WIcreations flies ski lift for Moose Bar XXL
- Details
The brainchild of organiser and lBelgium night scene inspirator Yves Smolders, Moose Bar XXL ran for two nights this year after 2019’s inaugural event, and featured an epic scenic production design and a slew of music and live entertainment that transported 20,000 party-people to the mountains over the two nights.
A total of five cable cars were involved - sourced from an original ski lift in Tignes in the French Alps, reconditioned and re-branded as highly visible Moose Bar props.
Four cable car gondolas were positioned in each corner of the Sportpaleis and these were flown up and down 6.5m into the venue ceiling throughout the evening, filled with guests, offering the opportunity for exclusive panoramic views of the event over the crowds.
The fifth cable car was in the centre of the room and - in addition to moving up and down - it tracked up to 51m along the roof of the space, transporting performers between the multiple stages over 48m.
The trussing for the tracking gondola was supplied by the production. The WI team, project managed by Jasper Mattijs, rigged their tracks and trolleys (one active, one passive) plus two 500kg hosts and then picked up and attached the gondola.
The other four gondolas were all rigged and flown in the same way - each suspended on two 500kg WI-hoists attached to trussing in the roof. The 24m-a-minute zero speed double-braked 500kg WI-Hoists are BGV-C1 certified and fully SIL 3 compliant for flying objects above people.
Two WIcreations MCA control systems were utilised. The four corner gondolas were each controlled via a WI-Pad tablet running a pre-programmed sequence, with full e-stop and dead-man’s-handle capability.
The tracking cable car was controlled via a WI-Desk programmed and operated by Lesly van Rompaey positioned at the side of the stage - for optimum viewing.
MCA, the control software at the heart of the WImotion system, is designed as a fully redundant solution through its smart client-server setup with the possibility of adding multiple networked operating desks, which is great for environments like this when the main operator may not have direct vision of every area related to the automation.
The other production elements - lighting, video, audio and rigging - were supplied by L&L Stage Services. Special effects were from Dewico and the end client was the House of Entertainment.
(Jim Evans)
