Canada: Hanging on by a wire

The Peak 2 Peak gondola features spectacular views of the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains through glass windows - and floors. Photo / Joanna Johnstone

At 3.024km, the Peak 2 Peak gondola features the world's longest unsupported span.

The Peak 2 Peak opened only in December last year but has already transformed skiing and boarding at the Whistler-Blackcomb mountains.

Connecting the two peaks, what used to be a 60-minute round trip now takes just 11 exhilarating minutes.

The 4.4km project, 11 years in the making at a cost of $77 million, features four towers, ranging from 35m to 65m high, propelling 28 cabins up and over Fitzsimmons Creek - the pass which separates the two mountains.

At its highest point the Peak 2 Peak is 436m from the ground. Between two of the towers is an astonishing gap of more than 3km.

Of course, if the awe-inspiring view through the windows isn't enough, a few of the gondolas have glass floors.

The view is breathtaking - though for some, frightening - at least two of our hardy group were reluctant to gaze through the glass floor, retreating to the safety of their cabin instead.

As you cross Fitzsimmons Creek there is much to see - a helicopter hovering only 30 or 40m to your right, monitoring the mountain.

Down below, black bears roam in the mountains' hemlock-cedar forests.

All around are snowy peaks and ridges, alpine trees and people carving in the powder.

The cabins can ship around 2000 people each way every hour and there's rarely a queue. Best of all, at each end of the trip is a restaurant.

It's the ride of a lifetime, one you won't find anywhere else.