Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
More than ten thousands kilograms of new galvanized steel landed in Jasper National Park this week.
The Jasper SkyTram got a new haul cable, 4,240 metres of wire rope barely more than an inch thick.
Ordered a year ago, produced in France on Sept. 6 of last year and installed for about a week starting Monday, the new cable that pulls the tram cars from the lower station nearly a kilometre up Whistlers Mountain and vice versa, will last for about 15 years.
The weight of the tram car is supported by a thicker “track” rope as it travels from about 1,200 metres above sea level to 2,263 metres at the upper station.
The last replacement took place in 2003, according to SkyTram general manager Todd Noble.
“We operate within a code that sets out a schedule for certain equipment to be replaced,” he said Thursday, his office in the thrumming lower station vibrating with the torque of the equipment using the old cable to piggyback the new cable to the top, and diverting it from the tram apparatus onto a spool as it returned.
“We’re not reacting to anything, we haven’t identified any faults in the cable. There is a lot of preparation that goes into it.”
The cable was installed by Swiss specialists Fatzer AG, who travel the world doing similar work. Noble said most steel cables for the ski and aerial tram industry is made in France and Switzerland.
Noble said President Donald Trump’s tariffs targeting steel may indirectly affect the price but wouldn’t affect the company’s decision to make the change.
“What we’re doing is maintaining safety,” he said. “A lot of people wonder what we do in the winter. On top of unique stuff like this, we’re recruiting, and that goes international, we’re working on marketing, packaging, partnerships, systems, technology. There’s a constant regular routine of things that need to get done. You can tell how much was done in the winter by how smoothly the summer goes.”
They SkyTram is scheduled to open for the 2019 season March 22.
