In lutruwita/ Tasmania, there have been various proposals for cable cars up mountains. These include kunanyi/ Mt Wellington, above Hobart, Mt Roland in the north, and a proposed gondola to get tourists in to Dove Lake, below Cradle Mountain.

Now a new plan, put forward by a local businessman, is proposing a cable car up Mt Owen, a rugged mountain near Queenstown on the west coast.

Mt Owen is a beautiful mountain to the east of Queenstown in the West Coast Range, and has recently seen the development of mountain bike trails. These trails offer very challenging riding: ‘The Mt Owen project is one of our most challenging and rewarding builds to date. This trail network is the first of it’s kind in Australia, offering big mountain riding experiences currently only found in the northern hemisphere or New Zealand’ (Simon French, Managing Director of Dirt Art).

There are already TV and communications towers on its north west peak, and various walking tracks.

This mountain really doesn’t need a cable car. No doubt it will be vigorously proposed by those who want to see wild places protected. Mountain Journal will add details here as they are announced (all stories to date are behind pay walls so details are limited).

IMAGE: East Mount Owen wall and Lake Burbury from Bradhsaws Bridge.

By MorrisWinston at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6061389