 Poster: A snowHead
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Apparently the oldest ski lift still operating in north eastern USA is the single chair at Mad River Glen, the cooperatively-owned resort in Vermont. It opened in 1948.
This is impressive, because that's only 12 years after the chairlift was invented in Sun Valley.
Here's a lovely old map of the original Mad River chair and trails.
As for the Alps, I haven't a clue. Some of the cablecars can be pretty ancient. The one from Hohtalli to Stockhorn in Zermatt was, I think, built in the 1950s. In Scotland, I think the Coire Cas t-bar must date from about 1961. Don't know the date of the Cliffhanger single chair at Clencoe, but this must be about the same vintage.
Any other candidates? I guess the Parsennbahn funicular at Davos must be one, but I'm not sure if it's been upgraded.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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The old cog railway in St Anton, was one of the oldest I understood, now sadly no more. There's another in Insbruck up to the Hungerberg that must go back a long way, or was, it's a long time since I skied Insbruck (1970 to be precise)
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I'm sure it's nowhere near the oldest, but there is/was an old chair somewhere above Val d'Isere (towards Tignes) a couple fo years ago. It had no foot rest for those who may know it.
The oldest I've been on is probably the one at Alum Bay on the Isle of Wight. I've linked to pictures before, a Google serach will find pictures.
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If we include trains - and there's no reason why not, though the rolling stock is obviously updated from time to time - then I believe the first track ever used to take skiers uphill was the Wengernalp railway from Wengen, which nowadays takes skier further up, to the wonderful Eigergletscher station (one of the great scenic runs of the Alps, especially if you let a trainload of skiers go ahead and have the piste to yourself).
The exact date the Wengernalp railway opened is either late 1880s or 1890, but I wonder when the first skier first took some planks up there? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was writing about skiing in Switzerland only 4 years later, so maybe there were skiers on the first winter trains (though whether they operated it initially in winter is another open question).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Slightly OT, but while we're on the subject of ancient lifts, how about this idea for recycling old equipment...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Wengernalp opened in 1893 I think, Conan Doyle wrote about skiing in 1894 I think. For that matter, on topic, the railway upto the falls is pretty old I think and well worth a visit.
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| PG wrote: |
| Slightly OT, but while we're on the subject of ancient lifts, how about this idea for recycling old equipment... |
There's one of those at CairnGorm 
Glencoe was Scotlands first commercial ski area with the first lift there built in 1959 (Top Button). Glenshee however had the first proper fixed lift and was operated by a club (Dundee Ski Club I believe) who built the Meall Odhar T-Bar in 1956.
I have some pictures of skiing at Glencoe in the olden days when the Haggis Trap was called Dead Man's Gulch (there was a race going on and that was part of the course) and one of the ski tows had tripod-like towers.
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Originally the Wengenalp train to Kleine Scheidegg (opened 1911) was not open in winter. British skiers first persuaded the locals to run the raiway in winter for their benefit in 1924, which is the date the Downhill Only Club (still in existence) was founded. I think this may have been the first skilift. (?)
I gather that the site of the first cablecar in the world is nearby at Grindelwald: It went to the shoulder of the Wetterhorn, but I can't seem to find its date and I don't know if it was for skiers.
I gather the Canadians had the first North American rope-tow (1932) but I don't know if there was anything earlier over here.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowball, I think the Wengernalp opened in 1893, it was electrified later, the Kleine Scheidegg sections were electrified in 1909 and 1910. It ran in the winter as early as 1910. Funnily enough, the Swiss, French and a load of other foreigners had electricity, the printed word, the wheel, fire and all kinds of neat stuff before the plucky old Brit's brought civilization.
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The wetterhorn cablecar was sometime around 1900s. I went there the other week and seem to recall that it closed in 1916. Looking at it, I can't believe that it would have been for skiers. The top station is still there (pretty inaccessable though), and there is a cable car at the bottom (next to the Hotel Wetterhorn)
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The oldest lift in England was I guess the old rope tow on Raise which was first installed in the early 1950s (I think). It was subsequently repositioned outwith Savages gulley where it used to be regularly buried and had to be dug out.
Eventually the rope tow was replaced in 1989 with a Montaz Mautino fixed grip lift. I have been told that this was actually the last lift manufactured by the company before it went bust !
On the subject of ski lift archaeology, I was up on Great Dun Fell at the weekend and was delighted to find evidence of the old ski lift and fence up near the summit on the east drift. I might try and see about taking a portable tow up there sometime this season, just for old times sake.
Interestingly the new Access to the Countryside Act 2000 does not specifically exclude access to 'open country' on skis so presumeably it therefore permits it ! Other types of access for eg. paragliding and hangliding are excluded. So I believe is access for caving, but climbing is allowed.
