CABLE FAR

Josephine Moulds negotiates the world’s longest cable-car rides

From a legendary James Bond chase, to real-life drama with cabins dropping out of the sky, who knew cable cars could be so exciting? Europe still leads the way with its epic routes across lakes and snow-topped mountains, but, as with many races for the biggest and best, Asia is fast catching up. Vietnam recently won its first Guinness World Record for a vertiginous system that takes tourists 1.5km above sea level. India also scrapes into the top five, meaning China will surely soon follow suit.

1 Norsjö, Sweden

Slung between the towns of Örträsk and Mensträsk, the world’s longest cable car transports tourists over dramatic Norsjö countryside, in the north of Sweden. The car travels at 10km per hour and takes 1.5 hours to ride one way. The current route is part of an 96km tramway built for transporting metal ores between 1943 and 1987. The ropeway reportedly moved some 12-million tonnes of copper, lead, zinc, sulphur, silver and gold.

2 Schilthorn, Switzerland

In the James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the implausible assassin Jaws bites through the steel wire that takes this cable car to the summit of the Schilthorn mountain, some 2,970m above sea level. Movie fans can now follow in the spy’s footsteps and sip cocktails in the revolving Piz Gloria summit restaurant. With a length of 6.9km in four separate sections, it is the longest aerial tramway system in the Alps.

3 Ngong Ping, Hong Kong

This cable car, which ferries people to Hong Kong’s Big Buddha monument, suffered a major upset less than a year after it opened when an empty cabin plunged 50m to the ground. The operator, Skyrail, was sacked after an investigation found the incident was caused by one of the company’s workers. The first of its kind in Hong Kong, the car stretches 5.7km across the island of Lantau.

4 Danang, Vietnam

The Ba Na cable car system may not be the longest in the world, but it was recently recognised by the Guinness World Records as having the largest height difference from start to finish (1.3km), and the longest single-string route, at just over 5km. The system connects the foot of Ba Na mountain with Vong Nguyet Hill in just 15 minutes and was built at a cost of nearly US$16.8 million.

5 Gulmarg, India

Located in Gulmarg – otherwise known as the meadow of flowers – this route was recently extended by 2.65km, pushing it into the top-five longest cable cars in the world. The Gulmarg Gondola connects the bowl-shaped Kongdoori Valley with Apharwat, at an altitude of 13,400ft (4,390m). Opened in 2005, the cable car has become a major tourist attraction in Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of India.

Golden Oldie

Merida, Venezuela: Merida’s cable car used to cart tourists a staggering 12.5km across the Venezuelan Andes. Completed in 1958, it closed indefinitely last August on the basis that it had reached the end of its service life. The route started high, at 1,577m, and ended even higher at the Pico Espejo, some 2,577m above sea level. Tourists were advised to take a break between the four sections in order to acclimatise.