Ski lifts

Ski lifts explained

Thirteen kinds of lift, grouped by how you ride them: pulled along the snow, seated on a chair, inside a cabin or on rails. Each page shows the machine working, how to ride it and where PisteWindow records it.

One mountainside, every kind of liftSchematic mountain: a magic carpet and T-bar by the village, a gondola to the mid-station, a detachable chairlift and an aerial tramway above it, and a 3S gondola from the next valley.
  1. Magic carpet
  2. T-bar
  3. Gondola
  4. Detachable chairlift
  5. Aerial tramway
  6. 3S gondola

Surface lifts

Pulled or carried along the snow, skis on.

T-bar

Two riders lean on one bar and are pulled uphill.

1–2 people · 2–3.5 m/s

Button lift

One rider, a disc between the legs.

1 person · 2.5–4 m/s

Rope tow

Hold a slow, moving rope.

1 person · No published figure

Magic carpet

A slow belt you stand on.

1 person · No published figure

Chairlifts

Seated on a chair, skis on.

Cabin lifts

Inside a closed cabin, skis off.

Gondola

Small cabins circulate on one rope.

4–10 people · 5–7 m/s

3S gondola

Big cabins roll on two ropes, a third pulls them.

28–38 people · 6–8.5 m/s

Funitel

Wide cabins grip two haul ropes.

20–33 people · 6–7 m/s

Aerial tramway

One or two big cabins shuttle back and forth.

6–200 people · 10–12.5 m/s

Rail lifts

In a car on rails, skis off.

Funicular

Two cable-hauled cars on a steep track.

100–400 people · 5–14 m/s

Cog railway

A train that climbs with a toothed wheel.

No published figure · 2.5–7 m/s