Ski lift
A ski lift is a mechanical device, the skier with unbelted skis conveyed uphill. In the broader sense, all transport systems for winter sports enthusiasts on the slopes are referred to as such inaccurate and technically incorrect .
The ski lift in the true sense of the cable cars , but not to the category of cable cars belonging drag lift , a device for carrying passengers that or the other on their skis sports equipment (snowboard, short skis, Firngleiter, Skibob drive) on the ground and by means of a towing device be pulled uphill.
In summer, however, the lifts can also be used to transport other sports equipment occupied by their users ( summer toboggan , mountain bikes , big foot rollers , bull carts , grass skis ). In bike parks , in addition to other cable cars, tow lifts are occasionally used to transport mountain bikers; on summer toboggan runs, an uphill track (tub or coaster rail) is installed permanently or removable on the lift route.
history
The very first motorized ascent aid for winter sports enthusiasts was built on the Bödele in Vorarlberg , Austria and went into operation in 1908. Of course, this construction could not be compared with a modern ski lift of today - it was rather a kind of sledge that was pulled up the mountain by means of a rope by a motor according to the principle of a cable winch (see: Bödele sledge lift ); a working principle that was to be used for decades, especially in Switzerland. Until the 1940s, sleigh funiculars , the so-called “Funi” , were used there; the last of its kind in Grindelwald was not even decommissioned until 1995.
The first ski lift was built in Schollach near Eisenbach in the Upper Black Forest by the innkeeper Robert Winterhalder and put into operation on February 14, 1908. It was 280 meters long and overcame a height of 32 meters. It was operated with water power via a mill wheel. The passengers held onto the pull rope with specially shaped pliers.
The first modern surface lift with a self-retracting bow (originally in a J-shape) went into operation on December 23, 1934 in Davos . Developed the system by the Swiss engineer was seriously Constam , which it of Adolf Bleichert & Co. had built. The Davos ski instructor Jack Ettinger improved the system by having his father make a prototype from wood in which the single stirrups were replaced by T-shaped double stirrups (based on the "Ribberybügel" from 1929). Constam converted his Bolgen lift for the second winter season (1935/1936) with these double brackets into a "her and him lift".
By 1938, Constam had implemented a total of 20 of these systems in Switzerland, Germany and France, including in St. Moritz , Arosa , Mürren , Megève and Garmisch . The means of transport initially had separate pull and winder hangers . Although the skiers quickly got used to the new transport system, there were still some initial difficulties to cope with.
The first ski lift in the Eastern Alps was built in 1935 on the Tauplitzalm in the Styrian Salzkammergut . In its construction, it was more similar to the lift built in Vorarlberg in 1907 (see Bödele ), it was a large bracket on which several skiers were pulled up at the same time using a cable winch. A so-called “Stangl driver” then brought the bar back down into the valley.
The first drag lift in Germany was put into operation in 1942 in the Oberjoch ski area .
Up until the 1980s, a large number of such T-bar lifts were built, but since the 1990s they have been increasingly replaced by chairlifts that offer more comfort and mostly shorter travel times. Many surface lifts are also being replaced by chairlifts for the same reasons.
technology
T-bar lifts follow the terrain profile up to inclines of around 40 degrees and can drive around flat curves . However, steep sections of the route must be avoided as far as possible, since the skiers would "overtake" the pulling yoke there and could fall due to the following jerk.
The use of a drag lift requires a good balance and a certain skill and experience when transporting in pairs. Driving with drag lifts on steep routes can be more strenuous than, for example, a ride on a chair lift. Their main advantage is the cost-effective construction, which is also reflected in the transport fees for individual lifts. Before the invention of detachable chairlifts, T-bar lifts were faster than (fixed-grip) chairlifts and could therefore carry more passengers uphill in the same amount of time and the skiers did not have to queue for as long before they could be taken.
In contrast to cable car routes, ski-tow routes cannot be crossed without restrictions by skiers traveling down the valley, which can impair the use of the slopes. In the course of upgrading ski areas in terms of comfort and transport performance, T-bar lifts are often being replaced by different types of cable cars.
