Australian ski tow directory

From WikiSki

This article lists all 400 ski lifts and passenger ropeways that have operated in Australia, including a few dozen 'ski' lifts away from the snowfields. The dates cited are the ski seasons a lift operated (or if a particular lift didn't run in poor snow seasons, the seasons it was available to operate). Also included are a few planned lifts where details have been published (rather than just the fantasies of posters in chat rooms).

Only the "Big Five" resorts (Buller, Falls, Hotham, Perisher and Thredbo) have quad chairs, the smaller resorts have a combination of surface lifts, double chairs and triple chairs. It's worth noting that the big Victorian resorts tend to replace their lifts far more often than their NSW counterparts. In the last 60 years there have been 17 lifts built to serve Bourke Street on Mt Buller. By contrast the Mt Perisher double chair is close to it's 50th birthday and many other lifts at Perisher (and to a lesser extent Thredbo) are not much younger.

Ski lifts outside resorts. Generally the clubs that operate lifts on Mt St Bernard, the Bogong High Plains and at Cabramurra don't permit non members to use their lifts, as their liability insurance doesn't cover outsiders. But if you know someone or even just smile sweetly, you may be able to use their tows. For more detailed information see the separate article non resort ski tows. The pre-war ski resort at Donna Buang had at least four ski lodges, cleared ski runs and wooden ski jumps, but it never had ski lifts. Likewise both the Feathertop Bungalow and Mt St Bernard Hospice were very popular commercial ski lodges before they were burnt in the 1939 fires, but no lifts were built at either location until the 1950's when a couple were installed on St Bernard. The present cross country ski resorts have never had lifts either.

Proposed resorts. A system of chairlifts complete with an access gondola was proposed for Mt Rufus in Tasmania in the early 1970's. At about the same time Florentine Peak (near Mt Mawson) was assessed for it's viability as a modern ski resort, but sadly nothing eventuated at either location. A plan for developing Mt Stirling in Victoria was released in the early 1980's and another was produced in the mid 1990's, but nothing happened there either. A 1950 report on developing Victoria's ski fields recommended development of an 'alpine village' at Mt Wills, but the only things built there were a single lodge and one lift. Since Thredbo was established in 1957, the only new lifted ski area has been Mt Blue Cow in New South Wales, now part of Perisher ski resort.

Finally, this sort of research takes time! In particular the Buffalo section needs more information. If you notice any errors or omissions, please correct them yourself or email the information to sisson.dave at yahoo.com.au --© David Sisson 01:05, 5 July 2007 (EST)

Contents 1 Types of ski lifts 2 Australian Capital Territory 3 Ben Lomond 4 Charlotte Pass 5 Falls Creek 6 Mt Baw Baw 7 Mt Buffalo 8 Mt Buller 9 Mt Hotham 10 Mt Mawson 11 New South Wales, outside resorts 12 Perisher Blue 13 Selwyn Snowfields 14 Tasmania, proposals outside resorts 15 Thredbo 16 Victoria, outside resorts 17 Other passenger ropeways (non snow) 18 Proposed lifts outside ski fields 19 Cross country ski resorts (no lifts) 20 Links

Types of ski lifts

Aerial lifts.

Chairlifts can seat one, two, three, four, six or eight people per chair. Most chairlifts are fixed grip, with chairs directly attached to the lift cable. Detachable chairlifts remove the chair from the cable at the top and bottom stations, allowing passengers to get on and off a slow moving chair (around 1 metre per second). This means the main cable can move much faster, around 5 metres per second (18 km/h), compared to an average of 2.3 for fixed grip chairlifts. However detachables are much more expensive to build and maintain, so the more economical, but slower, fixed grip lifts are still being at built at major resorts around the world.

Chairlift capacity is determined by the speed of the cable, the number of people per chair and the spacing of chairs. The highest capacity for a quad is 3000 per hour, which would mean a fairly quick 4.8 second chair interval. However most have a nominal capacity of around 2400. The real number moved is usually lower due to stoppages, not all chairs carrying the maximum number of people and the lift not running at full speed. Some lifts also have 'generously' spaced towers, meaning that chairs have to be spaced further apart to keep the weight on the cable down.

Australia's first single chairlift was built at Falls Creek by Bob Hymans in 1957. The first double chair was Thredbo's Crackenback in 1958. Triple chairs appeared in 1979 when Grimus at Buller and the Mt Perisher Triple were built. 1984 saw the advent of the quad chair with Big D at Hotham and Blue Bullets 1 and 2 at Buller. Australia's only eight seat chairlift is Perisher's Village built in 2003 and the only 'six pack' in the country is Holden which opened at Buller in 2008. Buller's Blue Bullets were also notable for being the first detachable chairlifts in the country.

Australia's longest chairlifts were the two that connected Thredbo Valley to Charlotte Pass in 1964 and 1965. The longest existing chairlift is the Kosciusko Express (formerly named Crackenback) at Thredbo which at 1860 m is marginally longer than the Horse Hill quad at Mt Buller. The shortest ski chairlift was the Valley chairlift at Mt Buffalo which last ran in 2006. It was under 200 metres long. The shortest existing ski chairlift is probably New Chum at Selwyn.

Gondolas. A gondola is an enclosed cabin where passengers walk in and sit facing each other. There are usually racks on the outside for skis and snowboards. At overseas ski fields and in Australian tourist areas, gondolas are a separate type of lift. While there are no dedicated gondolas in Australian ski fields, Buller's Horse Hill chairlift and Thredbo's Kosciusko Express chairlift have gondola cabins which can be attached to the cable between chairs. In 2009, the Falls Creek resort plan proposed replacing the Gully triple chair with a gondola. Also in 2009 the local tourist authority proposed putting a gondola on Mt Buffalo, a little to the south of the toll road. However they didn't mention any financial backers for their dream.

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Surface lifts.

All resorts started out with surface lifts (also called drag tows). They are much cheaper to build and maintain than chairlifts and are not as vulnerable to high winds. However they are not as 'beginner friendly', and they usually have a much lower capacity. They also need a consistent uphill slope. Sadly, surface lifts have been phased out by most major resorts except for areas high above the treeline that are exposed to strong winds. However at Perisher and the smaller resorts, they continue to play an important role.

