Chicamocha National Park cable car, Aerial tramway in Santander, Colombia.
The Chicamocha National Park cable car is a 6.3 km gondola lift crossing the Chicamocha Canyon between Aratoca station in the park and La Plazuela in Mesa de los Santos. Its 39 white cabins with tinted windows run on a cable held by 29 steel support columns, each about 25 m tall and weighing two tonnes. A middle station at the Chicamocha River serves only as a technical stop.
Inaugurated on 24 January 2009, the cable car was built by a temporary union of Poma Galski, Ingsas and Termotecnic. A Russian helicopter installed most of the 29 support columns, each about 25 metres tall and weighing two tonnes, while hundreds of mules carried cement and aggregates up the canyon slopes.
The cable car's cabins carry a sticker reading "Aquí te enamoras de Santander!" beside a cartoon goat in a blue cap, a reference to Santander's goat-rearing tradition. The route links the park with the villages of Aratoca, Los Santos and Cepitá, whose economies have grown around the visitors it brings.
Each cabin holds a small group of passengers and the crossing takes between 20 and 30 minutes depending on conditions and direction of travel. Visitors should be prepared for variable weather since the journey crosses open terrain above the canyon.
The 6.3 km line is divided into a 2 km span between the Aratoca park station and the Río station, and a 4.3 km span from Río up to La Plazuela on the Mesa de los Santos. The Río station sits beside the Chicamocha River and serves only as a technical midpoint, with no boarding or alighting except in emergencies.
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