3S / Tricable Gondola
A 3S gondola splits one hard problem into two easy ones: it uses separate ropes for holding the cabins up and for dragging them along. Two fat cables just sit there and carry the weight; a third, thinner rope loops around and does the pulling.
How it works
The name is German shorthand — 3S for Drei-Seil, "three-rope." Each lane runs on two fixed track ropes plus one circulating haul rope. The track ropes are heavy, fully-locked steel cables that never move; anchored taut between terminals, they act as an aerial railway. Each cabin hangs from a carriage that rolls along both on an eight-wheel bogie, so its weight is shared across two rails in the sky instead of pinching down on one. Only the haul rope turns: a bullwheel spins it in an endless loop, the carriage clamps on, and it drags the cabin along the stationary track ropes. Pioneered by Switzerland's Von Roll and now built mostly by Doppelmayr/Garaventa, the layout fuses two older machines — the rock-steady, big-span aerial tramway and the never-stopping monocable gondola.
Why three ropes buy so much
Because the two track ropes are tensioned independently of the drive, they can be strung enormous distances between towers and pulled bank-vault tight, so the cabin barely sways. That gives a 3S its two signature strengths: huge unsupported spans and wind stability. A monocable gondola typically shuts down when gusts hit the 60–70 km/h range; a 3S keeps running in far stronger wind — the newest builds are rated past 100 km/h.
Big cabins, big flow
Detaching the cabins from the haul rope in the terminals — the same detachable grip a gondola uses — means a 3S never stops or reverses to load. So it keeps the gondola's continuous rhythm while carrying gondola-defying loads: cabins seat roughly 30 people (up to about 35 on the largest), cruise around 6–7.5 m/s, and a modern line moves on the order of 6,000 passengers per hour per direction — aerial-tramway comfort at gondola throughput.
Where you'll ride one
3S systems are the record-holders of the ropeway world, reached for whenever a span is too long or too exposed for anything simpler:
- Whistler Blackcomb PEAK 2 PEAK (Canada, 2008) — the poster child, with a 3.0 km unsupported span between towers, the longest free span of any lift when it opened, and North America's first 3S.
- Kitzbühel 3S (Austria, 2005) — the first of the modern generation, over 3.6 km long.
- Hòn Thơm / Phú Quốc (Vietnam, 2018) — at roughly 7.9 km, the world's longest passenger ropeway.
- Matterhorn Glacier Ride (Zermatt, 2018) — the highest 3S, near 3,821 m.
Not a plain gondola, not a tramway
The 3S sits exactly between its parents. A monocable gondola hangs everything on one rope that both carries and hauls — cheap and continuous, but sway-prone and wind-limited. An aerial tramway gets its stability from fixed track cables but pays with just one or two cabins shuttling back and forth. The 3S borrows the tramway's track ropes and the gondola's circulating haul rope: a steady parade of large cabins that flies far, rides steady, and shrugs off wind.