Sugarloaf Mountain (Brazil)

Sugarloaf Mountain, is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising 396 metres (1,299 ft) above the harbor, its name is said to refer to its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar.  

Overview 

The mountain is only one of several monolithic morros of granite and quartz that rise straight from the water's edge around Rio de Janeiro. A glass-paneled cable car (in popular Portuguese, bondinho - more properly called teleférico), capable of holding 65 passengers, runs along a 1400-metre route between the peaks of Pão de Açúcar and Cara de Cão every 20 minutes. The original cable car line was built in 1912 and rebuilt around 1972/1973 and in 2008. The cable car goes from the base, not the peak of the Babilônia mountain, to the Urca mountain and then to the Pão de Açúcar mountain. To reach the summit, passengers take two cable cars. The first ascends to the shorter Morro de Açúcar, 220 meters high. The second car ascends to Pão de Açúcar. The Italian-made bubble-shaped cars offer passengers 360-degree views of the surrounding city. Each car travels only three minutes from start to finish. Departures are available every 20 minutes between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm and the fare is US$11 for Morro de Açúcar or US$22 for the whole way to Pão de Açúcar.

Rock climbing

Visitors can watch rock climbers on Sugarloaf and the other two mountains in the area: Morro da Babilônia (Babylon Mountain), and Morro da Urca (Urca's Mountain). Together, they form one of the largest urban climbing areas in the world, with more than 270 routes, between 1 and 10 pitches long. Some routes on Sugarloaf are:

• Italianos, 5.10a, 2 pitches. Beautiful and well protected face climbing. It can be connected to other routes, in a total of 6 pitches to the top.

• Stop Chimney, 5.6, 7 pitches. A classic runout but easy chimney.

• Lagartão, 5.11c, 7 pitches. The first two pitches are traditional climbing, the rest is bolted.

• Ibis, 5.10d A1, 10 pitches. Runout and committed. Some parties climb it in one day, sleeping on one of the ledges in the first half of the route.

 

Appearances in media

• "Now, Voyager" (1942) Starring Bette Davis.
• In the 1979 James Bond movie, Moonraker, the villainous henchman Jaws (played by Richard Kiel) attempts to kill 007 (Roger Moore) and the agent's ally, Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), on a cable car. However, Bond and Goodhead escape and Jaws collides with the building at the bottom of the cable car route, demolishing the building but escaping unscathed.
• Herb Alpert recorded a song entitled "Sugarloaf" for his 1982 album Fandango.
• In the Simpsons episode "Blame it on Lisa", Homer's kidnappers meet with the rest of the family for the exchange between two cable cars.
• In Modern Warfare 2, this mountain can be seen from the map, favela.
• In the movie Rio, the mountain can be seen several times throughout the film.