What you didn't know about ropeways

Part of my "mighty machines" series, this video is a VIP tour going deeply behind the scenes of the Gondelbahn (ropeway) Flaschen near Leukerbad VS, Switzerland.
Thanks to the permission of the head operating manager, I was able to take close-up shots shots of the ropeway from locations a passenger can never access. Join us for this adventurous tour while we explain in detail how the ropeway works.
This video is not sponsored. However, I cannot thank enough the staff of the Gondelbahn Flaschen who generously dedicated me their time and patiently explained everything from top to bottom.

00:00 Intro
01:11 The gondelbahn Flaschen and the Torrent region
02:22 Basics of a gondola ropeway
03:10 It's actually two ropeways
04:41 Engine room, high voltage control, motor and breaks
08:36 Emergency propulsion
09:07 Mechanical wonders: deeply behind the scenes footage
11:06 Clocking / spacing of the gondolas
11:44 Detachable clamps with close-ups
15:06 How the doors work
17:03 Control room and the safety line
18:28 Repair shop
19:37 Middle station
20:40 Bottom station and garage
21:46 Shutdown and goodbye

[thorflot]

Ok, can we all just take a second to praise the manager and his guys for taking time out of their busy day to explain all this for us? I have been sitting in ski lifts my whole life wondering how this is done. Very much appreciated!
And also, the video and presentation is flawless! I love this!
Greetings from Norway!

[eosdfilms]

Yannik is the man! So nice to give an Enthusiast such an Insight. Big thumbs up for this excellent Video! And Greetings from Germany

[Greensequence]

as a kid i was always mesmerized by these contraptions and ive been looking for a video like this for years. this was all i ever asked for. thank you.

[styfauly]

This video has less than a thousand views, this is crazy! This video is great, I've learnt so much from it, and the editing is perfect! Hope you the best

[zachdenney]

Very Cool! A million thanks to the Operations Manager for allowing you to get the behind-the-scenes view. He likely took quite a risk allowing someone in this area as the potential to become injured could be very high with any carelessness... really glad you were able to get these views... so cool!

[berndheiden]

Yannik obviously is a very nice man to let you take the footage for this excellent documentary, without knowing how totally professional this would turn out. But what he got is an advertising of the best possible kind in return! For us tekkies, for people who are afraid of this kind of technology and for all who might have thought: „Looks nice there, maybe I go there next winter“. One good deed deserves another. Thank you both for this very enjoyable education!

[StevenRides]

God i love your channel. Criminally underrated. learned a lot from this video and your others.

[albertbatfinder]

I am super impressed with what you’ve done here. You’re enthusiasm even infected the gondola operator. Well done. As for slowing down the entire ropeway so you could get a better view, I am astounded he didn’t just say “Haven’t you ever heard of adjusting your playback speed?”, haha. Great video, great spirit, great fun.

[joosepress]

Dude! Before looking I was like surely you must have like 100k subscribers or something only to notice the real number. Really a very interesting and well-made video! Hoping to see more from you!

[YJI]

This is now officially the 2nd time I've watched this video in it's entirety. I'm not just saying that for how I appreciate and also share that engineering-like inquisitive mind of being fascinated by such technologies and contraptions, but to also comment so that I could help you out with thee equation that shall not be named.

[mwiz]

This was an absolutely excellent video and the staff there was amazing in accommodating your ability to film all the workings of the lifts. Having worked several years at a ski resort and befriending several of the lift maintenance and operation personnel I got to learn and see much of this myself. Your documentation and explaining how the system works is excellent! Your enthusiasm for how it all works is infectious, I too was super excited while watching this! The engineering of aerial ropeway systems is absolutely incredible!

[martylawson]

Love the details. The belt tensioners for all the wheels are a particularly clever design. They have a screw for fine adjustment, and over-center linkage so they're easy to click on and off, and rest on the next shaft with a fork on the end so they can fully retract to allow belt/wheel replacement

[tankerkiller]

I don't know why, but YouTube decided to recommend this to me today. And I am mighty impressed.

[Hookmodo]

Yes, incredible that the operations manager has the passion to explain and literally show this amazing system to us all! And well done Kalsan for asking to see it! You never know what the answer will be! My mom always said, "You can always ask, the worst they can say is 'no'."!

[matthewghilarducci]

Super cool! Always wondered how these things worked! Fascinating. Thanks Yannick!

[jimmcdonald]

Hands down one of the best videos I've seen. Stationed in Germany in the late 80's to early 90's I would ride the lifts just to ride them and watch the machinery. Absolutely fascinating. Nice!!

[ChrisBigBad]

Thanks to you, Yannik and the crew! I've once asked the driver of a HUGE ropeway (one with two "busses" - one going up, one going down in Italy) if behind-the-scenes tours can be booked. he said there was no such a thing. Later, when I came back to drive down, he took my aside and showed me everything. The amount of backup-system to backup-system rescue-system to final-resort-system is insane! I don't want to openly say their name, so they won't get in trouble or get spammed. But if you ping me, I might tell :)

[johnmeye]

Wow, I've been obsessed with gondola ropeways my entire life, so this YouTube is a HUGE TREAT! Thank you so much!!

[seannot-telling]

Thank You and the people that helped you make this video.

[TheMan]

This was one of the most enjoyable behind-the-scenes engineering videos I have ever watched -- Thank you!