T-bar lifts are on firm ground, but also on glaciers. The supports are usually designed in such a way that snow groomers can prepare the lane. Special glacier supports are used on glaciers . The longest drag lift is the Gandegg drag lift near Zermatt with a length of 3899 meters. The cable speed of surface lifts is up to 3.5 m / s (12.6 km / h), the transport capacity up to 1440 people per hour. However, there are also drag lifts for other purposes, for example to transport bobsleighs on summer toboggan runs or toboggan lifts for winter operation.
T-bar lifts with high cable guides
A distinction is made between systems with fixed rope clamps and systems with coupling clamps .
T-bar lift / anchor lift or pommel lift
In ski lifts , a high strength steel cable (runs circulating conveyor cable ) in about three to four meters in height, are secured to the roll-up mechanism by a clamping yoke. A distinction is made between plate lifts with plate hangers for one person (mostly on practice slopes) and anchor lifts in short or long versions for two people (bow-type tow lift).
Pole tow lift
A special form of the drag lift is the type of pole drag lift, which is particularly widespread in France and also exists in a detachable version that moves very quickly (up to 4 m / s). These lifts were mainly manufactured by the two French companies Pomagalski and Montaz-Mautino (now Gimar-Montaz-Mautino).
The couplable clamp used for this consists of a type of ring that surrounds the rope. A lever is mounted on this ring, on which the telescopic rod and the plate hang. However, the diameter of the ring is larger than that of the rope, so that the rope passes through the clamp without pulling the plate with it. In the valley station, all plates are collected in a magazine. If a passenger then comes, a mechanical opener drops the ring onto the rope and it jams. Due to the weight of the plate and the passenger, this cant does not open. In order to open the clamp in the station again, the lever is lifted from a coupling rail. In the original version, only the valley station was detachable. The Montagner company has also been installing detachable mountain stations since 1983 in order to increase comfort when getting out. Deflection rollers also allow routing around corners.
Shuttle lift
From the 1950s onwards, the company STEMAG (Steiermärkische Maschinen und Apparate Gesellschaft) owned by Hermannreiber was able to establish the extremely cost-effective system of the pendulum drag lift for smaller systems. In contrast to other surface lifts, only two brackets are attached to the rope, which, like an aerial tramway , shuttled back and forth between the valley and mountain stations without changing the route. A higher conveying capacity can be achieved through the high travel speeds, since entry and exit takes place when the system is at a standstill. There are also wide bars for up to 6 people.
STEMAG built T-bar lifts in Austria and Germany until the 1980s. In Switzerland, some pendulum tow lifts were built by the local manufacturer Skima. Overall, shuttle lifts were delivered until at least the 1970s. The system never really caught on, but there are systems based on this principle in addition to the models from STEMAG and its licensees around the world. In New Zealand and the Andes in particular, this type of construction is still often found today in the form of simply constructed surface lifts. There are still a few systems in operation in German-speaking countries.
Other systems
Before and after the Second World War, other surface lift systems were developed, all of which are now extinct:
- Hefti system : In the belt tow lift developed by the Swiss Beda Hefti, passengers tied a belt on which was hooked into the rope. At the mountain station, this belt was released from the rope again and brought down by the staff on skis. There were 24 such systems in Switzerland and two in Germany.
- System Wullschleger : August Wullschleger's drag lift system differs most from the usual systems: There is no distinction here between supports and plates or brackets, the supports are firmly clamped to the rope and run on runners. They also serve as driving equipment. According to this system, only a single system was built in Flühli, Switzerland .
- System Vogler : Heinrich Vogler's system consisted of pommel lifts and was very similar to the anchor or pommel lifts still built today. In contrast to today's lifts, however, they were portable. 38 such lifts were built in Switzerland, four in Germany.
Legal basis
In Austria, the construction, the building permit, the operation, the operating permit, the duties of the operations manager and the obligation to report accidents for tow lifts with high rope routing are regulated in the tow lift ordinance.
T-bar lifts with a low cable guide
These lifts have no rope supports. The gradient of the lift route must largely follow the chain line of the sagging hoisting rope.
