Additions, corrections, comments?
Please email : mark@mwlsap.org
Unique Ski Lifts of the
Midwest
Down
and Up Chairlifts Snowcrest
- Somerset, WI (map courtesy of
skimap.org) Birch
Park, Houlton, WI - Ski
World / Royal Valley, Buchanan, MI - 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
Up
and Over Chairlifts LOST:
Lansing Ski Club, East
Lansing, MI STILL OPEN: Buena Vista Whitecap Mountains
Tracked
Chairlifts Caberfae Tracked Chair an for one
season, 1959-60 Chestnut
Mountain Thank you to Skiers
and Snowboarders of the Midwest Facebook
Group and Michigan
Ski Area History Facebook Page Chestnut -
Resort still open
Boyne Mountain (still
open), Boyne Falls, MI 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 Val Chatel (lost), Park
Rapids, MN - https://www.mwlsap.org/minnesota/mn.htm#valchatel Val Chatel
What is a Sitzlift? It might be
most somewhat analogous to today's conveyor lifts, except
the skier would sit on a bicycle-type seat rather than
stand. It had two elevated tracks for your skis, but only
the seat would move as your skis would slide along these
tracks. The tracks were elevated so that the seats could
return to the bottom of the hill underneath the
contraption. To load, "a bike seat emerges from an
opening in the 'floor' and idles while you, with your
skis on, straddle it. You pull a lever and the seat takes
you topside." (from Minnesota's
Winter Resorts: Skiing Plus - Chicago Tribune · Sun,
Dec 21, 1969) The Sitz Lift did not appear to
catch on as these are the only installations that could
be found and it appears as though none operated long. No
information could be found as to how the skier would
unload. Hopefully, the bike seat did not just drop under
the track as it began its trip to the bottom. If so,
Warren Miller could have had a heyday. Trollhaugen, WI
Poma
Lifts The 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
Only known J-bar that is still in
use in 2025 is at Powder Ridge Ski Area in Kimball,
MN. Picture from Midwest
Skier - The Viewers' 5 Must-Visit Midwest Ski
Areas!
The
Snow Valley Ski Club, Michigan,
"Train"
Lift ? There appears that
there was some sort of "train" at Snow
Valley Ski Club,
in Gaylord Michigan. Not sure if it was used in the
winter to haul skiers or if it was just a summer
attraction. https://www.cardcow.com/379173/gaylord-michigan-snow-valley-ski-club-girls-train-car/
One lift going up both
sides of a valley
http://www.mwlsap.org/wisconsin/wi.htm#snowcrest
http://www.mwlsap.org/wisconsin/wi.htm#birchpark
https://www.mwlsap.org/michigan/mi.htm#skiworld
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1485307128340098/permalink/2285360648334738
One lift going up both
sides of a hill
(map courtesy of skimap.org)
(map courtesy of skimap.org)
No hanging cable
The
extremely rare, tracked chair lift at Chestnut
Mountain Resort. -
Skiers and Snowboarders of the Midwest Facebook
Group - SEVERAL PICTURES
Ran from 1964 to 1971.
from: Chicago
Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) · Sun, Dec 21,
1969
Also called platter, disc, or button lifts and,
unfortunately, sometimes sitzlift
-
Star
Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) · Sun, Nov
16, 1975
MWLSAP
Facebook post, see comment by Peter
Brooks
MWLSAP
Facebook post, see comment by Peter
Brooks
"They had some kind of cog-wheel train ski lift, I
cant find the pic "
https://www.facebook.com/michigansforgottenskiareas/posts/1670375403886729
Barb Kent comment on June 26, 2018 at 4:34 pm
".... Remember Snow Valley and the train."
https://milsap.wordpress.com/regions/northeast-lower-peninsula-areas/gaylord/snow-valley-gaylord/
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