Sky Glider – Icy Strait Point, AK

This lift was the second gondola to open at Icy Strait Point, a private cruise port near Glacier Bay.
Both gondolas feature indoor cabin parking at Wilderness Landing.
The bottom station.
The line features an extremely tall lattice tower.
View of Icy Strait.
The view just gets better as the ride goes along.
Eight segment splice tower.
Many of the tower along the steep lift line require blasting and anchors.
Towers 7 and 8.
Towers 9 and 10.
Tower heads on towers 9 and 10.
View toward Glacier Bay National Park.
Towers 11 and 12.
European-style tower heads.
Side view of the breakover.
Top return station.
Tower 13.
Unloading area at the summit.
View riding down from the summit.
Heavily-loaded towers.
Two of the shorter towers along the line.
This gondola was build alongside a second cruise ship pier as part of a major expansion to Icy Strait Point.
View below tower 6.
Approaching the lattice tower.
Combo assemblies on tower 5.
The bottom part of the profile is nearly flat.
Another view of tower 5.
Lower lift line.
T4.
A bunch of towers on this lift feature combination assemblies on both sides.
View from the base area.
The stations are long to accommodate 1,200 feet per minute line speed.
Tower 1.
Lattice tower.
The second tallest tower.
The lift gets steeper and steeper as it continues.
There are four tall towers in a row near the summit.
View down the steepest part of the line.
The big breakover.
Top station overview.
Towers 9-12
Another view of the breakover.
The lift line seen from sister Transporter gondola.
Upper part of the lift line.
Looking up at the four breakover towers.
Loading area.
The steep part of the line.
Lift overview.
Loading area with cabin parking next door.
Side view of the Uni-G station.
The lower station with parking rail.
Closely-spaced cabins along the line for 2,800 pph capacity.
Combo assemblies on tower 4.
The lattice beast.
View up tower 5.
The first few towers.
Another view of T5.
There are nearly three times as many cabins on this lift as the other Icy Strait Point gondola.
Tower 3.
T2.
Hold down assembly.

19 thoughts on “Sky Glider – Icy Strait Point, AK

  1. Henry T June 5, 2022 / 2:43 pm

    What an awesome lift!!!!!

    Like

  2. UpperDynamo June 6, 2022 / 9:20 am

    I’m sure this is an uniformed comment, but when the line on a lift like this gets to a certain steepness, isn’t there an unusual and significant load on the grip itself? That is to say, rather than just binding the cabin on the line with the line cable itself carrying the brunt of the load, on super steep grades isn’t the grip under “slippage” pressure with a heavily loaded cabin?

    Liked by 1 person

    • pbropetech June 7, 2022 / 8:23 am

      Yes, but it’s designed for it. I wouldn’t call it an unusual load. When we rebuild grips, we’re required to conduct a slip test to ensure the grip functions as designed.

      Like

  3. skier June 6, 2022 / 9:33 am

    Any idea how tall that lattice tower is compared to the tall ones on the Silver Queen Gondola at Aspen? This is quite an impressive ropeway

    Like

  4. YobB1n June 8, 2022 / 11:52 am

    Here’s a great video of this lift. It can go impressively fast.

    Like

    • Ryan June 8, 2022 / 1:03 pm

      What a great video! Thank you for sharing.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Tom White June 9, 2022 / 6:01 pm

    I just got back from an Alaskan cruise and land tour. I rode this gondi. It is very quiet. I wondered, I didn’t see any press, but is this a D line. The top terminal maintenance man said, Well yes sort of, it’s a DS. Then he spoke about the grips and angle of the rollers. The bottom “main man” said, He’s lying, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. So I don’t think it’s a D line. However, it is impressive. I was told, it replaces a 45 min. bus ride to the summit. I walked over to the 6 cable zip line but didn’t spend the $100 to ride. The video appears to be from early May before Icy Point opened to the public. There are no cruise ships (2 when I was there}. And you see empty line of the other gondi. Also a Dopp built in 2019.

    Like

    • Aidan Reilly June 9, 2022 / 6:30 pm

      It’s not a D-Line, just a standard Doppelmayr monocable gondola that features the Uni-G terminal and what I would assume to be the AG-108 grip.

      Like

  6. Teri D June 14, 2022 / 12:05 pm

    How long is the ride?

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  7. Tom White June 14, 2022 / 3:18 pm

    I didn’t time it, my guess is 8 – 9 min.

    Like

    • Jc July 29, 2022 / 10:47 pm

      Was just there – my photo time stamps were exactly 10 minutes apart from top to bottom. Amazing view.

      Like

  8. Melissa Miller August 10, 2022 / 9:09 pm

    What was the cost to ride?

    Like

      • Tom White August 13, 2022 / 5:28 pm

        And the zip line is $100.

        Like

      • Tom White August 14, 2022 / 4:58 am

        I just checked our Celebrity Cruise list for our late May trip. We paid $62 for two. I do recall what Peter has, but there was a “before cruise discount”.
        The zip line was spectacular, but I didn’t want to pay $100. Before the gondi, it was a 45 min. bus ride to the summit and zip line.

        Like

  9. Jeana August 13, 2022 / 1:39 pm

    Is there anything to see or do once at the top?

    Like

  10. Tom White August 13, 2022 / 5:33 pm

    In addition to the zip line nice views and a pond to walk to.

    Like

  11. Peter October 11, 2022 / 6:32 pm

    Is the only lift in North America with lattice towers, conical towers, and tubular towers?

    Like

  12. Wake Forest Bob March 22, 2023 / 2:04 pm

    Is there a restroom at the summit?

    Like

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