Sugarloaf Mountain

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.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yBuCBtOMs1kC&pg=PA53 |title=A Dictionary of Ecology |publisher=Oxford University Press |first=Michael |last=Allaby |edition=4th |page=53 |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-956766-9}}

{{Main|Sugarloaf Cable Car}}

A glass-walled cable car (bondinho or, more formally, teleférico), capable of holding 65 people, runs along a {{cvt|1400|m|ft}} route between the peaks of Sugarloaf and Morro da Urca every 20 minutes. The original cable car line was built in 1912 and rebuilt around 1972–73 and 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.

To reach the summit, passengers take two cable cars. The first ascends to the shorter Morro da Urca, {{cvt|220|m|ft|0}} high. The second car ascends to Pão de Açúcar.Lonely Planet: Rio de Janeiro, page 76, Ricardo Gomes, John Maier Jr et al., 2006, Lonely Planet Publications, {{ISBN|1-74059-910-1}} The Swiss-made bubble-shaped cars offer passengers 360° views of the surrounding city.{{cite web |url=https://www.insightguides.com/destinations/south-america/brazil/rio-de-janeiro-state/rio-de-janeiro/highlights?dcp=635266809640007500 |title=Highlights of Rio de Janeiro |website=Insight Guides |at=The mighty Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar) |access-date=1 April 2024 |archive-date=17 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617055240/https://www.insightguides.com/destinations/south-america/brazil/rio-de-janeiro-state/rio-de-janeiro/highlights?dcp=635266809640007500 |url-status=live }} The ascent takes three minutes.{{cite web|url=https://skift.com/2012/10/27/the-cable-car-to-rios-top-tourist-attraction-sugarloaf-mountain-is-100-years-old/|title=The cable car to Rio’s top tourist attraction Sugarloaf Mountain is 100 years old|publisher=Associated Press|date=27 October 2012|access-date=17 June 2024|first1=Samantha|last1=Shankman}}{{clarify|date=June 2024|reason=The source says that the cars take about 3 minutes to complete each stretch. The main article for the Sugarloaf Cable Car gives a trip time of 3 minutes (for both stretches combined), but does not cite a source. The operational speed given in that article suggests a total duration of 185 seconds.}}

• 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 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;{{Cite web |title=Sugarloaf Mountain |url=https://armchairmountaineer.com/sugarloaf-mountain |access-date=13 February 2021 |website=The Armchair Mountaineer |language=en-US |archive-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418041539/https://armchairmountaineer.com/sugarloaf-mountain |url-status=live }} 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{{cite news |title=Rio's Christ statue closes and state of emergency decreed |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/wireStory/rios-christ-statue-closes-state-emergency-decreed-69653786 |access-date=16 August 2020 |work=ABC News (American) |language=en |archive-date=19 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319171615/https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/wireStory/rios-christ-statue-closes-state-emergency-decreed-69653786 |url-status=live }} and reopened in August{{cite news |title=Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain reopen Saturday |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/christ-the-redeemer-sugarloaf-mountain-reopening-scli-intl/index.html |access-date=16 August 2020 |work=CNN |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Brazil's Christ the Redeemer Statue Reopened After Being Closed for Nearly 5 Months |url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/brazil-christ-the-redeemer-reopening |access-date=2 April 2024 |website=Travel + Leisure |language=en |archive-date=2 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402144143/https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/brazil-christ-the-redeemer-reopening |url-status=live }}

{{wide image|Rio de Janeiro Panoramic from Pão de Açúcar crop.jpg|1000px|align-cap=center|Panoramic view of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói (right) from Sugarloaf}}

There are rock climbing routes on Sugarloaf that are mostly multipitch and are a mixture of sport and trad.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107546222/pao-de-acucar-sugarloaf |title=Rock Climbing in Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf), Rio de Janeiro |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=11 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211153021/https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107546222/pao-de-acucar-sugarloaf |url-status=live }} There are also two other mountains in the area with technical rock climbing, Morro da Babilônia{{Cite web |url=https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107550650/morro-da-babilonia |title=Rock Climbing in Morro da Babilonia, Rio de Janeiro |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=11 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211153023/https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107550650/morro-da-babilonia |url-status=live }} and Morro da Urca.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107546364/morro-da-urca |title=Rock Climbing in Morro da Urca, Rio de Janeiro |access-date=11 December 2021 |archive-date=17 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617055257/https://www.mountainproject.com/area/107546364/morro-da-urca |url-status=live }} Together, they form one of the largest urban climbing areas in the world, with more than 270 routes, between 1 and 10 pitches long.

• In 1933's Flying Down to Rio (with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, among others), the beachside Hotel Atlântico has views across the bay looking toward Sugarloaf Mountain.
• In the 1979 James Bond film 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 titled "Sugarloaf" for his 1982 album Fandango.
• The mountain and cable car are featured in The Simpsons episode "Blame It on Lisa", aired in 2002.
• Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), starring Jason Statham. At the beginning of the film Arthur Bishop (Statham) is attacked at a restaurant on Morro da Urca and escapes on the roof of a cable car.
• The 2023 reality competition show 007: Road to a Million, a spin-off of the Bond franchise, featured Sugarloaf Mountain in two episodes.{{Cite web |last=Haysom |first=Sam |date=10 November 2023 |title='007: Road to a Million' review: A tense Bond-themed game show that slowly builds |url=https://mashable.com/article/007-road-to-a-million-review |access-date=2 April 2024 |website=Mashable |language=en |archive-date=2 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240402143751/https://mashable.com/article/007-road-to-a-million-review |url-status=live }} Two of the show's participants scaled the mountain before climbing outside of a cable car, as an homage to Moonraker.{{Cite web |date=9 November 2023 |title=007: Road to a Million cast faced their 'biggest fears' for James Bond reality show: 'I was terrified!' |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/007-road-to-a-million-james-bond-reality-show-095657184.html |access-date=2 April 2024 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-GB}}

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 {{lang|pt-br|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.

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

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Sugarloaf Mountain}}
• {{Official website}} {{in lang|pt|en|es}}

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Category:Mountains of Brazil

Category:Bornhardts

Category:Guanabara Bay

Category:Geography of Rio de Janeiro (city)

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Category:Rock formations of Brazil

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Category:First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites

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