Engineering:Ski lift

Short description: Transport device that carries skiers up a hill

Chairlift mechanism in the resort of Val Cenis Vanoise, France

A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald.

Types

A chairlift at the ski resort of Vuokatti in Sotkamo, Kainuu, Finland in 2006

• Aerial lifts transport skiers while suspended off the ground. Aerial lifts are often bicable ropeways, the "bi-" prefix meaning that the cables have two different functions (carrying and pulling).
  • Aerial tramways
  • Chairlifts and detachable chairlifts
  • Funifors
  • Funitels
  • Gondola lifts
  • Hybrid lifts
• Surface lifts, including T-bars, magic carpets, and rope tows.
• Cable railways, including funiculars
• Helicopters are used for heliskiing and snowcats for snowcat skiing. This is backcountry skiing or boarding accessed by a snowcat or helicopter instead of a lift, or by hiking. Cat skiing is less than half the cost of heliskiing, more expensive than a lift ticket but is easier than ski touring. Cat skiing is guided. Skiing at select, extreme resorts, like Silverton Mountain, is also guided, even when skiing just off the lift.

Locations

Map of world ski resorts

Ski lifts are built in many parts of the world. Extreme locations of outdoor ski lifts:

• The northernmost is near Tromsø, Norway
• The southernmost is near Ushuaia, Argentina
• The closest to the equator in the northern hemisphere is near Liang, China
• The closest to the equator in the southern hemisphere is near Mahlasela, Lesotho