Gondolas, gondolas, gondolas.

A fledgling and mysterious Toronto company is exploring the idea of building a cable car system over part of the Don Valley. In theory, the system would serve as an eco-friendly tourist attraction while connecting the Evergreen Brick Works with the Broadview-Danforth neighbourhood to the south.

So, in theory, you could buy up all the artisanal crackers at the Saturday farmers’ market and then fly immediately away without giving your defeated competitors a chance to ram your hybrid as you leave the parking lot.

The man behind the idea is Steven Dale, a cable car expert, researcher and evangelist who is behind the website The Gondola Project. He is the chief executive of Bullwheel International Cable Car Corp., a federally registered company he refused to say anything at all about.

He did say, repeatedly, that his efforts are “purely exploratory” at this point. He said he has “no idea, no comment” on whether the project could actually come to fruition. And he said he was pursuing the matter out of “personal interest”: he has an office in Cabbagetown and grew up near Broadview and Danforth.

“This is something we do in our spare time,” he said in a phone interview from the Alps.

But he and his colleagues have taken the side project seriously. They have discussed the proposal with local councillor Mary Fragedakis, city lobbying records show, and with Evergreen.

“Driving these days is such a nightmare that something like that might be really amazing,” said Evergreen chief executive Geoff Cape.

“And when you build something like that, there’s an opportunity to link it to other nodes in the valley. . . . As we explore the transit challenges of Toronto, we need to be open-minded about all sorts of other innovative possibilities. And this would fit in that category.”

Cable cars have long been associated with ski resorts. But they are also used in cities from New York to Barcelona, and they have come into urban vogue in recent years.

The Emirates Air Line, running above the Thames in London, opened in 2012. Portland’s Aerial Tram opened in 2006. And Medellin, Colombia’s Metrocable system, launched in 2004, has won worldwide and local acclaim.

Fragedakis (Ward 29, Toronto-Danforth) noted the Toronto proposal would require extensive study, especially because the Brick Works is located in a flood plain. She said Bullwheel “did not have the answers” to several important questions. But she still pronounced the idea “great.”

“This kind of stuff happens all over the world,” Fragedakis said. “They still have a lot of work to do. But it’s interesting. If it gets people down there — it certainly is a beautiful view, on any day.”