Carpets. A carpet lift is simply a short conveyor belt. They are used exclusively for beginners on gentle slopes as they do not require any technique to ride them other than the ability to stand up.

T-bars. T-bars consist of several parts. The first is a stick with a bar across the bottom which looks like an inverted T shape. Skiers and boarders lean on this bar, holding on to the central stick. This is connected to a retractable cord running from a spring box which is permanently attached to the elevated moving lift cable. Because they are fixed grip, T-bars tend to run at fairly modest speeds. The first T-bar in Australia was the short lived Gam Tow which operated at Thredbo in 1957.

J-bars. Essentially they are single T-bars. A few were built in the early days of ski lifts, but none have been built in Australia for half a century because they cost the same to build and run as T-bars, but only transport half as many people. However after snowboarders experienced difficulties riding the platters at Ben Lomond, some J-bars were added to lifts at that resort for the 2009 season. The first J-bar in the country was installed at Charlotte Pass in 1938. It was only the second ski lift in Australia.

Platters. Platter lifts look a bit like Pomas because skiers are hauled uphill by a button between their legs, but they are fixed grip and the platter has a retractable cord connected to a spring box, so they operate like single seat T-bars.

Pomas. Pomas are the only detachable grip surface lift. Sticks are stored in a rack at the bottom of the lift. Passengers move to the front of the lift queue, grab a spring loaded stick and put the button between their legs. At the same time, the grip at the top end of the stick attaches to a moving overhead cable. This can either by manually activated by a liftie or automatically by skiers tripping a switch as they move past. Pomas are the only drag tow found at resorts where self loading works in practice (although this is standard procedure for nutcrackers at club fields). There have been experiments with self loading T-bars and platters, but skiers and boarders don't seem to be able to cope with them.

Because they are detachable, Pomas are by far the fastest drag lift, the legendary International Poma at Falls Creek had a speed of 4.2 metres per second until a new and slower motor was installed. The speed record for any Australian lift belongs to the former double ended Howqua - Summit Access Poma at Buller which operated at 6.5 m/s for staff access, but was restricted to 4 m/s when open to the public.

Confusingly, many platters are described as Pomas, presumably because they are both use a button to move skiers uphill, even though they are different types of lifts in every other respect. Pomas are the only type of ski lift that can easily accommodate bends in their path (T-bars and chairs can have bends, but they are awkward and expensive to build). Half the Pomas built in Australia had bends, the Brockhoff Poma at Hotham had two. Pomas were very popular in Victoria and at one stage there were four of them running parallel to each other at Buller. However they never really took off in NSW. The first Pomas in this country made their appearance in 1964 at Buller, Hotham, Charlotte Pass and Falls Creek.

Nutcrackers. Some modern skiers who don't venture beyond the main resorts are unfamiliar with nutcracker lifts. But all ski resorts in Australia and New Zealand began with them. While they have been replaced at the big resorts, nutcrackers can still be found at 'club fields'. A nutcracker is a device attached to a belt worn by a skier that clamps onto a moving rope at waist level, allowing the skier to be towed uphill. The height of the rope and the pulleys that support it is adjusted according to snow levels. While it may not be necessary to use a nutcracker on short, gently graded rope tows, it is impossible for skiers to hold onto a rope with their hands on steeper tow lines or where the rope passes over a pulley. Riding nutcrackers explained, Powderhound article on nutcrackers.

Most Australian nutcracker lifts were derived from the design perfected by Bill (later Sir William) Hamilton in New Zealand. Hamilton installed his first ski lift at Coronet Peak in 1947 and within a few years had perfected the Hamilton Model B design that has been used ever since. Because it was easily copied and readily available material could be substituted for Hamilton parts, (such as car wheel rims for rope pulleys), many backcountry nutcrackers were built entirely by the groups that ran them. Because they don't have tall towers, nutcracker tows are easily moved and some Australian tows have operated at four locations.

Handle tows. Short portable ski lifts with plastic handles permanently attached to a waist high cable. To move uphill, a skier just grabs one of the handles and holds on!

Rope tows. This term is often used to include nutcrackers and handle tows, but a true rope tow is one where the skier or boarder simply grasps the rope in their hands. They are only practical for short and very gently graded slopes. Typical examples are the Canyon tows at Buller which assist skiers over slight bumps on a mostly downhill access trail. In this listing most of the old lifts described as rope tows were probably nutcrackers. The first ski lift in Australia was the rope tow made out of recycled railway lines that was built at Buffalo in 1937.

Australian Capital Territory

Location	Owner	Operated	Name	Notes
Mt Franklin	Canberra Alpine Club	1957 - late 60's	Brumby Tow	Operated on Little Ginini, Slalom Run, Nursery Run
Mt Franklin	Canberra Alpine Club	1965 only	Austin A40 Tow	Operated on Slalom Run
Little Ginini	John Dowling	1959 - 1960	-	Moved to Mt Selwyn
Mt Ginini	RMC Ski Club	1957 - mid 60's	-	-
Corin Forest	Corin Forest	1980's & 90's	-	May have been upgraded to a Poma, but details are vague.

All A.C.T. ski lifts were rope tows, although the Corin Forest tow may have been upgraded to a Poma at some stage. For more detailed information see the non resort tows article. --© David Sisson 01:31, 23 July 2007 (EST)

Ben Lomond

. .

