in the high alpine.

The PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola will play a key role in transporting guests to open terrain on both mountains when alpine lifts are closed due to stormy weather.

No one seems to know exactly when or how it started, but the tradition of placing a tree on top of a completed steel structure is called "Topping Out." It has become a cherished custom of Ironworkers whenever the skeleton of a bridge or building is completed, and in the case of the PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola, when a lift tower is completed. Topping Out is a signal that the uppermost steel member has gone into place and that the structure has reached its final height. As that final beam is hoisted, a tree or a flag or both are attached to it as it ascends. Each of the four P2P towers at Whistler Blackcomb has sported the Swiss flag and a tree. The Swiss flag has been used since the team that built the lift towers were all from Switzerland. The nice thing about Topping Out is that no two ceremonies are exactly alike. For some, the tree symbolizes the job went up without a major incident, while for others it’s a good luck charm for the future.