Grouse Mountain's original Skyride tramway has made its last trip

Blue Skyride, the original aerial tramway of Grouse Mountain. (Grouse Mountain)

The primary means of ascending and descending Grouse Mountain Resort has been the Red Skyride, which is the attraction’s second aerial tramway.

Over the past few decades, the Blue Skyride, the mountain’s original aerial tramway with a smaller capacity than the Red Skyride, has rarely been used to transport visitors and is mainly activated for freight and emergencies.

And now, the Blue Skyride has made its final trip to the mountaintop and is set to be decommissioned. This marks the end of the original aerial tramway’s lifespan as part of an ongoing construction project to build a new replacement secondary vertical access — a new high-capacity, state-of-the-art gondola between the base parking lot and the mountaintop.

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The Blue Skyride opened in 1966, while the Red Skyride opened in 1976. Vintage photos show that the Blue Skyride’s two cars were previously painted red.

According to the resort, during the Blue Skyride’s first year of operations in the 1960s, the aerial tramway saw over 200,000 boardings. Nearly six decades later, over 1.3 million visitors come to the mountain each year.

“We’re excited to greatly enhance the experience of our guests with the introduction of the new gondola,” said Michael Cameron, president of Grouse Mountain Resort, in a statement.

Blue Skyride, the original aerial tramway of Grouse Mountain. (Grouse Mountain)

The existing Blue Tram’s mountaintop terminal is located inside the Peak Chalet. (Grouse Mountain)

Blue Skyride, the original aerial tramway of Grouse Mountain. (Grouse Mountain)

Although the Blue Skyride will no longer make trips up and down the mountain, there is a suggestion that its pair of tram cars could be retained on site for a different creative use.

“The Blue Tram holds a special place in our history, and we are committed to honouring its legacy as we advance with the construction of the gondola and enhance our four-season operations. Although our plans for the tram cars are not yet finalized, rest assured, this won’t be the last you see of the Blue Tram,” said Cameron.

The Blue Skyride’s base terminal is located south of Starbucks, and its mountaintop terminal is located inside the Peak Chalet building, within the cafeteria dining area. The Blue Skyride concurrently opened the Peak Chalet, which was originally known as the “Top of Grouse station.”

According to the resort, the two main track cables for the Blue Skyride are each held in tension by concrete counterweight blocks that weight 55 tonnes — equivalent to nine times the weight of an adult African elephant — located in a pit at the base terminal. For the larger Red Skyride, the track cables are each held in tension by 76-tonne concrete counterweight blocks.

The aerial tramway cables are designed to support over three times the weight of their counterweight blocks.

Blue Skyride, the original aerial tramway of Grouse Mountain. (Grouse Mountain)

The travelling speed of the aerial tramway ranges between 14.5 km/hr and 29 km/hr, which is adjusted for various traffic conditions. The total distance covered during the five-minute journey is roughly 1.6 km. The angle of ascent averages 30 degrees, giving a vertical rise of 800 metres (2,625 ft) from a 294 metres (965 ft) elevation at the base to 1,094 metres (3,590 ft) at the plateau (Peak Chalet elevation).

The new gondola currently being built to replace the Blue Skyride features 14 towers, 27 cabins with a capacity for eight passengers per cabin, and a travel time of 5.5 minutes. This new gondola will have a system capacity for 1,000 passengers per hour on a continuous loop, which is more than double the original capacity of the Blue Skyride.

When combined with the existing 900 passengers per hour capacity of the Red Skyride, which will be retained, Grouse Mountain will have an expanded capacity of 1,900 passengers per hour, which will reduce the length of queues and wait-times, and improve overall reliability and the resort’s operational resiliency.

Future configuration of Grouse Mountain’s base area and parking lots with the new gondola. (Grouse Mountain)

New plateau plan for Grouse Mountain, showing the location of the new peak terminal for the gondola immediately east of the chateau. (Grouse Mountain)

Planned route of the new Grouse Mountain gondola (red), which crosses under the Red Tram. The Blue Tram, which will be decommissioned, is also shown. (Grouse Mountain)

Elevation of the new gondola. (Grouse Mountain)

The new gondola’s base terminal is located immediately north of the Red Skyride’s base terminal, and its mountaintop terminal is located immediately south of the Peak Chalet. The cables for the new gondola will cross over the routes of both the Red and Blue aerial tramways at mid-mountain.

Construction on the $35-million new gondola first began in September 2022, and it is set to reach completion in Fall 2024, when testing will begin. The resort has indicated that the gondola is on track to open this coming Winter 2024/2025.

As of late Spring 2024, significant visual progress has been made on the project, with the structures and mechanical equipment of the base and mountaintop terminals taking shape. Helicopters have been used to lift the towers into place, and this will be followed by cable installation this summer.

grouse mountain gondola base terminal may 2024 2

May 2024 construction progress on the base terminal of Grouse Mountain’s new gondola. (Grouse Mountain)

grouse mountain gondola mountaintop terminal may 2024

June 2024 construction progress on the mountaintop terminal of Grouse Mountain’s new gondola. (Grouse Mountain)

Other work being conducted to improve Grouse Mountain includes renovations to the existing base buildings, and improvements to vehicle parking and ground access. The parking lot will be expanded, with capacity increasing by 193 additional parking stalls — from the existing 925 stalls to 1,118 stalls across four lots. Improvements will be made to the existing area for TransLink’s public transit buses.

All of these various improvements are being timed with Grouse Mountain’s 100th anniversary in 2026.

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