Lift name	Type	Manufacturer	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Thirty Second	Rope tow	-	1963 - 1984	370 / 85	Above current Bass tow	NTAC. Extended at base 1973, at top 1975
Big Ben	Rope tow	-	1967 - 1984	425 / 78	B/w Fanny's & Bill's	NTAC. Used parts from Mt Buller's Bourke St rope tow
Summit	Platter	Yac	1973 - 1991	327 / 86	-	Alpine Enterprises. 370 m long, 80 m rise
Fanny's	Platter	Yac	1973 - 1978	-	-	Alpine Enterprises. 300 m long, 73 m rise
Beginners / Village	Platter	Yac	1973 - present	260 / 55	-	A.E. 300 m long, 35 m rise. Renamed in 1980's
Giblin	Platter	Yac	1976 - present	245 / 52	-	AE. Closed 09, PWS refused maint access to tower by vehicle or heli
Fanny's	T-bar	Doppelmayr	1979 - present	254 / 68	-	Alpine Enterprises
Creek Run	Platter	Yac	1979 - present	325 / 28	-	Relocated Fanny's platter
Bill's	T-bar	Doppelmayr	1985 - present	-	-	Alpine Enterprises
Thirty Second	Poma	Pomagalski	1985 - 2002?	-	Above current Bass tow	NTAC. Formerly on Mt Buller Summit
Big Ben	Poma	Pomagalski	1985 - 2002?	-	B/w Fanny's & Bill's	NTAC. Formerly on Mt Buller Summit
Summit	T-bar	Doppelmayr	1992 - present	-	-	Alpine Enterprises
Bass	Poma?	-	? - present	-	-	Built on lower section of 30 Sec, used some of its parts
Planned lifts	.				-
Creek Inn-base of Bill's	2-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	c.1990	-	Thirty Second	TSL. Formerly Mt Buller's Bourke St chair. See note below
Village - Thirty Second	T-bar	Doppelmayr	2009	-	-	Relocate & extend Fannys. Base of Vil - top of Fannys
Big Ben slope	Platter	Yac	2009	-	-	Relocated Village Platter

In common with Mt Buller and Mt Baw Baw, for a time Ben Lomond's ski lifts were run by two companies. Alpine Enterprises (AE) was established in 1973 by Eryl Williams, Brian Hill and Arvids Endelmanis. The Northern Tasmanian Alpine Club's (NTAC) first tow was built by Eddie Hausegger and Bill Mitchell in 1963. In 1990 the lifts were split off from the club to become Tasmanian Ski Lifts (TSL).

Installation of the chairlift was repeatedly delayed by bureaucracy, eventually TSL simply gave up trying to get around the new barriers that were constantly put in the way of installing the lift and abandoned the project. Early this century the chairlift was still stored on a nearby farm, but apparently the drive terminal was then sold to a horse breeder to be used for training purposes while the rest was sold as scrap metal. :(

Some years after the chairlift fiasco, TSL was refused permission to operate their Pomas by the former Ben Lomond Skifield Management Authority and told to remove their lifts. Eventually AE was given salvage rights to them and Thirty Second and Big Ben were removed.

Current trail map. A 3D map showing the former routes of Thirty Second and Big Ben (as black dotted lines).

More on Ben Lomond history.

David M. Harvey. The Ben Lomond Story. The author, 2000.

Thanks to "Ben Lomond Brad" and "Bulldozer" for help with this list. --© David Sisson 20:10, 4 August 2007 (EST)

Charlotte Pass

. .

Lift name	Type	Manufacturer	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Ski Hoist, aka. The Meat Hook	J-bar	NSW Railways	1938 - 1952	-	Pulpit Rock	2nd ski tow in Aust. Replaced by rope tow
Sponar's	Rope tow	-	1952?	-	Wood Run	Was to operate in '53, but Sponar ill with T.B.
Pulpit Rock	Nutcracker	-	1953 - 1963	-	-	Rope tow 1953, converted to nutcracker in '54
Woodrum	Nutcracker	-	1958 - 1963	600 / ?	Chalet Dam-Lit Stillwell	600 metres long, replaced by double chair
Thredbo Valley-Stillwell Restaurant	2-Chair-F	Carlevaro or..	1964 - 1965	-	-	Abandoned due to strong winds & derailing -
Stillwell Restaurant-Charlotte Pass	2-Chair-F	...Mueller???	1964 - 1965	-	-	- Combined length = 5 km. Cost £1,200,000!
Pulpit	Poma	Pomagalski	1964 - 1966	-	-	Replaced by a T-bar. Poma moved to Basin
Rope Tow	Portable rope	-	19?? - 2007	-	-	Usually operated between Basin & Kangaroo
Guthries	Poma	Pomagalski	1964 - present	580 / 133	-	Occasionally spelt 'Gutheries' on trail maps
Basin	Poma	-	1967 - present	260 / 43	-	Moved from Pulpit
Pulpit	T-bar	-	1967 - present	310 / 95	-	Replaced a Poma. Was a duplex T-bar in 1970's
Kangaroo Ridge / Kosciusko	3-Chair-F	Pomagalski	1980 - present	670 / 154	-	Name changed 2009?
Kosci Carpet	Carpet	-	2008 - present	-	B/w Basin & Kosci trip	-

The latest news is that there is a double chair stored at Cooma Airport that may be destined for Charlotte Pass. In early 2009 there was a rumour at Mt Baw Baw that their old 960 metre Doppelmayr double chair had been sold to Charlotte Pass, so this may be the origin of the chairlift that has appeared at the airport.

Information on the 1960's Pulpit lifts is a bit ambiguous. Sponar's tow had previously run at St Christoph, Austria in 1949, it was the first tow at that resort. Woodrum may have been demolished at the end of the 1962 winter rather than after the 1963 season. Current trail map.

The former Thredbo Valley - Charlotte Pass chairlifts have their own WikiSki page here. Components have been reassembled at Wollongong where the lift still operates. See Section 16 of this page Ski lifts away from snowfields.

More on Charlotte Pass history.

Rick Walkom. Skiing off the roof: the Kosciusko Chalet at Charlotte Pass and its place in the history of the Australian snowfields. Arlberg Press, 1991. Reprinted by Tabletop Press, 2000. --© David Sisson 15:22, 16 July 2007 (EST)

1963 map of Charlotte Pass and Guthega showing the ski lifts of the day and the proposed Kosciusko hydro reservoir and power station which were never built. Click to enlarge.	The mid station of the ill fated chairlift between Thredbo Valley and Charlotte Pass
Views of Australia's second ski lift, the Charlotte Pass ski hoist or Meathook J-bar built in 1938	Another view of the CP "Meathook". Click to enlarge

Falls Creek

. . . .

