Asurface lift is a type ofcable transport for mountain sports in whichskiers,snowboarders, ormountain bikers remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-comfortaerial lifts, such aschairlifts andgondola lifts. Today, surface lifts are most often found on beginner slopes, smallski areas,[1] and peripheral slopes. They are also often used to accessglacier ski slopes because their supports can be anchored in glacier ice due to the lower forces and realigned due to glacier movement.
Surface lifts have some disadvantages compared to aerial lifts: they require more passenger skill and may be difficult for some beginners (especially snowboarders, whose boards point at an angle different than the direction of travel) and children; sometimes they lack a suitable route back to the piste; the snow surface must be continuous; they can get in the way of skiable terrain; they are relatively slow in speed and have lower capacity.
Surface lifts have some advantages over aerial lifts: they can be exited before the lift reaches the top, they can often continue operating in wind conditions too strong for a chairlift, their lines are more flexible; being able to turn outwards of the cable loop, they require less maintenance and are much less expensive to install and operate.
The first surface lift was built in 1908 by GermanRobert Winterhalder inSchollach/Eisenbach,Hochschwarzwald, Germany, and started operations February 14, 1908.[2] A steam-powered toboggan tow, 950 feet (290 m) in length, was built inTruckee, California, in 1910.[3][4][5] The first skier-specific tow in North America was apparently installed in 1933 by Alec Foster atShawbridge in theLaurentians outsideMontreal,Quebec.[6][7]
The Shawbridge tow was quickly copied atWoodstock, Vermont, inNew England, in 1934 by Bob and Betty Royce, proprietors of the White Cupboard Inn. Their tow was driven by the rear wheel of a FordModel A. Wallace "Bunny" Bertram took it over for the second season, improved the operation, renamed it fromSki-Way toSki Tow,[8] and eventually moved it to what became the eastern fringe of Vermont's major southern ski areas, a regional resort still operating asSaskadena Six. Their relative simplicity made tows widespread and contributed to an expansion of the sport in the United States and Europe. Before tows, only people willing to walk uphill could ski. Suddenly relatively non-athletic people could participate, greatly increasing the appeal of the sport. By 1937, more than 100 tow ropes were operating in the U.S..[9]
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Arope tow consists of a cable or rope running through a bullwheel (large horizontal pulley) at the bottom and one at the top, powered by an engine at one end.
In the simplest case, a rope tow is where passengers grab hold of a rope and are pulled along while standing on their skis or snowboards and are pulled up a hill. Thegrade of this style of tow is limited by passenger grip strength and the fact that sheaves (pulleys that support the rope above the ground) cannot be used.
A development of the simple rope tow is thehandle tow (orpony lift), where plastic or metal handles are permanently attached to the rope. These handles are easier to grip than a rope, making the ski lift easier to ride.
Steeper, faster and longer tows require a series of pulleys to support the rope at waist height and hence require the use of some sort of "tow gripper". Several were designed and used in the 1930s and 40s, but the most successful was the "nutcracker" attached to a harness around the hips.[10][11] To this is attached a clamp, much like thenutcracker from which it derives its name, which the rider attaches to the rope. This eliminates the need to hold on to the rope directly. This system was used on many fields worldwide from the 1940s, and remains popular at 'club fields', especially inNew Zealand.[12] This type of ski lift is often referred to as a nutcracker tow.
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J-bar,T-bar, andplatter lifts are employed for low-capacity slopes in large resorts and small local areas. These consist of an aerial cable loop running over a series of wheels, powered by an engine at one end. Hanging from the rope are a series of vertical recoiling cables, each attached to a horizontal J- or T-shaped bar – which is placed behind the skier's buttocks or between the snowboarder's legs – or a plastic button or platter that is placed between the skier's legs.Snowboarders place the platter behind the top of their front leg or in front of their chest under their rear arm and hold it in position with their hands. These pull the passengers uphill while they ski or snowboard across the ground.
Platter lifts are often referred to as button lifts, and may occasionally feature rigid poles instead of recoiling cables.
The modern J-bar and T-bar mechanism was invented in 1934 by the Swiss engineer Ernst Constam,[13][14] with the first lift installed inDavos, Switzerland.[15] J-bars were installed in the 1930s in North America and Australia, with the Ski Hoist at Charlotte Pass in Australia dating from 1938.[16]
The first T-bar lift in the United States was installed in 1940 at thePico Mountain ski area.[17] It was considered a great improvement over therope tow. An earlier T-bar was installed at Rib Mountain (nowGranite Peak Ski Area), Wisconsin, in 1937.
In recent years, J-bars are no longer used in most ski areas. Some operators have combined T-bar and platter lifts, attaching both types of hanger to the cable, giving skiers and snowboarders a choice. Hangers designed to tow sledges uphill are installed on some slopes by operators, and some operators convert hangers in the summer to tow cyclists uphill.
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A variant of the platter lift is the detachable surface lift, commonly known as a“Poma lift”, after the company which introduced them. Unlike most other platter lifts, which are similar to T-bars with the stick attached to a spring box by a retractable cord, Poma lifts have a detachable grip to the tow cable with the button connected to the grip by a semi-rigid pole. Platters return to the bottom station, detach from the cable, and are stored on a rail until a skier slides the platter forwards to use it. Most detachable surface lifts operate at speeds of around 4 m/s (13 ft/s; 8.9 mph; 14 km/h), while platters and T-bars can operate up to 3.0 m/s (9.8 ft/s; 6.7 mph; 11 km/h), although are generally slower. When the grip attaches to the cable, the passenger's acceleration is lessened by the spring-loaded pole.
Aconveyor lift is aconveyor belt installed works similar to an airport moving sidewalk. It is sometimes referred to asmagic carpet. At the top, the belt pushes the passengers onto the snow and they slide away and is geared towards beginners and families.[18] These lifts are limited to shallow grades because they depends on friction between the carpet and the ski or board to keep riders in place. Their slow speed, limited distance, and capacity confines them to beginner and novice areas.
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