Bottom terminal building and lower section of the line.Tram car and tower 1.Top terminal building.Top dock at High Camp.Cabin and tower 2.120-passenger cabin, hanger and carriage.Top station view from Silverado.Tower 2 and car 2.Tower 2 and cabin 1.Cabins pass above tower 1.Just below tower 1.Both cabins and both towers.
23 thoughts on “High Camp Cable Car – Palisades Tahoe, CA”
AlexAugust 9, 2020 / 4:22 pm
While it is capable of going faster, the tram typically runs at 5 m/s. Very rarely will it go 6 m/s. Part of the reason for this is the potential swing of Tower 1 if it goes too fast.
When they eventually replace this lift in the future, it is a great opportunity for the first 3S gondola in the United States. The profile and capacity certainty warrant it, and the resort has a reputation for bold lifts. This would probably not be for another 5+ years, as Squaw/Alpine have other more pressing large projects including the California Express gondola.
I feel like a 3S would be far too much uphill capacity for the resort. They already have the Funitel and Squaw One which have a combined uphill capacity of 7042p/h capacity. The upper part of the resort would get far too crowded. It would also make mountain run way too crowded. I think the best option would be a tram-like the one in New York City as it would improve summer ops as well.
A 3S wouldn’t be a good use of that kind of money. It would be much better spent on upgrading Squaw One or simply keeping the Cable Car running as it is. High Camp is the least convenient way for skiers to access the upper mountain so most just ride the Funitel instead. The Cable Car is most popular with sightseers going to the pool or ice rink or just beginners accessing Mountain Meadow. High Camp is pretty isolated and it is difficult to access the popular terrain on the upper mountain without either riding Mountain Meadow or skiing down the very flat and boring section of mountain run to get to the lifts below Gold Coast. A lift with the capacity and cost of a 3S likely wouldn’t be utilized to it’s full potential in this alignment.
Do they really run this thing at almost half speed because of cabin swing? In every video, it looks to be moving so slow. Definitely nowhere near the speed of Jackson Hole’s tram, which has similar speed stats to what peter put in the spreadsheet.
AG stands for Aktiengesellschaft which is basically a German term for a public limited company. By definition in a public limited company, shares are offered to the general public and traded on a public stock exchange. Shareholders’ liability is limited to their investment. The shareholders are not responsible for the company’s debts, and their assets are protected in case the company becomes insolvent.
AGs do not have to be publicly traded, and especially in Switzerland there are quite a few that aren’t. Aktiengesellschaft really is just the German word for joint stock company.
I was chatting with the operator the other morning. Learned fun new things about the tram.
1) There is a collapsible toilet stored on board in case of a breakdown
2) All communication is done through the haul rope. The haul ropes are therefore not grounded and can have static buildup issues.
3) An empty cabin weighs ~20000lbs and holds ~20000lbs of people
interesting. I learned one time that they have all of the lifties trained to do evacs on that lift and they have a ton of ropes and stuff to belay people down. must be super scary when they have to do it over silverado 500ft up. they also have to do maintenance and have to climb on the roof and stuff. its pretty interesting that the haulrope isn’t grounded
I think that a replacement for the funtiel would be more important because it handles a lot more people. But also, this won’t happen until the mid-2030s and a 3s is expensive.
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While it is capable of going faster, the tram typically runs at 5 m/s. Very rarely will it go 6 m/s. Part of the reason for this is the potential swing of Tower 1 if it goes too fast.
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The swing is actually really fun
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When they eventually replace this lift in the future, it is a great opportunity for the first 3S gondola in the United States. The profile and capacity certainty warrant it, and the resort has a reputation for bold lifts. This would probably not be for another 5+ years, as Squaw/Alpine have other more pressing large projects including the California Express gondola.
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I feel like a 3S would be far too much uphill capacity for the resort. They already have the Funitel and Squaw One which have a combined uphill capacity of 7042p/h capacity. The upper part of the resort would get far too crowded. It would also make mountain run way too crowded. I think the best option would be a tram-like the one in New York City as it would improve summer ops as well.
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A 3S wouldn’t be a good use of that kind of money. It would be much better spent on upgrading Squaw One or simply keeping the Cable Car running as it is. High Camp is the least convenient way for skiers to access the upper mountain so most just ride the Funitel instead. The Cable Car is most popular with sightseers going to the pool or ice rink or just beginners accessing Mountain Meadow. High Camp is pretty isolated and it is difficult to access the popular terrain on the upper mountain without either riding Mountain Meadow or skiing down the very flat and boring section of mountain run to get to the lifts below Gold Coast. A lift with the capacity and cost of a 3S likely wouldn’t be utilized to it’s full potential in this alignment.
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That said, if Silverado is open the cable car is the fastest way there. Also, high camp has the best bar at Palisades. By far the best view.
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This lift has arguably 4 purposes during peak winter season:
– Ferrying beginners back and forth to the beginner area at High Camp
– Allowing experts to lap Broken Arrow on one lift ride (low demand)
– Fastest way for experts to access Silverado on the first run of the day (when it’s actually open)
– Possible fastest route to get to Shirley/Granite (usually slower though)
Of these four, only the first one makes up a significant amount of traffic. The rest make up a few people per tram at most.
I don’t think a 3s with no intermediate potential and limited expert potential is a good investment.
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The tram doesn’t really get enough attention for them to put in a 3s gondola, and the current tram works fine so I doubt they would replace it
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This would take a while to happen (if at all), and they still have to recover from the cost of the B2B gondola (it cost $70m to build).
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Do they really run this thing at almost half speed because of cabin swing? In every video, it looks to be moving so slow. Definitely nowhere near the speed of Jackson Hole’s tram, which has similar speed stats to what peter put in the spreadsheet.
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They only run it at lower speeds on windy days. I ride it almost 5 days per week(as an instructor) and it’s usually going at full clip.
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What’s with the swiss flag at the top?
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That’s the Norway flag…and I don’t know why it’s there.
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Did the top terminal ever have a roof. It looks unfinished they way it is now.
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Nope
https://mountainscholar.org/bitstream/handle/11124/8939/R1437.jpg?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
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But that photo does not have the structure that is there today that colored red and blue. Is the red blue structure an unfinished roof?
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There’s no need for a roof because there is a roof on the unloading area
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I know this lift is made by gareventa and CTEC but what part is AG
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AG stands for Aktiengesellschaft which is basically a German term for a public limited company. By definition in a public limited company, shares are offered to the general public and traded on a public stock exchange. Shareholders’ liability is limited to their investment. The shareholders are not responsible for the company’s debts, and their assets are protected in case the company becomes insolvent.
LikeLike
AGs do not have to be publicly traded, and especially in Switzerland there are quite a few that aren’t. Aktiengesellschaft really is just the German word for joint stock company.
LikeLike
I was chatting with the operator the other morning. Learned fun new things about the tram.
1) There is a collapsible toilet stored on board in case of a breakdown
2) All communication is done through the haul rope. The haul ropes are therefore not grounded and can have static buildup issues.
3) An empty cabin weighs ~20000lbs and holds ~20000lbs of people
LikeLike
interesting. I learned one time that they have all of the lifties trained to do evacs on that lift and they have a ton of ropes and stuff to belay people down. must be super scary when they have to do it over silverado 500ft up. they also have to do maintenance and have to climb on the roof and stuff. its pretty interesting that the haulrope isn’t grounded
LikeLike
I think that a replacement for the funtiel would be more important because it handles a lot more people. But also, this won’t happen until the mid-2030s and a 3s is expensive.
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