Lift name	Type	Manufacturer	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Nissen	Nutcracker	Hamilton	1951 - 1960	-	Summit	Toni St Elmo Capacity 5 = long queue. 6/- day in 1951
Myrtleford Ski Club lift	Rope tow	-	1951 - ?	-	?	Designed and built by Gordon Mulder
Hyman's Skyline	Portable rope tow	-	1950's	-	-	Bob Hyman, operated top left of summit in '57
Hyman's Chair	1-Chair-F	Locally made	1957 - 1962?	375 / ?	Near Grand Couer run	1st chairlift in Australia. 40 chairs
Village (left side)	Nutcracker	Jock Wilson	1958 - 1960	? / 50	Went to Raceline	Fred Griffith, Bill Bridgeford & others
Village (right side)	Nutcracker	Jock Wilson	1958 - 1960	-	Village run	Fred Griffith et. al. Double the length of left side
Dog Patch / Collis	Nutcracker	-	1958 - c.1962	-	Sth of Nissen on Summit	Marsh Collis and others
Nursery Tow [1]	Rope tow	-	1961 - ?	-	Below Dogpatch	Shown on map below
Nursery Tow [2]	Rope tow	-	1961 - ?	-	Site of current Tube lift	Shown on map below
Summit	T-bar	Ron McCallum	1961 - 1991	793 / 204	-	Alpine Dev., designed & built by Rod McCallum
Village / Spur	T-bar	Ron McCallum	1961 - 1999	466 / 122	-	Replaced and extended Village nutcracker lifts
Gully	2-Chair-F	-	1964 - 1981	456 / 76	-	-
Nursery / Baby	Poma	Poma	1964 -2001?	153 / 30	Near current Tube lift	Still in operation 1998
Sun Valley	T-bar	McCulloch?	1967 - 1988	826 / 168	-	Replaced by Scott quad. Makers name not certain
International	Poma	Poma	1969 - present	1219/ 277	-	See notes below
Saddle / Link Lift	T-bar	-	1969 - 2000	265 / 30	-	Still operating '98, towers standing '08
Nursery (Baby) duplicate	Poma	Poma	1972 - 2000?	-	-	-
Ruined Castle	Poma	-	1973 - 1994	732 / 140	-	-
Mighty Mite	Portable handle	-	1970's	-	Various	Unsure of precise name and dates
Lakeside	Poma	Poma	1976 - present	737 / 140	-	-
Dogpatch	Poma	-	1979 - 1992?	148 / 27	B/w Nursery and Summit	-
Panorama	Poma	Poma	1979 - 2003?	790 / 135	-	-
Playground	Poma	-	1980 - 2005	300 / 33	-	-
Eagle	3-Chair-F	Poma	1980 - present	693 / 190	-	-
Headwaters	Poma	-	1980 - 2000	490 / 56	B/w Summit & Ruined C	Still operating in 1998
Towers	Duplex T-bar	-	1981 - 1998	692 / 138	-	-
Gully	3-Chair-F	-	1982 - present	475 / 76	-	Replaced Gully double chairlift
Big Dipper	Duplex T-bar	-	1983 - 1999?	800 / 140	South west of Ruined C	Possibly gone by 1998
Tom Thumb	Poma	-	1986 - 2005	-	Present Mouse Trap site	-
Halleys Comet/ Bilia/ FC Express	4-Chair-D	Doppelmayr	1986 - present	-	-	Bilia Bullet '02?-'04, Falls Express '06 -
Scott	4-Chair-F	-	1989 - present	-	-	Replaced Sun Valley T-bar
Summit	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1992 - present	-	-	Replaced Summit T-bar
Ruined Castle	4-Chair-F	-	1995 - present	-	-	Replaced Poma. Has conveyor to speed loading
Towers	4-Chair-F	-	1999 - present	-	-	Replaced Towers twin T-bar
Boardwalk	Carpet lift	-	2004 - present	-	-	-
The Tube	Carpet lift	-	2004 - present	-	Site of Nursery Poma	-
Drover's Dream	4-Chair-F	Poma	2004 - present	-	Replaced Panorama	Bought from Letiner-Poma Canada, not Poma Aust
Mouse Trap	Enclosed carpet	-	2006 - present	-	Site of Tom Thumb Poma	Replaced Tom Thumb poma
Monkey Bar	Platter lift	-	2006 - present	-	-	Replaced Playground Duplex Platters
Planned lifts	.				-	-
Rocky Knolls	"Chairlift"	-	?	587 / ?	Beyond Big Dipper T-bar	Approved circa 2004
Damsite	"Surface lift"	-	?	750 / ?	West of Rocky Knolls	Approved circa 2004
Mt McKay lifts	Chairlift system	-	"Before 2012"	-	-	Mentioned in E.E.S. for above in 2002
McKay south	Unknown	-	-	c.750 / 380	McKay summit-Pretty Valley Ck	Shown on map apparently produced by lift company
Gully	Gondola	-	Proposed 2009	-	Site of Gully triple	Mentioned in section 2 of resort plan

The removal of the Big Dipper, Headwaters and Village lifts has greatly reduced the amount of easily accessible lifted terrain compared to the 1990's. Recent trail map.

It appears it was intended to build Damsite from components of Big Dipper that were in storage. The storage shed was burnt in the 2003 fires and afterwards the rumour was that if Damsite is ever built, it will be a chairlift.

Lift companies. In the 1950's every lift had a different owner. In late 1960, Bill Bridgeford's Alpine Developments Holdings (ADH) bought Nissen and Village and by the 1961 season had replaced them with T-bars. ADH continued to expand the lift network until 1983 when the lifts were sold to Transfield. Then in 1996 B.C.R. took over and in 2004 the lift company was sold to MFS Living and Leisure, a listed Gold Coast land developer that also acquired the lift company at Hotham. When MFS L&L went bust, Jamie Packer's leisure industry holding company took over for the 2009 season. As it also owned Perisher, three of Australia's five largest ski resorts are owned by the same company and a season ticket bought at one resort is valid at all three.

