The Peak 2 Peak Gondola connects Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Mountain at a dizzying height of 436 metres(1427 feet). It runs all winter and in the summer when the mountains are open for sightseeing and hiking. The Peak 2 Peak Gondola runs very fast as it carries up to 4100 people per hour at 7.5 metres per second or 16.8 miles per hour!
The overall length you travel one way is 4.4 kilometres or 2.7 miles and that distance is covered in just 11 minutes! The entire 11 minutes is pretty thrilling right from the start as you creep along in the loading bay then suddenly shoot out at full speed, gaining elevation rapidly. Owing to the great span of the supporting columns, over 3 kilometres, the journey across dips down into the valley before rising up the other side. Despite this considerable dip in the middle, you are still chillingly high. From over 400 metres or nearly 1500 feet above the ground Fitzsimmons Creek and the thousands of treetops looks wonderfully distant. One side of the cabin faces Whistler Valley descending to Whistler Village and several lakes. Alta Lake and Lost Lake are visible and the much larger Green Lake in the distance. Fitzsimmons Creek that flows below runs through Whistler Village and into Green Lake. Green Lake then empties into Green River, north to Lillooet Lake. Lillooet Lake flows to Harrison Lake via Lillooet River, which then flows into the Fraser River which reaches the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver. An interesting characteristic of Whistler’s other big lake, Alta Lake is that it flows in two directions. One end flows to Green Lake via the River of Golden Dreams then the route just described. The other end flows to Nita Lake, then Alpha Lake, then Cheakamus River to the Squamish River, finally reaching Howe Sound where it then meets the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver. Fantastic.
The other side of the Peak 2 Peak Gondola gives you a marvellous view of the meeting point between the two local mountain ranges that you are crossing between. The Fitzsimmons Range on the Whistler Mountain side and the Spearhead Range on the Blackcomb Mountain side. The two mountain ranges meet at the Overlord Massif. A massif is a term used to denote a cluster of mountain peaks all attributed to the most prominent peak among them. Overlord Mountain is the dramatically beautiful mountain visible at the end of the valley with Overlord Glacier descending down the valley. To the right of Overlord Mountain is The Fissile. Another beautiful mountain with its dark red colour and angular, pyramid like shape. The Fissile is so stunning that it inspired the design of Whistler Village to have an unobstructed view of it from Village Gate Boulevard. Through much of Whistler Village and certainly at Village Gate Boulevard you will catch a dramatically beautiful view of this gorgeous mountain. Both end of the Peak 2 Peak Gondola are located next to restaurants, gift shops, washrooms and quite a lot else. The Rendezvous Lodge is at the Blackcomb Mountain end, and the Roundhouse Lodge is at the Whistler Mountain end.
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