Cable car
In the technical sense, a cable car is defined as a "two-cable" teleport: one or more fixed cables called "carrying cables" support the weight of the vehicles by means of a trolley equipped with running rollers, while one or more moving cables called "tractors" are fixed to this trolley and ensure the movement of the vehicles. The cable car is generally reciprocating, i. e. with two cabins each operating in alternating movement, but there are also single-channel cable cars, using only one cabin. With funiculars, they are the fastest lifts, capable of reaching speeds of up to 12.5 m/s, or 45 km/h, such as the cable car at the aiguille du Midi, reaching a vertical speed of 30 km/h due to its 110% slope at the top. The first cable cars had many pylons. Since the 1950s, with the aiguille du Midi in particular, their number has been reduced, and several are particularly high to be able to overcome rocky spurs, sometimes causing passengers to experience some sensations of airtime with speed. Several cable car lines, particularly the 2nd section of the aiguille du Midi, do not have a pylon, successfully connecting the low and high stations directly. Passengers stand in the cabins, generally parallelepiped in shape and quite large in size, able to accommodate approximately 30 to 120 passengers, depending on the model. The highest cable car is the Aiguille du Midi (3842 m). It takes 20 minutes from Chamonix to reach the Aiguille du Midi (ideal starting point for various climbs). We owe this tremendous ascent to the technical feat and the will of the mountaineers for a result that is unique in the world.
Gondola lift
The gondola lift uses several small cabins arranged on a single cable that is both carrier and tractor (referred to as a single cable installation, as opposed to the two cable system of a cable car). Disengageable gondolas, i.e. gondolas with unidirectional movement and equipped with vehicles with disengageable attachments that are uncoupled from the cable in stations for low-speed platform traffic without slowing down the entire device. There is also the pulsed cable car, where vehicles are grouped by "trains" of several cabins distributed at regular intervals on the line. When a vehicle train enters the station, the traction cable is slowed down or stopped to allow loading and unloading, slowing down all other vehicle trains on the line. There are also some reciprocating gondola lifts, i. e. with one cabin (or cabin train) making a one-piece outward journey, while the other cabin (or train) makes the return journey, and so on. They are used in the mountains, but also increasingly in large cities or even amusement parks, as a means of transport at height. Depending on the size of the cabins, which are on average smaller and significantly narrower than the two single cabins of a cable car and ovoid or parallelepiped in shape, they can hold from 2 to 30 passengers either seated or standing. The number of pylons and the number of regularly spaced cabins is higher than for a cable car, and the average speed is lower, operating in a closed loop, with characteristics almost similar to those of detachable chairlifts. Depending on the models, their linear speed ranges from 2.5 m/s, particularly for cities, to 6 m/s in the mountains (9 to 21.6 km/h).
Chairlift
The chairlift uses several seats or a common bench that can accommodate two to eight people, arranged on a single cable that is both carrier and tractor, moving in a unidirectional movement. There are fixed chairlifts where the seats remain attached to the cable, including at the station, and detachable chairlifts equipped with vehicles with detachable attachments that are uncoupled from the cable in the stations for boarding/disembarking at reduced speed, without slowing down the entire aircraft. The latter type allows higher operating speeds. The seats can be equipped with options such as protective bubbles or heated seats. As its name suggests, passengers are seated, with a common safety side bar above their legs connected to one or two foot or ski bars. Their speed varies, depending on the models, from 1.8 m/s to 5.5 m/s for the disengageable ones (6 to 20 km/h).
Rack and pinion railway
A rack-and-pinion railway is a rail transport system operating on a railway line where the two parallel steel rails are complemented by a third central toothed rail. The locomotives used are equipped with one or more gearwheels that mesh on this rail, allowing trains to climb slopes of up to 48%. The Montenvers railway to the Mer de Glace from Chamonix and the panoramic view of the Domes (Puy-de-Dôme) operate on this principle. Their speed is about 4 to 8 m/s (14 to 30 km/h).
Funicular
A funicular consists of two trains travelling back and forth on a track on sloping rails, connected by one or more cables making a half loop at the terminal station. As with the cabins of a cable car, the up and down trains serve as a counterweight to each other. Most funiculars have a single track with a double section in the centre for the crossing. They are used in the mountains (they are the fastest, reaching up to 12 m/s (45 km/h) or the steepest with slopes of up to 106% in Switzerland), but also for cave visits, and in cities to connect two steeply sloping stations: Montmartre to Paris, Le Havre, Evian (speed: 2 m/s or 7 km/h), Lyon, etc. Passengers are often standing or leaning against a support, sometimes seated as in the case of a metro. To improve the stability of standing passengers in particular, the ground of cars is sometimes slightly inclined in the opposite direction of the slope during the flat part of the course, compensating for half the inclination when passing through the steepest slopes.
Ski lift
The ski lift (more popularly referred to as a "butt pull"), is a device used mainly to tow counter-slope skiers on snow-covered terrain. Users, standing on their skis, are towed on a track by devices attached to an aerial cable with continuous unidirectional movement suspended from pylons. The apparatus is equipped at its base with a fifth wheel which can be a simple washer or a bow allowing the mounting in pairs. They can be made of a rope attached to a reel or a telescopic pole. Most pole ski lifts have attachments that uncouple at the bottom station to store the equipment. There are also low cable ski lifts, or snowwire, where the cable is placed at the height of the users who can grasp it directly or through short devices, with a progressive reel box allowing a less sudden start. Their speed can vary according to the slopes from 1.5 m/s (6 km/h), for short courses for beginners and children, up to 4 m/s (15 km/h), with slopes up to 65% (a "difficult ski lift" sign then warns skiers before accessing them). Several ski lifts have been gradually replaced in the major resorts by chairlifts or gondola lifts, allowing a higher throughput of people.