International Poma. Built in 1969, The 'Inter' is a unique lift (or 'iconic' as the Falls Creek marketing department calls it) and even has it's own fan page on Facebook. It received it's name because it serviced the area where a F.I.S. international race was held in 1960. The race required 1500 feet of vertical descent, so a ski bridge was built over the road and the race ran from the summit right down to Rocky Valley Creek. The bridge was removed in the mid 1960's, but the name for the area remained. The International Poma could have sticks attached every 6 metres along it's 1216 metre length and it's V12 diesel engine powered it at up to 4.2 metres a second, making it the fastest drag tow in the southern hemisphere. Kids could get serious air time going around the corner... whee !

The combination of high speed and loading punters close together gave the Inter a similar capacity to duplex T-bars such as Towers and Big Dipper. Now the (single speed) electric drive only powers the lift at 2.4 metres per second, so it's much slower and slightly less fun. But it remains the longest cornered Poma this side of the equator and even with a much lower speed, it's lifting capacity still matches that of some chairlifts, which is probably why it hasn't been replaced, despite it's extreme age.

Early buildings at Falls Creek. This list is very incomplete and is still a bit rough. In addition to hydro buildings and mountain cattlemen's huts, the following lodges were built in the early decades of Falls Creek:

St Elmo's hut 1946, Skyline Lodge 1947-1973, S.C.V 1947-1948 (relocated to become Red Hut), Bogong Ski Club 1948, St Elmo's House 1948, Albury Ski Club 1949 (burnt 1959, rebuilt 1960), Myrtleford Ski Club 1949, Red Hut aka Spion Kopje Lodge (½ way b/w Howmans & Falls) c.1950-2003, Dawn Ski Club 1950? (later Rocky Valley S.C.), Grande Coeur 1950? burnt 1961, Nissen Lodge 1952.

Mid and late 1950's buildings include: Snow Crystal (since demolished & rebuilt), Nelse <1958 (extended c.1964, demolished & rebuilt 198?), Gundamurri, St Trinians, Kiewa Valley S.C., T & T (Transport & Trading) store (2 x old SEC huts on Winterhaven site, extended many times in the last 60 years), Diana Lodge, Galleon (ex SEC building, aka Cooroona), Bowna S.C., Mulligatawny (burnt c. 1956, replaced by Limlimbu), Four Seasons, Snowhaven (on site of Freuauf Village), Frying Pan Inn 1958, Arundel 1959 (extended 1964 & 1976, renamed Julian's in 1971), Snowden (later renamed Rim Rock) 1959.

1960's: Wat Thai 1961, Falls Creek Home Units (later renamed Alcatraz), Woomargama S.C. (aka The Roundhouse) c.1961, Rocky Valley Staff Camp (used as ski accom c.1962 until demolished in 1965), Cumming's Ski Hire c.1962, (First) Australian Alpine Club (later Red Onion) 1963, Alpen Rose Flats c.1963, Ripparoo S.C. 1963, Pretty Valley (top floor was former mess building at Rocky Valley hydro camp) c.1963, Runaway Lodge c.1964, Molonys ski hire at base of Gully 1964, Lions Club snack bar (on site of St Elmo's first hut) c.1964, Karingal Flats 1964, Geelong S.C. 1964, Koki c.1965, Avondale (later Feathertop) mid 60's, Pfefferkorn c.1965, Southern Cross Flats 1966, Spargo's (later Halley's) c.1966, The Man 1967 (extended 1978), Kilimanjaro Flats c.1967, Carey Alpine Club c.1967, CSIR S.C. c.1967, Naarilla Flats c.1967, Rainbow Club c.1967, Hukarere (later Alpha) c.1967.

1970's. Haus Innsbruck (called Karelia from '72) 1971, Attunga 1971, Les Chalet flats 1973, (New) Australian Alpine Club c.1972, Vikings S.C., early 1970's, (First) Falls Creek School 1972, The Hub shops 1978, Cedarwood c.1979.

More on Falls Creek history:

Julian Newton Brown. Falls Creek: how it came to be. Janby Productions, 2005.

Bob Howe. Melting tracks: history and memories of Albury Ski Club and early Falls Creek. The author, 2004. --© David Sisson 14:17, 9 July 2007 (EST)

Bob Hymans' single chair at Falls Creek in the late 1950's.

Another view of Bob Hyman's chairlift. Click to enlarge.

Mt Baw Baw

. .

Lift name	Type	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Hut	Rope tow	1955 - 1976	-	-	Baw Baw Ski Club. Cost £200. Replaced by a platter.
Painted Run	Rope tow	Early 60's- >1982	245 / 50	-	Baw Baw Ski Club. Later duplicated. East of T-bar that replaced it
Access [1]	2-Chair-F	1970 - 1988?	960 / 320	-	Gippsland Chairlift Co. Access to village from carpark, also for skiing.
Maltese Cross	T-bar	1971,2 or 3-present	460 / 70	-	Dartos Ltd.
Hut Run	Platter	1975 or 77-present	390 / 55	-	Baw Baw Ski Tows. (formerly Baw Baw Ski Club).
Beginners?	Rope tow	1977 - >1983	150 / 22	B/w Hut & Maltese	BBST. Short tow from Base of Hut Run Platter towards Old Hut Run
Summit	T-bar	1979 - present	750 / 90	-	Baw Baw Ski Tows
Big Hill	Platter	1980 - c.2002	230 / 48	-	Dartos Ltd.
Big Hill Access	Poma	78><83 - present	250 / 50	-	Dartos. Used as tubing lift from 2002? until 2007. Now for skiers
Tank Hill	Platter	1983 - present	-	-	-
Painted Run	T-bar	1985 - present	-	-	B.B.S.T. Now nicknamed Fawlty Towers due to chronic unreliability
Access [2]	2-Chair-F	1989? - 1999	-	-	Access to village from carpark, also for skiing. Doppelmayr
Magic Carpet	Carpet	2004 - present	-	Behind Skiosk	-

From 1971 to 1980 skiers had to choose between two lift companies. The chairlift merged with the combined lift company in 1988. In the dates operated field "78><83" indicates that the lift was installed at some time between 1978 and 1983.