It doesn't permit access by bike, horse or powereed vehicle. However it doesn't say anything about portable ski tows. Could be a debateable legal point !
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Thu 22-07-04 9:30; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Yes! But you might not get away with a Pistenbully.
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ise, well, re Wengenalp, if I'm wrong I'm wrong. For the dates I was relying on this site and the story in general as told me by several people, including a DOC member and my father who skied there from about 1930.
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You know it makes sense.
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Elizabeth is quite correct about the Wetterhorn cable car it was never intended for skiers, The trains in the Wengen Region were originally steam powered however the train from Kline Schidegg to JungfrauJoch was always intended to be electrically powered, what is interesting is that this was decided several years before the first electrically powered train ever ran, now that's foresight ! For many years the trains up to Kline Schidegg ran under steam whilst those upwards from there ran on Electricity
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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snowball, the Wengernalp railway (WAB) is part of the Jungfraubahnen who I'm sure have their own site with the correct dates on it.
The claim that the DHO got the train to run for the first time in winter in 1924 is almost certainly wrong which makes me dubious about the rest of the stuff on that site.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Perhaps they are right that the club was founded then but simply assumed that that was when the skiers first used the train (?)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I wonder, then, if the Gornergrat railway in Zermatt carried skiers uphill before the Wengernalp railway? Again, it depends when it first operated in winter.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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The website talks about it a bit but they're referring to full winter opening not partial as I read it so who knows?
Maybe the sad railway anoraks bulletin board would know 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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The oldest I've been on I think, is the ridiculous, creaking, slow moving single seater that connects Sauze and Sestriere. Those with a nervous disposition will generally feel a stirring!!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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The WAB train first ran in 1893 however it only began winter opperations in 1910, whilst the DHO is one of the oldest ski clubs arround it is not the oldest, the club existed before however it was only in 1924 that it actually aquired a name, the Wengen Ski Club is older than the DHO as is the Kandahar club over at Murren, the winter opening of the line occured after the electrification of both the lines from Lauterbrunnen up (1909) and Grindelwald up (1910), However having seen the pictures I can confirm that Steam and Electric trains ran on the same track for a period of time.
The DHO actually aquired their name due to the fact that the trains were already running, the Kandahar club had to walk up the mountain in the morning, thus the trains must have been running before the club.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Only two come to mind, the two man chairlift in Sauze close to the Sportinia chairlift and a single in Cairngorm.
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richard,
Cairngorm has never had a single chairlift. It did however have one of the first ever detachable chairs based on the First design at grindlewald. I think Maag of Zurich were the constructors.
Glenshee and Glencoe still have very effective, if somewhat slow single chairlifts.
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D G Orf. So, is the Wengen, Kandahar or SCGB (1903 as we kept being told last year) the oldest ski club?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Peter S, I believe Mueller (another Swiss firm) built the Cairngorm chairlift, but I'm not 100% certain.
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Peter S, there isn't? Oh well, it has been 8 years since I've last been there. I must have got mixed up with another resort.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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snowball, Wengen Ski club claims 1904, Alpine Ski Club 1908 and Kandahar Club 1924 both founded by Sir Arnold Lunn, So I guess that the SCGB in 1903 gets it 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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As for the oldest ski club in the world, the oldest one still in existence is the Oslo club, or as it was known then, the Christiana Ski Club (1883).....
The first club ever, now defunct, was also Norwegian, the "Shooting and Skiing Club of Trysil", founded on May 30, 1861.
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well I guess that answers the question then 
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You know it makes sense.
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D G Orf, Depends whether 'non-British' clubs count! 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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Sauze has its fair share of old and unusual chairlifts. Getting up the mountain from the old "Andy Capps" area where you take off your skis and jump on clutching your skis without decapitating anyone.
Crossing back from Borgata into Sauze via a very old and rustic one man chair, only way to survive is have a few bevvies in Borgata on the way home.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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There's a marvellous old cable car from Leukerbad town up the cliff face to the ski area over towards the Berner Oberland. The operator told me it had been running continuously (it's used for transport as well as tourism) since 1959 - it felt like it. I also went on a very old single chair at the Pas Thurn near Kitzbuhel, but that was a long time ago - I should think it's been gone a long time by now. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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There is a blinking old lift up at the Steinbergkogel in Kitzbuhel and some equally dreadful ones at Pass Thurn. Still, it all adds to the flavour of the place!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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In Puy st. Vincent there are a few wood chairs with an antiquey feel about them. Luckily I had my home carbon-dating kit with me, when there, and estimate time of construction to be 12.58, 13th feb 1956 which coincidentely was the exact time of my birth and therefore gives me a link to my addiction to skiiiing.
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FAQ
