Nasu Ropeway, Aerial tramway at Mount Nasu, Japan.
Nasu Ropeway is an aerial tramway on the east slope of Mount Nasu, linking a base station at the 7th station on Tochigi Prefectural Route 17 with a summit station at the 9th station. Its 812 m line climbs 294 m in 3 minutes 40 seconds, using a 111-passenger Swiss-built cabin with large tinted windows and a green-gray lower panel bearing the Japanese word "リフト".
Tōno Railway planned a ropeway on Chausu-dake in 1960, and it opened on 19 October 1962. The gondolas were replaced in 1967 (36 to 45 passengers) and 1975 (46 passengers), and a 111-passenger Swiss-built cabin entered service on 27 April 2002. On 1 October 2018, operator Tōno Kōtsū merged into Kantō Jidōsha, which now runs the line.
The ropeway's name appears in Japanese on the cabin, where "リフト" is painted beside a small red mark. The line runs only for sightseeing hikers, so it closes from 1 December to mid-March each winter, unlike the gondola and lifts of the Mount Jeans ski resort northeast of it.
The ropeway runs from a base station on Route 17 to a summit station at the 9th stage of Chausu-dake; the summit itself is a further 40–50 minutes on foot and the crater about 30 minutes over rough ground, so the operator advises proper hiking gear. The line is closed from 1 December to mid-March, and services stop in strong wind or thunderstorms.
The 2002 Swiss-built cabin carries 111 people and was the first aerial tramway fitted with a vibration-damping device, according to its maker Nippon Cable, to steady the ride in the strong winds that sweep Chausu-dake. The line runs 812 m with a 294 m height difference and takes 3 minutes 40 seconds.
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