The Access chairlift was in storage at Drouin for many years, but a chair from the lift is on display on the veranda of Kelly's Cafe. The latest gossip is that it may have been sold to Charlotte Pass and the owners of Charlotte Pass do have a double chair stored at Cooma airport, although what they would want to do with Baw Baw's 20 year old, fixed grip double chair is anyone's guess! (Note: This chairlift was replaced in 1988 (I think) so it was not so old when it was sold, IRC the old chairlift 1969-1988 went to Tassie. 'djam Aug 2009')

Current trail map. Thanks to "djam", Ray Chapman, "HiLo", "sooty68" and Andrew Graham for help. --© David Sisson 12:15, 22 July 2007 (EST)

Mt Buffalo

. .

Lift name	Type	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Cresta area	.				-
Cresta	Rope tow	1937 - 1938	180 / ?	-	1937 = 108 m, ext to 180 m in '38. built from old train tracks, burnt Jan '39
?	2-Chair-F	196? - ?	-	Cresta Saddle	Part of Ollie Polasek’s Tatra development
?	T-bar	196? - <1984	-	-	Part of Ollie Polasek’s Tatra development
?	Poma	196? - ?	-	-	Part of Ollie Polasek’s Tatra development
?	2-Chair-F	>1984 - ?	-	-	Cost $200,000, many teething problems
Beginners	Montaz fixed grip	< 1983 >	180 / 27	-	-
Operating in '06	.				-
Cresta	Poma	<1983 - 2006	427 / 127	-	Some of these are original 1960's Tatra tows
Gully	Poma	<1983 - 2006	165 / 33	-	Some of these are original 1960's Tatra tows
Cresta Valley	2-Chair-F	<1983 - 2006	302 / 80	-	Some of these are original 1960's Tatra tows
Valley	2-Chair-F	>1983 - 2006	-	-	Some of these are original 1960's Tatra tows
Novice	Poma	>1983 - 2006	-	-	Some of these are original 1960's Tatra tows
Dingo Dell area	.				-
The Nutcracker	Rope tow	1949 - >1962	-	-	£300. Built by Canadians Herb Hall & Paul Heikkila. 6d ride, 10/- week
Number One	Poma	196? - >1983	240 / 40	-	Cost $20,000
Number Two	Poma	? - >1983	216 / 37	-	-
Bambi	Portable	? - >1983	.90 / 6	-	-
Proposed lift
Skyway	Gondola	2009	3 - 4 km	-	Proposed by tourist assoc. Newspaper article, Local TV news

Dingo Dell’s last season was probably 1988, at the time there was a rope tow and two Pomas there. Map of Dingo Dell showing two pomas. The website says 2003 but the map is defnitely well before that date.

Cresta’s last season was 2006 when five lifts remained. It is unlikely they will ever run again. Final (2006) map for the Cresta area before it closed for ever.

None of the histories of Mt Buffalo pay much attention to the precise dates, location or names of ski lifts, so the information in this table is rather vague. Any accurate information would be appreciated. Please email sisson.dave at yahoo.com.au

In December 2006, The Buffalo Lodge (Tatra Inn) burnt down and the lessees relinquished their lease of the Buffalo Chalet in January 2007. The Chalet still stands. At the moment it is still fairly structurally sound, but it is unlikely to operate again, as the state government is unwilling to grant a lease long enough to justify the huge expenditure required to make it attractive to guests. Unless the Chalet is occupied and maintained, it is only a matter of time until a storm or fire damages it irreparably. It all makes a sad end to Victoria’s first ski resort, Australia's oldest surviving ski lodge and the site of Australia's first ski tow.

Thanks to "Wangaratta_bloke" for info on Dingo Dell. --© David Sisson 14:17, 3 August 2007 (EST)

Mt Buller

. . . .

