There are two thick parallel steel cables (called path cables) that the pulley system runs along. There is another thinner cable (called traction cable) that rolls in at the upper station (at Urca and Sugar Loaf hills), bringing the cable car up. Click here to see photos of Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
It took a little longer than three years to build the Sugar Loaf cable cars stations in Rio de Janeiro. Construction started in 1909 and the first line to Urca Hill was inaugurated in October 27, 1912. On the first day, 577 passengers were transported, which was the maximum capacity at that time. The second line (to Sugar Loaf Mountain) was inaugurated on January 18, 1913. The construction and operation followed all standards and safety regulations at the time in Brazil.…read more
Brazilians and Portuguese worked on the construction and had a difficult and dangerous time climbing the Sugar Loaf hill to bring the first four tons of material and equipment up. Since there was no helicopter back then (1909-12), highly trained mountaineers climbed Sugar Loaf (396 m) with the material on their backs! Once they reached the Sugar Loaf peak, spikes were driven into the rock to be used in lifting the crane that would bring the rest of the material…read more
The engineer Augusto Ramos, a native from Rio de Janeiro, found locals investors and daring entrepreneurs in Brazil to fund the project that would be built only by Brazilian engineers and capital. The entrepreneurs showed the government the importance of the project by stressing the fact that 1) it would be good for the image of Rio, 2) it would be the first cable car system in Brazil, and 3) it would show off Brazilian engineering competences (Brazil was considered…read more
There was no company in Brazil able to build the cable cars, so engineer Augusto Ramos went to Europe to look for manufacturers. After visiting several countries, he decided to order from the Cologne-based German company J. Pohlig, which designed, manufactured, and installed the cars. Click here to see photos of Sugar Loaf and for practical travel information on how to visit it.
The idea of building the Rio de Janeiro Sugar Loaf cable cars came from a well-known Brazilian engineer called Augusto Ferreira Ramos in 1908 during the Brazil National Exhibition that took place right next to Sugar Loaf. The exhibition attendees were quite intrigued and impressed by the monumental rock and wished they could go up there. At that time the only way to reach Sugar Loaf summit was by rock-climbing. Ramos had the idea of connecting Urca and Sugar Loaf hills…read more
During the height of sugar production in Brazil in the 16th and 17th Centuries, huge amounts of sugar were exported to Europe. The extraction process consisted of squeezing the cane to release the juice, which was then boiled. This was then poured into clay cone-shaped moulds called pão de açúcar (sugar loaf in Portuguese), where it then crystallized. Due to the similarity to those moulds to the hill, the Portuguese named it Pão de Açúcar. Others gave Sugar Loaf different…read more
Sugar Loaf rock in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) is made of granitoid rocks (granite), which were formed by the collision of several plates which joined together and molded the western side of the former supercontinent of Gondwana (South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, and India). Granitoid rocks are found all over Rio de Janeiro State (including Corcovado) and are estimated to be 560 million years old. By the way, Sugar Loaf was recognized as one of the main geological monuments in…read more
Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) is a huge block of rock right at the entrance of Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As Rio’s second most visited attraction, it is 396 metres high (1,328 feet)—almost half of the height of Corcovado summit where the Christ statue is placed. See here photos: Sugar Loaf (plus important travel information about Rio de Janeiro’s most famous hill).
A visit to Sugar Loaf in Rio de Janeiro is rarely disappointing, but it may happen. Disappointments can arise from the hassle associated with ticketing and the queue you may face at the Sugar Loaf ticket office when arriving after 9 a.m. on an extreme peak day. As Rio de Janeiro is becoming more and more in vogue, an ever increasing number of travelers from all over Brazil (and from the world) are flying to Rio to visit this incredibly beautiful city. And, as…read more