Bödele sledge lift

Postcard from 1907/1908 with the sledge on the Lank .

The drive station of the sledge lift on the Bödele based on a sketch by Hugo Rhomberg.

The sledge lift on the Bödele (also: motor lift or elevator sledge ) on Bödele near Schwarzenberg , Vorarlberg , was a historical means of transport for winter sports enthusiasts that existed for a few years. This ascent aid is one of the oldest mechanical ascent aids in the Alps for winter sports and can be seen as the first forerunner of modern ski lifts. Similar systems were in operation in Switzerland from the 1930s (see: Sled cable car ).

technology

It was a non-steerable sled with a runner-like guide on the bottom of the sled, which went up and down on snow on a surface similar to a drag lift . The tow rope was driven by an internal combustion engine . The sled was not equipped with any braking or safety devices. The sledge offered space for about six passengers.

This first motorized ascent aid with sledge for skiers was constructed in 1907 and put into operation on a trial basis behind the then Alpenhotel Bödele on a practice hill. The system was designed by the Dornbirn engineers Hugo Rhomberg and Alfred Rüsch.

The sledge lift was attached to a 70 m long hemp rope that was pulled by a 4.5 HP vehicle engine. The ski jumpers could ride while sitting on two benches. Delivery rate approx. 40 jumpers per hour.

A year later, this ascent aid was also used on the Lank as a means of transport for the natural ski jump, which had existed for several years, and was run next to the ski jump.

literature

Jakob Gabathuler: Development and economics of toboggan ropeways, ski lifts and chairlifts. Stämpfli, Bern 1947.
Alpenhotel Bödele (Ed.): The Bödele near Dornbirn. Dornbirn undated (probably 1908) online .
Wolfgang Allgeuer, cable cars and drag lifts in Vorarlberg; its history in stages of development , Bregenz 1998, Neugebauer, Vorarlberger Landesbibliothek: Writings of the Vorarlberger Landesbibliothek, ISBN 3-85376-059-7

Web links

Photos of a toboggan cable car at skilift-nostalgie.ch , accessed on November 17, 2011

Individual evidence

↑ Wolfgang Allgeuer, cable cars and drag lifts in Vorarlberg; their story in development steps, p. 25, explains that the first mechanical climbing aid in Pillnitz near Dresden ( Saxony ) was built by an enterprising innkeeper in 1900. This cable lift was operated by a horse and the skiers were pulled up the slope. In 1904 (according to other information not until February 1908) there was a water- powered facility in Schollach in the Black Forest (at the Kurhaus "Schneckenhof" about 990 m above sea level, host: Robert Winterhalder ) , which allowed tobogganers and skiers with 2, 1 m / s uphill and had a conveying capacity of 55 people / hour. The plant was about 250 m long (according to other information 280 m).

↑ 16 guest rooms or 30 beds, burned down in 1938.

↑ Rudolf Hämmerle, 30 years of Lanklift am Bödele , Dornbirn 1981.

↑ Quoted from Vorarlberger Nachrichten of January 28, 1975, page 7.

[1] Wolfgang Allgeuer, cable cars and drag lifts in Vorarlberg; their story in development steps, p. 25, explains that the first mechanical climbing aid in Pillnitz near Dresden ( Saxony ) was built by an enterprising innkeeper in 1900. This cable lift was operated by a horse and the skiers were pulled up the slope. In 1904 (according to other information not until February 1908) there was a water- powered facility in Schollach in the Black Forest (at the Kurhaus "Schneckenhof" about 990 m above sea level, host: Robert Winterhalder ) , which allowed tobogganers and skiers with 2, 1 m / s uphill and had a conveying capacity of 55 people / hour. The plant was about 250 m long (according to other information 280 m).

[2] 16 guest rooms or 30 beds, burned down in 1938.

[3] Rudolf Hämmerle, 30 years of Lanklift am Bödele , Dornbirn 1981.

[4] Quoted from Vorarlberger Nachrichten of January 28, 1975, page 7.