Lift name	Type	Manufacturer	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Bourke St	Rope tow/Nutcrac	Home made	1949 - 1958	270 / 180	-	S.C.V & BMW S.C, support towers added & changed to nutcracker 1950
Bull Run	Port. nutcracker	-	1953 - 1954	-	-	Blue. Extended in '54, relocated to Mt St Bernard, still operates
Bull Run	Nutcracker	-	1955 - 1961	-	-	Blue (John Hilton-Wood)
Baldy	Portable rope tow	-	1957 - 1961	-	-	Blue (Ernest & Aurel Forras, John Hilton-Wood)
Tyrol / Little Baldy	Rope tow	-	1957 - 1962	c.300/ ?	Tyrol	Maurice Selle
Skyline / Little Collins St	Rope tow	-	1959 - 1961	488 / 75	Skyline	Blue Lifts (then named Bull Run Enterprises)
Koflers / Transportation	Nutcracker	-	1959 - 1963	-	-	Orange (then named Ski Lifts Mt Buller)
Bourke St	T-bar	Locally made	1959 - 1968	-	Bourke St	Orange. Parts later used at either Guthega or Ben Lomond
Federation	T-bar	-	1959 - 1980	-	Federation	Orange Lifts
Bourke St	Double rope tow	-	1961 - 1963	-	Bourke St	Orange Lifts
Chamois	Rope tow	-	1961 - 1963	-	-	Konrad Koch, bought by Blue and replaced with a Poma
Bull Run	T-bar	-	1962 - 1984	638 / 240	Bull Run	Blue Lifts. May be 610 m long/ 245 m vertical
Skyline	T-bar	-	1963 -present	480 / 90	South of Bourke St	Blue Lifts. Oldest lift still operating at Buller
Shaky Knees/Swanston St	T-bar	-	1963 - 2004	300/120	-	Orange. Replaced by Northside/Emirates quad chair
Bourke St	2-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1964 - 1983	610 / 90	Bourke St	Blue Lifts. First Doppelmayr chairlift in the world
Summit	Poma	Pomagalski	1964 - 1983	244 / 68	-	Orange, rebuilt at Ben Lomond as 30 Sec & Big Ben
Summit Access/Howqua	Poma	Pomagalski	1964 - 1983	1070/ 136	-	Loaded both ends, west end=Howqua (536/86) Rep Koflers/Transportation
Chamois	Poma	Pomagalski	1965 - 1987	608 / 213	-	Blue Lifts. Extended in 1968, originally 548 / 205
Boggy Creek	T-bar	McCulloch?	1967 -present	410 / 141	-	Orange. Made by a local company. Name needs to be confirmed
Summit duplicate	Poma	Pomagalski	1968 - 1983	-	-	Orange, rebuilt at Ben Lomond as 30 Sec & Big Ben
Whittaker	Poma	Pomagalski	1969 - 1981	-	Near Village run	Blue. Replaced by Village T-bar
Baldy	Duplex Poma	Pomagalski	1969 - 1985	274 / 138	Heli Flat - Baldy	Orange Lifts
Tyrol / Tirol	T-bar	-	1972 -present	1610/ 356	Orig ran to Baldy	Orange. Shortened in 1987. Spelling change c.2004
Beginners / Ski School	platter	-	1974 - 2003	-	Mid Bourke St	Orange. Replaced by Carpet
Baldy	2-Chair-F	Pomagalski	1974 - 1983	792 / 77	-	Blue Lifts
Beginners	Carousel	-	1976 - 1977	-	Helicopter Flat	Orange Lifts
Koflers	T-bar	-	1977 -present	300 / 130	-	Orange Lifts. Originally to the bottom of Howqua.
Enzian	Poma	Pomagalski	1979 - 1996	244 / 77	Upper Chamois	Blue Lifts
Grimus	3-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1979 -present	800 / 192	Nth side of Summit	Orange Lifts
Burnt Hut Spur	3-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1980 - 2009	310 / 105	-	Orange. Major damage by lightning strike on 28/02/10. Pic Won't be fixed
Sun Valley	Poma	Pomagalski	1980 - 1985	900 / 300	B/w Bull & Fed	Blue Lifts
Federation	3-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1981 -present	1000/ 332	-	Orange Lifts. Replaced & extended T-bar
Horse Hill	3-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1982 - 1985	1700/ 390	-	Orange Lifts. Moved to Helicopter Flat in 1986
Village	T-bar	-	1982 - 2003	853 / 219	-	Blue Lifts. Replaced & extended Whittaker Poma
Beginners	Poma	-	1980 -present	310 / 105	-	Orange Lifts
Playground	Poma	-	< 1983 >	100 / 30	Helicopter Flat	Orange Lifts
Blue Bullet 1	4-Chair-D	Doppelmayr	1984 -present	-	Lower Bourke St	Not oldest detachable quad operating, some Euro '83 lifts still exist
Blue Bullet 2	4-Chair-D	Doppelmayr	1984 - 2007	-	Baldy	Blue Lifts.
Summit	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1984 -present	-	-	Orange Lifts
Howqua	4-Chair-F	Poma	1984 -present	-	Howqua/Family - Baldy	Orange. Eng, twr heads, bullwheels are for triple, other parts are quad
Spurs / Trainer	T-bar	-	1984 -present	-	Top of Horse Hill	Orange. Very short, allows easier transverse to Bourke St
Bull Run	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1985 -present	-	-	Blue Lifts
Horse Hill	4/4-Chair/Gond-D	Doppelmayr	1986 -present	-	Mid station at Chalet Ck	106 chairs, 20 gondolas. First ski gondola in Australia
Helicopter Flat / ABOM	3-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1986 - 2007	-	-	Replaced Baldy, moved from Horse Hill. Renamed 03. Sold to Selwyn
Dam	Rope tow	-	1987 -present	-	Near Spurs	Very short beginners lift
Southside	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1990 -present	-	Federation area	-
Ski Kindy No. 1	Rope tow	-	1991 -present	-	-	_
Wombat	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1993 -present	-	-	-
Chamois	2-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1993 -present	-	Chamois bowl	Has a mid station.
Canyon Rope Tow [1]	Rope tow	-	1997 -present	-	Sth of bus station	Very gentle grade, link between Chamois & Bull
Canyon Rope Tow [2]	Rope tow	-	1997 -present	-	Sth of bus station	Simple rope tows, rope gripped in the glove
Tube Park	Rope tow	-	1998 -present	-	-	-
Bluff View	Rope tow	-	2001 -present	-	Baldy rail park	-
Cattleman's 1	Carpet	-	2003 -present	-	-	-
Cattleman's 2	Carpet	-	2003 -present	-	-	-
Bourke St Carpet	Carpet	-	2004 -present	-	-	-
Northside / Emirates	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	2005 -present	633 / 151	Upper Tyrol	2.3 metres sec. Replaced Shakey Knees. Renamed 2006
Holden	6-Chair-D	Doppelmayr	2008 -present	997 / 127	Heli Flat - Baldy	Cost $7m, speed 5.0 m/s Replaced BB2 & Heli/ABOM Initial press release
Burnt Hut 1	Carpet	-	2010 only	-	-	Carpet (sourced from NZ?) after lightning damaged BH chair
Burnt Hut 2	Carpet	-	2010 only	-	-	-
Proposed Lifts	.	.	.	.	.	.
Kofler's	Rope Tow	-	1939 & 1940	-	Horse Hill	Foundations poured early '39. To be ready for '40 season, stopped by war
Kofler's	Funicular rail	-	1940	-	Mirimbah - Chalet	Hybrid of local logging cableways & 1930's European funicular railways
Burnt Hut area	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	2011	-	-	Will extend further uphill than it's predecessor. Press release

In common with Ben Lomond and Mt Baw Baw, Mt Buller had two lift companies for many years. They issued a joint ticket in 1984 and merged in 1985 when Bull Run Enterprises (Blue Lifts) took over Ski Lifts Mt Buller (Orange Lifts). The company is now called Buller Ski Lifts.