Cable lift or baby lift
A rope or baby lift is a revolving rope made of steel or plastic close to the ground that skiers hold on to; Because of the wear and tear they are colloquially called "glove eater", "glove killer" or "pony lift". In order not to have to cling to the bare rope, plastic brackets are often attached to the rope, which push the skier on the buttocks. In the case of simpler designs, plastic thickenings or knots are attached to the rope.
Cable lifts are also mostly used by beginners, they can also be found occasionally as feeders between other lifts or slopes on short flat or uphill sections.
Nutcracker Lift
A Nutcracker Lift (Engl. Nutcracker tow ), also called rucksack lift, ski lift is a quick to set up and wound down. It can be set up and dismantled on the snowy slope within a short time. The lift, which is mostly driven by an internal combustion engine, takes its name from the shape of the clamping device that the skier has to bring with him or rent from the ski area operator for a fee and with which he clamps himself to a simple, fast-running steel cable. The clamping device - designed like a nutcracker with an open mouth - is connected to a belt around the lift user's waist via a short piece of rope.
Nutcracker lifts are particularly common in New Zealand for opening up less frequented slopes.
Other transportation systems
Treadmill
A treadmill or carpet lift is a conveyor belt running on the floor , on which the passengers are transported standing with their skis fastened on. Often it is also referred to with the product name of the manufacturer Sunkid's magic carpet . It runs relatively slowly at 0.2 to 1.2 m / s and is used on slopes up to 30 percent steep. It is used by ski schools in the first few days of courses for beginners and children as well as by severely disabled people and snowboarders, but also as a connecting lift to other lifts. Treadmills tend to open up short slopes, they are built from twelve meters in length. In the alpincenter Bottrop , however, there is also a 400 meter long route. For some time now, treadmills have also been roofed over or run in transparent galleries to protect passengers from the weather.
Others
The following are also used as transport systems for winter sports enthusiasts:
-
Cable cars like
- Chairlifts and
- Gondola lifts , as well
- Funiculars and inclined lifts
Occasionally, snowmobiles (ski doos) or horse-drawn sleighs are used on the mountain , which pull a rope with handles or knots to hold onto, so that skiers or other winter sports enthusiasts can let themselves be pulled. For the same purpose also can snowcat serve that can also attract a number up to about twenty people (also called slope Bulli joering).
A very exclusive and expensive option is being transported by helicopter while heliskiing , so that you can make descents on pristine slopes and in deep snow.
Manufacturer
Major manufacturers are the Doppelmayr / Garaventa Group , Leitner and POMA as well as the Sunkid company from Imst in the treadmill segment. Other currently active cable car builders are LST (formerly: Loipolder Seilbahntechnik), BMF-Bartholet, CCM Finotello, MEB Impianti and Inauen-Schätti, which, however, mainly focus on the construction of special and small cable cars that are often not used for skiing .
value added tax
On January 1, 2008, the sales tax in Germany for ski lift fees and mountain railways was reduced from 19 to 7 percent, as with local transport .
Used trade
In Austria, older ski lifts, especially tow lifts and chair lifts, are being taken out of service due to modernization and / or lack of profitability. If such a lift is offered for sale in good time, i.e. during the last ski season, it can sometimes be carefully dismantled and sold to Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia or mountain regions in Asia.
Web links
- Southern Black Forest: Where the ski lift was invented , Johannes Schweikle, Spiegel Online , February 23, 2015
- Lift database and information on lifts worldwide
- Picture gallery of cable cars and ski lifts
- Relics of ski lifts from a bygone era
Individual evidence
- ↑ Duden: Ski lift
- ↑ Artur Doppelmayr: Food for thought on the functional fulfillment of cable car systems , 1997, ISBN 3-9500815-1-8 , available online as a doc file, accessed on November 17, 2011
- ^ Günthner, Willibald A .: Seilbahntechnik ( Memento from March 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), pp. 1–4.
- ↑ Technical data of this lift in the cable car database of www.bergbahnen.org
- ↑ Elizabeth Essner: Two unusual technical cultural monuments. The "first ski lift in the world" . In: Preservation of monuments in Baden-Württemberg . tape 10 , no. 2 , 1981, ISSN 0342-0027 , p. 57-60 ( online [accessed September 17, 2012]).
