Thinking about hitting the slopes this winter, or already starting to plan your summer trip? Gondolas and lifts around the world offer quite a new perspective (but beware if you’re afraid of heights). You can check out the world’s highest gondola, in Gulmarg, in the western Himalayas or head over to the lift in Aiguille du Midi in France, where you can see both Switzerland and Italy. Check out some of the pictures below.
The world’s highest gondola moves up the slope at Afarwat at an altitude of 14400 feet near Kashmir’s premier hill resort, Gulmarg, 28 May 2005. The ski-lift was opened by the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in the hope that it would entice tourist traffic to the revolt-hit Himalayan region. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images)
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This 200-place double-decker cable car connects Les Arcs with La Plagne, France. (Howard Chalkley/Flickr)
Funicular to the Santuario della Madonna del Sasso. (Olaf Protze/LightRocket via Getty Images)
LightRocket via Getty Images
Couple on cable cart over Rüdesheimer Berg in Rüdesheim am Rhein, Germany on July 22, 2017.
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Sara Takanashi of Japan sits on the lift chair during the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup Ladies Sapporo on January 16, 2016, in Sapporo, Japan. You can ride by yourself, but there are no safety bars. (Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
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Gondola transportation system carrying guests to the top of the Oakland Hills, with the city of Oakland visible in the distance, at the Oakland Zoo, Oakland, California, October 5, 2017. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
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A view of a cable car on the funicular railway at the Arkhyz all-season tourism and recreation complex in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Russia. (Sergei BobylevTASS via Getty Images)
Lift for Aiguille du Midi in France. You can see across to Italy and Switzerland. (Getty Images)
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Not a lift or a gondola, but the “Step into the Void” glass skywalk overlooking the French Alps on top of a 3842-meter peak in Chamonix on December 23, 2013. The installation, which opened to the public after three years of development, is made of three layers of glass and can withstand winds of up to 200kmph. (JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Skiers were enjoying the new gondola service on January 21, 2009, in Whistler, Canada. The Peak 2 Peak Gondola is a tri-cable gondola located in Whistler, British Columbia linking Whistler Mountain’s Roundhouse Lodge with Blackcomb Mountain’s Rendezvous Restaurant. It is the first lift to join the two side-by-side mountains. Speed: 7.5 meters per second. Ride Time: approximately 11 min. Frequency: one cabin departs every 49 seconds. Total Distance:4.4km/2.73miles (straight line). Length of Unsupported Span: 3.024 km (1.879 mi) (straight line between the two towers that are furthest apart). Horizontal distance: 3019 m. Vertical distance: 170 m (560 ft). Highest Point: above the ground is 436m/1,427 feet over Fitzsimmons Creek. Number of Cabins: 28. Number of Glass-bottom Cabins: 2. Capacity of Cabins: 22 seated, 6 standing. Capacity: 2,050 people per hour each way. Number of Towers: 4 (2 on Blackcomb and 2 on Whistler).Height of Towers: 35-65 meters/100-213 feet. Cost: $51 million.
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Tourists are seen riding small funicular coaches by Douro river during the Gastronomic FAM Tour visit to the city on December 01, 2017 in Porto, Portugal. Gastronomic tours are hosted by “Simply b,” tour operators specialized in thematic tourism that shows the country’s diversified offering to foreign visitors. Portuguese tourist industry is going through a continuous boom, and expected to close 2017 having received more than 22 million visitors, for the country is rated as very safe by travelers. (Horacio Villalobos – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Corbis via Getty Images
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