Sugarloaf Mountain

Origins of the name

The name Sugarloaf was coined in the 16th century by the Portuguese during the heyday of sugarcane trade in Brazil due to sugar imports from the Portuguese conquest of Goa, according to historian Vieira Fazenda. Blocks of sugar were placed in conical molds made of clay to be transported on ships. The form of the peak reminded them of the well-known resulting "sugarloaf" shape, and the nickname has since been extended to be a general descriptor for formations of this kind.

Cable car

Main article: Sugarloaf Cable Car

A glass-walled cable car (bondinho or, more formally, teleférico), capable of holding 65 people, runs along a 1400 m route between the peaks of Sugarloaf and Morro da Urca every 20 minutes. The original cable car line was built in 1912, rebuilt around 1972–73, and rebuilt again in 2008. The cable car goes from a ground station, at the base of Morro da Babilônia, to Morro da Urca and thence to Sugarloaf's summit.

Reaching the summit

To reach the summit, passengers take two cable cars. The first ascends to the shorter Morro da Urca, 220 m high. The second car ascends to Pão de Açúcar. The Swiss-made bubble-shaped cars offer passengers 360° views of the surrounding city. The ascent takes three minutes.

Timeline

• 1907 – Brazilian engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos had the idea of linking the hills through a path in the air.
• 1910 – The same engineer founded the Society of Sugar Loaf, and in the same year, the works were started. The project was commissioned in Germany and built by Brazilian workers. All parts were taken by climbing mountains or lifted by steel cables.
• 1912 – Opening of the cableway, the first in Brazil and the third of this kind worldwide; the first cable cars were made of coated wood and were used for 61 years.
• 1973 – The current models of cars were put into operation. This increased the carrying capacity by almost ten times.
• 2009 – Inauguration of the next generation of cable cars that had already been purchased and are on display at the base of Red Beach
• 2020 – Closed in March and reopened in August

Rock climbing

There are rock climbing routes on Sugarloaf that are mostly multipitch and are a mixture of sport and trad. There are also two other mountains in the area with technical rock climbing, Morro da Babilônia and Morro da Urca. Together, they form one of the largest urban climbing areas in the world, with more than 270 routes, between 1 and 10 pitches long.

Gallery

Sugarloaf in art, 16th to 19th century

File:Palácio Pedro Ernesto - Fundação da Cidade.jpg|Founding of Rio de Janeiro in 1565. Sugarloaf is seen in the background. File:Nicolas-Antoine Taunay.jpg|View of Sugarloaf from the terrace of the Convento de Santo Antônio (Convent of St. Anthony), c. 1816. Painting by Nicolas-Antoine Taunay. File:Charles_Landseer_-View_of_Sugarloaf_Mountain_from_the_Silvestre_Road-_Google_Art_Project.jpg|View of Sugarloaf from the Silvestre road, c. 1823. Painting by Charles Landseer. File:Pedro I por Henrique José da Silva.jpg|Emperor Pedro I of Brazil (also King of Portugal as Pedro IV) with his crown and the Sugarloaf in the background, c. 1825 File:A Glória, Rio de Janeiro by Eduard Hildebrandt.jpg|Sugarloaf and the Nossa Senhora da Glória do Outeiro (Our Lady of the Glory of the Hill) church as seen from the neighborhood of Glória, c. 1846. Painting by Eduard Hildebrandt.

20th and 21st centuries

File:Forty years in Brazil (1914) (14775856642).jpg|Sugarloaf in 1914 File:Intentona Comunista de 1935 - 3º Regimento de Infantaria em chamas.jpg|Military barracks near the Sugarloaf on fire after the communist uprising of 1935 File:Bondinho Rio 1940.jpg|The Sugarloaf wooden cable car in the 1940s File:Sugar Loaf Mtn Rio de Janeiro Brazil.JPG|Higher aerial view, 1967 File:Sugar loaf from Cristo Redentor 2010.JPG|View of Sugarloaf from Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado File:Cable Cars from Sugarloaf Mountain-Pao de Acucar - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil.jpg|Cable cars from Sugarloaf Mountain File:Sugarloaf Mountain as seen from the up river, Christo Redentor seen in background.JPG|View of Sugarloaf Mountain from seaward side; Corcovado and Christ the Redeemer are seen in the background. File:1 rio de janeiro panorama.jpg|View of Rio de Janeiro from the Sugarloaf File:Praia vermelha.jpg|Sugarloaf as seen from Praia Vermelha (Red Beach) File:Pão de Açucar - Sugarloaf Mountain - Zuckerhut - Botafago.jpg|Botafogo Bay and Sugarloaf File:Pão de Açúcar - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil(2).jpg|Botafogo Bay and beach with Sugarloaf in the background File:Do alto.jpg|Aerial view File:Centro do Rio de Janeiro (3969222492).jpg|Sugarloaf with Downtown Rio in the foreground File:Desvendando novos ângulos do Rio.jpg|View from the city of Niterói

References

References

1. (28 March 2023). "Zip line row erupts at Rio's iconic Sugarloaf Mountain". [[France 24]].
2. Pam Barrett. (2006). "Rio de Janeiro". Apa publications.
3. (1972). "The American Naturalist". Essex Institute.
4. Migoń, Piotr. (2004). "Bornhardt". Routledge.
5. "Monumento Natural dos Morros do Pão de Açúcar e da Urca". SMAC: Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente.
6. Allaby, Michael. (2010). "A Dictionary of Ecology". Oxford University Press.
7. Lonely Planet: Rio de Janeiro, page 76, Ricardo Gomes, John Maier Jr et al., 2006, Lonely Planet Publications, {{ISBN. 1-74059-910-1
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9. (27 October 2012). "The cable car to Rio’s top tourist attraction Sugarloaf Mountain is 100 years old". Associated Press.
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13. "Brazil's Christ the Redeemer Statue Reopened After Being Closed for Nearly 5 Months".
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