 Poster: A snowHead
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I just saw this article, the first ski lift in the world
The world’s first ski lift was built in Schollach in the Black Forest Highlands. The inventor: Robert Winterhalder (1866 – 1932)
In 1904, spa guests started arriving in the Schneckenhof – a farm with a restaurant and guest house, belonging to the Winterhalder family. Due to the fresh air, the winter months were busy, too. Winter sports became increasingly popular and many visitors started skiing and tobogganing. However, climbing the slope was problematic, especially for those suffering from asthma. The farmer and landlord, Robert Winterhalder, noticed this and began thinking about ways of easing the climb for the visitors. The existing belt drive system from the mill to the threshing floor of the Schneckenhof gave him the idea of installing an additional system which could pull visitors up the mountain to the edge of the forest. Winterhalder used the hydropower created by the mill in front of his house to drive his newly invented “elevator” forwards. He had already extended the mill’s machinery before 1900, allowing the power generated by the water wheel to reach the upper floor of his farmhouse, where the hay and grain was stored, via an endless wire rope. He had always found it tedious to first carry the grain to his mill and then to move the flour back to his house. It was this type of transmission belt that he essentially also used for his ski lift.
Opposite the farm was a sluice-covered canal which served as a water tank. Winterhalder laid an underground iron strip from the canal’s outlet above the mill all the way to the mill house. In addition to the existing system, a second drive wheel was coupled with the cogwheel which powered the rope tow running parallel to the slope. The revolving steel rope connected across five poles with mast rollers, leading 32 m upwards and crossing a distance of 280 m to the upper lift station. This “continuous cable car with towing hitches for tobogganists and skiers” was officially launched and put into operation on 14 February 1908. This elevator system, the first ski lift in the world, was a huge success. It became a key topic of discussion among winter sports enthusiasts across the whole of Germany. Robert Winterhalder tasked the Kleyer Patent Agency in Karlsruhe with drafting a patent application for the lift. Between 1909 and 1911, he obtained the patents (utility models) for Germany, France, Austria, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
I must admit I was completely unaware of this history and Robert Winterhalder's ingenious invention. All credit to him. It may be that in those alpine places that already had mountain railways some skiers may have used them to get uphill prior to this, but Winterhalder definitely gets the credit for the first purpose built ski lift. Note that the first T-bar lift was introduced in Davos in December 1934 and the first ski chairlift wasn't introduced until 1936 in Sun Valley Idaho.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Thu 16-01-25 10:38; edited 1 time in total
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