Sky Ride Cable

After it was mentioned about cable splicing earlier in this thread I became interested and started reading some information of how it is done. While reading some articles about that I did see that there was an an accident back in the 40's in Brazil where a cable failed, and I think there was also one in Maine. There may of course be more but those are the ones I read about where an aircraft wasn't involved.

I made a really brief search and I can find incidents where the car came loose from the cable killing riders (SFMM and SFStL) but none where the cable broke.

I may be recalling incorrectly, but I thought something like that happened at SFOG, too, prompting removal of the ride. But the world's foremost authority, Wikipedia, doesn't list it.

I was at Kings Island the evening a strong storm came up and caused one of the Skyride cars to jam at the top of one of the support poles. Before the ride could be stopped 2 or 3 more cars came up behind it and the buckets were leaning precariously out to the side. It was quite frightening to see and they closed the park, sending everyone out with a free ticket.
That night on the 11 o'clock news they had live coverage as the riders were finally brought down to the ground. The supports were so high no fire equipment could reach it so those poor people sat in the freezing rain, half sideways, waiting the whole time for rescue. Ugh.

Lash's avatar

They actually had two cable car rides Astro Lifts and Sky Buckets. The Astro Lifts ran from Free Fall/Dare Devil Dive's location to the Confederate/Peachtree Square section. The Sky Bucket is in it's original location, from Lickskillet to the Confederate/Peachtree Square section.

If I remember correctly the SFOG incident happened on the Sky buckets. An empty bucket became detached, shutting the ride, and stranding riders. All riders were safely rescued by the fire department. They ride continued to operate safely following inspection.

The removal of the Astro Lifts were to due to the coming installation of Freefall a 1st Gen Intamin drop tower. The Astro List station was remodeled into the queue and a gift shop.

Last edited by Lash,
Pete's avatar

Ski lifts are just about the safest form of transportation you can ride. According to a report I read from a ski industry publication, more people are hurt on elevators than ski lifts. No worries about the ski ride, even though it is a classic Von Roll 101, it seems impeccably maintained and has updated controls. It gives a safe ride for sure.


I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.

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