MWLSAP

mark@mwlsap.org

Midwest Lost Ski Areas Project
Unique Ski Lifts of the Midwest

VIDEO: 5 Unique, Historic, & Interesting Ski Lifts In the Midwest - Midwestskiers.com

Additions, corrections, comments? Please email : mark@mwlsap.org

 

 

Chairlifts

  • Down and Up
  • Up and Over
  • Tracked
  • Single

J-Bars

Sitz Lifts

Poma Lifts

For a short history of ski lifts see The Invention of the Ski Chairlift, Smithsonian Magazine.

  • "German farmer and innkeeper Robert Winterhalder invented the world’s first overhead cable tow in 1906—skiers hooked handles onto the water-powered continuous cable above their heads, then glided uphill on their skis. Though it was easy to use, Winterhalder’s invention didn’t catch on elsewhere."
  • "In America, the first surface lift . . . . was a steam-powered toboggan tow built in Truckee, California, in 1910 and later adopted by skiers".
  • "Canadian skier Alex Foster built the first working model of the rope tow—a continuous rope that skiers simply grabbed onto and held with their hands—in 1931 outside of Shawbridge, Quebec."
  • "Swiss ski mountaineer and mechanical engineer Ernst Constam invented the world’s first J-bar in 1934 in Switzerland, followed by the two-passenger T-bar in 1935."
  • "By 1934, the tow rope technology had made its way to Woodstock, Vermont."
  • The world's first chailift was invented by James M. Curran of Omaha Nebraska and installed at Sun Valley, ID in 1936. The single-chair chairlift was moved to Boyne Mountain, MI in 1948.

History with SnowBrains: The First Ski Lift in the World

Chairlifts

 

Down and Up Chairlifts - one lift going up both sides of a valley

more information and pictures below

 

Snowcrest, WI

 

Up and Over Chairlifts - one lift going up both sides of a hill

more information and pictures below

 

1978 Whitecap Mountains, WI

skimap.org

 

Tracked Chairlifts - no hanging cable

more information and pictures below

Thank you to Skiers and Snowboarders of the Midwest Facebook Group and
Michigan Ski Area History Facebook Page
  • Caberfae Peaks, Cadillac, MI
  • Chestnut Mountain, Galena, IL

 

 

Single Chairlifts

more information and pictures below

  • Boyne Mountain, MI (Hemlock Chair - now a double)
  • Val Chatel, Park Rapids, MN

 

Val Chatel, MN

 

J-Bars

Only known J-bar that is still in use in the Midwest in 2024 is at Powder Ridge Ski Area in Kimball, MN.

 

Picture from https://liftblog.com/j-bar-powder-ridge-mn/

 

Sitzlifts (Sitz lift) - What is a Sitzlift? (Midwest Skiers - YouTube)

Ski Tonka, MN (lost)

Devils Head, WI

Trolhaugen, WI

Mt. Holly, MI

Buffalo Valley, MN (lost) -

Snowcrest (lost)

Lutsen, MN

An "Austrian Sitzlift" - is basically a Poma lift (see below)

 

 Picture courtesy of Midwest Skiers.com


The Morning Call, Allentown Pennsylvania, Sun., Feb. 8, 1970

 

Poma Lifts (also called platter, disc, or button lifts, Austrian Sitzlift)

Only known poma lift that is still in use in the Midwest in 2024 is at Mt. Itasca in Coleraine, MN.

I thought I would add poma lifts after seeing this post in the Overheard in Michigan Ski Resorts Facebook Group. If you know of a midwest ski area that had, or has, a poma lift, please let me know - mark@mwlsap.org

 

UNIQUE CHAIRLIFTS OF THE MIDWEST

Down and Up Chairlifts - one lift going up both sides of a valley

Snowcrest - Somerset, WI http://www.mwlsap.org/wisconsin/wi.htm#snowcrest
Chair No. 1 and Chair No. 2

(map courtesy of skimap.org)

 

 

Birch Park, Houlton, WI - http://www.mwlsap.org/wisconsin/wi.htm#birchpark

(map courtesy of skimap.org)

 

Ski World / Royal Valley, Buchanan, MI - https://www.mwlsap.org/michigan/mi.htm#skiworld

(map courtesy of skimap.org)

 

 

Mt. Brighton, Brighton, MI,

Thank you to Tom from Truckee, CA who sent me this email:
Mt. Brighton had a up and down chair.