- ↑ The world's first ski lift in Schollach ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed September 17, 2012.
- ↑ Patent CH44626 .
- ↑ Patent AT145894B .
- ↑ Adolf Bleichert & Co. Leipzig-Gohlis, Small Contributions to a Great Company History ( Memento of the original from January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Constam advertisement from 1938 at seilbahn-nostalgie.ch
- ↑ Constam towing suspension using the example of the Carmenna ski lift
- ↑ Video clip from the first year of operation of the Tschuggen lift in Arosa (1938)
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from February 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Cable cars built in Switzerland in 1970; 61 of the 87 cable cars are drag lifts
- ↑ 2000 cable cars built in Switzerland, of 25 cable cars only 5 are drag lifts
- ↑ Cable car encyclopedia - history & technology 1.8 Fixed-grip cable cars with circulating operation In: Cable car encyclopedia. www.bergbahnen.org
- ↑ Doppelmayr Garaventa Group website ( Memento of the original dated December 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Leitner ropeways website ( memento of the original from October 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Stephan Liedl: Cable car technology. (PDF) lecture notes. Willibald A. Günthner, April 1999, pp. 5-1 (PDF: 55) , archived from the original on March 20, 2013 ; Retrieved January 3, 2015 .
- ↑ ropewaygrips.ch - The terminal blog: Detachable pole tow lifts
- ^ Siegfried Beer (ed.): The "British" Styria 1945–1955 (= research on the historical regional studies of Styria . Volume 38 ). Self-published by the Historical Commission for Styria, Graz 1995, p. 351, 357; Footnote 69 ("The company name STEMAG stands for 'Steiermärkische Maschinen und Apparate Gesellschaft' ', conversation with Dr. Charlotte Driver on July 30, 1990, see also note 1.").
- ↑ a b Felix Gross: 1.6.6 Other surface lift systems. In: Seilbahnlexikon - History & Technology. Retrieved January 3, 2015 .
- ^ STV Wegenstetten. Ski lift. History. In: stvwegenstetten.ch. 2013, accessed on January 3, 2015 : "In the autumn of 1970, a mobile, electric lift was installed, which could pull 6 people up the mountain at a time."
- ↑ Felix Gross: Stemag. In: Seilbahnlexikon - manufacturer directory. Retrieved January 3, 2015 .
-
↑ For example:
* Sinswang ski lifts in Oberstaufen (Bavaria): “6-er rocket lift ” ( piste map. (No longer available online.) In: skilifte-sinswang.de December 7, 2012, archived from the original on January 8, 2015 ; retrieved on January 3, 2015 . )
* Schindelberg in Oberstaufen (Bavaria): (Schindelberg lift / canon lift Schindelberg lift. in: . starenlift.de Schilift Community Schindelberg GbR, December 16th 2011, accessed on January 3, 2015 . )
* Turn and sports club Seeg (Bavaria) ( The ski lift in Seeg is unicum . In: tsv-seeg.de. February 17, 2003, accessed on January 3, 2015 (Skiing - Other pages: Archive - our ski lift; excerpt from the Allgäuer Zeitung from February 17 2003): "Far and wide there is no other person who takes skiers and snowboarders upwards like this: six winter sports enthusiasts are pulled up next to each other. And that has been the case for over 40 years. How it works? A crossbar is attached to the rope and attached to it again six “plates” / length 300 meters, height Difference: 72 m, conveying capacity: 300 people per hour, speed: 5 meters per second " ) - ↑ [1]
- ↑ List of all belt tow lifts
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ List of all Vogler tow lifts
- ↑ T-bar Ordinance 2004. In: RIS. Federal Chancellery (Austria) , accessed on January 13, 2018 .
- ↑ Description of the Nutcracker Rope Tow driving in New Zealand , accessed on November 12, 2011, in English.
- ↑ New world record magic carpet in the Alpincenter Bottrop with a length of 400 m, manufacturer information , accessed on November 26, 2011.
- ↑ Old Ski Lifts: Good Business with Eastern States orf.at, August 26, 2018, accessed on August 26, 2018.
