Doppelmayr NZ Working On New Skyline Queenstown 10 Passenger D-Line Gondola

This project started eight years ago when Skyline approached Doppelmayr to supply and build the new installation…

The plan was to complete as much work as possible with the existing gondola in operation - this meant that all the new gondola foundations and station assembly was completed while the old gondola was still open.

The old gondola closed on the 23rd April and with all foundations ready to go, the team got straight into disassembly of the old gondola and preparing for tower install.

The towers were either installed by crane or helicopter - Beck Helicopters flew down from the North Island with their Huey for 1 big day of flying.

Mechanical assembly of stations was able to be completed ahead of the changeover and concurrent to other site work. Impressive feature is the top station bullwheel which is 6.85m in diameter and is connected to the gearbox below by a 6.35m drive shaft.

35 modern gondola cabins supplied by CWA which will carry passengers, mountain bikers and freight

The new 50mm haul rope was supplied by Fatzer, and was installed and spliced in May - less than 1 month after the old gondola was decommissioned.

After 4 weeks of commissioning, testing and training the gondola opened on Thursday 29th June, ahead of the planned opening date!

MountainOffice as comprehensive maintenance software

The gondola was integrated into the existing MountainOffice operations manager software database. In addition to the cable car in Queentown, Skyline Enterprises operates tourist gondolas and charlifts worldwide, including in Singapore and South Korea.