Backstory: I started skiing late in life either during either the '69-70 or possibly '70-71. Starting at age 9 or 10, I will never be a good skier. Sigh.

At the time, Mt. Brighton had two double chairs, the blue chair on looker's left and green chair on looker's right, that ran up the big hill (Big Riskey, etc.). When I started skiing at Mt. Bright and through '75, maybe '76, a chair ran up the big hill (north facing) and then returned to go up a small south facing beginner hill. Looking at the layout on skimap.org, am thinking it was the blue chair that went up and down and up and down because of the parking lot position (expanded when the south facing hill was removed) and the beginner terrain was closer to the lodge.

About this time, my family started skiing Alpine Valley. Got bored of Alpine in a couple of years so went back to Mt. Brighton (even though apparently it does have less vertical). Since we had left, Mt. Brighton had put the yellow chair in (most western of the lifts) and made the blue chair lift "normal" with the south facing hill having been leveled. To quote my father, I would be a warm beer if part of the south facing hill was used to build the smaller hill for intermediates on the east side of Mt. Brighton.

Hope this is of some interest.

~Tom

Overheard in Michigan Ski Resorts Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1485307128340098/permalink/2285360648334738

Up and Over Chairlifts - one lift going up both sides of a hill

 LOST
Lansing Ski Club - http://www.mwlsap.org/michigan/mi.htm#lansingskiclub
East Lansing, MI
MWLSAP Facebook Page
Lansing Ski Club Adds Lift - Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) · Thu, Dec 3, 1970

 

STILL OPEN:

Two at Little Switzerland, Swinger, WI // https://liftblog.com/1-2-little-switzerland-wi/ (pictures)

Whitecap Mountains, Upson, WI

Buena Vista, Bemidji, MN // https://liftblog.com/continental-divide-buena-vista-mn/ (pictures)

Unloading ramps have tunnels underneath them for skiers to cross the lift line.

 

Tracked or Chain-Drive Chairlifts- no hanging cable

Chairlifts with no hanging cables were installed at Caberfae Peaks Ski Resort [still open] , MI and Chestnut Mountain [still open], IL,

Caberfae's first chairlift was a "tracked" or "chain-drive" chairlift where instead of hanging from a cable, the chairs were attached to a chain conveyor. Such a lift was also installed at Chestnut Mountain, IL.

Caberfae bought its chain-drive lift from Mt. Snow, VT, where I believe they were developed. Mt. Snow had three chain-drive, or "conveyor", lifts.

Apparently they were very slow, noisy, and the chains dripped grease on the riders, necessitating the inclusion of a small roof above the riders.

For these reasons Caberfae's "conveyor" lift only lasted one year (1959-90) before it was removed. Little information could be found concerning the Chestnut Mountain chain-drive lift.

For more pictures of the chain-drive chairlifts at Mt. Snow, VT see: https://www.mwlsap.org/stories/weird/chaindrive.htm

Caberfae

FROM: Skiers and Snowboarders of the Midwest Facebook Group

 

Chestnut

Resort still open

 

SINGLE CHAIRLIFTS

Boyne Mountain, Boyne Falls, MI
Resort still open
Installed at Boyne in 1948, began operating Jan. 9, 1949 . Hemlock Chair, single, changed to double three years later.

Moved from Sun Valley, ID. Was the world's first chairlift when installed on Dollar Mountain at Sun Valley in 1936. Designed by James Curran of Omaha Nebraska.

First chairlift in the Midwest [First chairlift in each Midwest state]

The Birth of the Chairlift and It's Tie to the Midwest - video - MidwestSkiers.com (5:12)

5 Unique, Historic, & Interesting Ski Lifts In the Midwest - video - MidwestSkiers.com (9:01)

Skiers and Snowboarders of the Midwest Facebook Group - Sept. 2023

James Curran (?) on his chair lift at Sun Valley

 

Val Chatel (lost), Park Rapids, MN - https://www.mwlsap.org/minnesota/mn.htm#valchatel

Second chairlift installed in Minnesota.

Ran from 1964 to 1971.

 

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