Just off Interstate 70 in Colorado, crews are putting some of final touches on the Mighty Argo Cable Car, a new gondola that will carry visitors from downtown Idaho Springs up to the summit of Virginia Canyon Mountain Park. Once complete, the gondola will connect travelers to miles of hiking and biking trails, scenic overlooks, and event spaces, the latest step in transforming the former mining mountain community into a new age of tourism.
On Monday, specialists were brought in to start splicing together the cable that the gondolas will hang off of as they head to the top of the mountainside.
“You take the two ends, tear them apart, and then marry them back together,” said Travis Jones, a veteran cable splicer. “Once it’s all said and done, the whole thing goes on tires.”
Jones is one of a handful of people in the United States who are familiar with this sort of work.
“There’s no robot that does this,” he said. “You’ll see us swinging hammers, digging the core out, and getting it done.”
Each splice is a delicate operation — more craftsmanship than construction — but it’s also the backbone of the gondola’s safety and strength.
“Whenever it gets tighter, the layers we’ve wrapped in will tighten up and everything will hold,” Jones explained.
At the project’s base, Steve Dorau with SCJ Alliance said the team is getting close to the finish line.
“We’re very close to on track and plan to open this spring,” he said. “It’s a challenging project. All the construction at the top and bottom has to marry up with the gondola system itself.”
When complete, the Mighty Argo Cable Car will not only give visitors a new way to see Clear Creek County, it will also mark a major milestone for Idaho Springs, the site of Colorado’s first gold strike in 1859.
