GONDOLA (MUELLER) - Built in 1963 by Gerhardt Mueller. Mueller gondolas were prevelant throughout Europe but rare stateside
We are only aware of two other Mueller gondolas in North America and they were both in Canada. One was at Whistler the other at Mont St. Anne.
The Whittier gondola is the only one still standing, but it no longer runs. Mt. Whitter closed in 1985 for skiing.
Today the gondola base building houses a gift shop but the gondola area is closed off. The lift stands complete but in non-operating condition.

The Gondola was a two part lift with the bottom section an access lift servicing the parking lot. It crossed the highway and ran up to a midstation.
Skiers could load at the mid-station where the cabins detached and than re-attached for the second section up the ski area.
You can read more about Whittier at NELSAP

The following section shows the gondola as of summer 2012. I first read about Mt. Whittier on NELSAP in 1998.
It was a chairlift nerd's dream. An abondoned gondola in its entirety is a rare find. Most gondola serviced ski areas are still operational today.
When compared to the systems Mueller designed in Switzerland, this one must have been pretty easy to engineer. One can't help but be intrigued
by the Swiss scale towers vanishing into the trees. In the summer of 2012 I finally got my prize. After 14 years of reading other people's trip
reports, I was able to visit Mt. Whittier myself.