Current trail maps for northern slopes and southern slopes.

At least seven old ski lifts from Mt Buller were relocated to other Australian mountains. Buller seems to be the only Australian resort with a strong record of selling its discarded lifts.

• Ben Lomond bought several lifts including the Bourke St rope tow, both summit Pomas and the Bourke St double chairlift.

• The original 1953 Bull Run nutcracker tow still operates on Mt St Bernard and is one of the oldest ski lifts still operating in the world.

• Guthega bought a T-bar from Orange Lifts in the mid 1970's, (possibly the Bourke St T-bar, as both had arch type frames).

• Most recently, the Helicopter / ABOM triple chair was sold to Selwyn Snowfields.

More on Buller history:

Jim Darby. Mt Buller: the story of a mountain. tSm Publishing, 2008.

David Joss. Mt Buller: a history. Alpine Resorts Commission, n.d. (1995?). 36 page booklet.

Ernest Forras, Jan Henderson. Ernest escapades, or seriously for fun only: the autobiography of Ernest Forras. Ernest Forras, 1994.

Harry Stephenson. Skiing the high plains: a history of the ski exploration of Victoria's alpine area. Graphic Books, 1982. Pages 198 - 219.

I. C. Dillon. Tracks of the morning: a Timbertop history text. Geelong Grammar School, 1989. Pages 323 - 357.

Magazines. Most ski magazines have occasionally covered the history of Buller, but two monthlies, Schuss and Ski Horizon were published during the formative years of the mountain.

Club histories. Club histories tend to focus on work parties, lodge construction and administration, but they also give a good idea of skiers experiences over the years.

Lynette Sheridan. University Ski Club 1929 - 1979. U.S.C, 1988. Chapter 9, pages 130 - 161.

Janis Lloyd. Skiing into history: 1924 - 1984. Ski Club of Victoria, 1986. Pages 93 - 197.

Ann Crawford. A proud achievement: 50 years of YHA on Mt Buller 1947 - 1997. YHA, 1997. 58 page booklet.

Early buildings at Buller.

Dates are the first winter of occupation, but a few dates may be a year out. The list is not complete. Blue text indicates a link to a lodge's website.

Not terribly relevant to ski lifts, but since I've compiled it, I may as well put it here as someone may find it useful.

1880's Klingsporn's Hut on Horse Hill, c.1919 Lovick's Hut on Burnt Hut Spur (burnt early 1925), 1925 Mansfield Progress Association Hut on Burnt Hut Spur. Burnt summer 1933, 1929 Horse Hill bark hut used as construction base for Chalet, 1929 Buller Chalet (Horse Hill, extended 1932 and 1939. Had 67 beds. Burnt 1942), 1930 Cow Camp Hut (extended 1946, burnt 1951), 1933 SCV Hut Boggy Creek, (extended 1947, near base of present Grimus chairlift), 1934 Koffler's Hut (near current Koffler's cafe),

1941 First summit fire observers hut (replaced 1969), 1943 ? Junior Ski Club Hut on Chalet site, 1946 CSIR (One Tree Hill. Demolished & replaced at present location 1985), There were also several unauthorised huts in the scrub in the late 1940's. Details are understandably vague, but two built in time for the 1946 season were Bogville and Bull Lodge. At least one hut was disguised with war-surplus camouflage nets. 1947 Ivor Whittacker Lodge (S.C.V. Extended 1949, 1953 & 1959, rebuilt 1967 - 1973. Original building demolished 1972), YHA (aka 'Shiver Shanty' replaced at new location 1952), 1948 ... 1949 Apira (formerly Australian Postal Institute. Extended 1959, 1969, 1983), Chamois, Harding (MUSKI from 1961 rebuilt 199?), Moose S.C., Omega, SCV cabins,

1950 Australian Women's S.C., Buller S.C. (burnt 1952 site to Chetwynd), Gray Rocks S.C., Junior S.C., Lazy Eight (to Southern Cross in 1952), University S.C. (cabin moved from Mt Donna Buang, replaced in 1983), Ullr S.C.(rebuilt in 1986), Yurredla S.C. (rebuilt 1979), 1951 Alpine Club of Victoria, Belmore, BMW S.C.(extended 1966 & 1985), Dandenong, Melbourne Walking Club (rebuilt in 1992), Monsanto, Morgan Pattern Social Club, 1952 Benmore, Bull Run Canteen, Gliss (extended 1965), Reindeer, Southern Cross demolished and rebuilt date uncertain, YHA (replaced 1948 shanty), 1953 Kandahar (extended 1960 replaced 1986), Firn, Kooroora (burnt 1961 rebuilt 1965), 1954 Cedar, Geelong, Timberline (replaced in 1986), Twenty Five, 1955 Black Tulip, Chetwynd, Elk, Mawson S.C. (rebuilt as apartments in 1995), SCV Euroa branch cabin, 1956 Akla, Bomborra (replaced 2000), Caribou, Double B (may have been built in 1954), Edelweiss, New Buller Lodge, Royal Australian Navy, Tyrol?, University S.C. (extended 1962 & rebuilt 1986), 1957 Hima, Igloo, Koomerang (rebuilt 1980. Scotch College), Matterhorn, OLOS S.C., 1958 Arlberg House (burnt 1967. Rebuilt 1970), Mulligatawny, 1959 Cortina, Inca, Koffler's Cafe, Old Geelong Grammarians, Sorrento, Spark, St Albans, Wapiti,

1960 Icicles, Mt Buller Lodge, N'Everest (extended 1983), Pontresina / Engadin, SCV family unit 1, 1961 Aleko, Alpha, Bayerland, Benalla (extended 1983), Blizzard, Blue Eyes, Bracken (replaced 2000), Brighton, Candoux (Demolished and rebuilt as apartments in 2001. Club now operates from a unit in apartment block on original site), Cawarra, Down Hill Only, Duff's Ski Hire, Enzian, Etna, Four Winds, Howqua, Kida Hara, Macura, Mark II (rebuilt 1996), Nicholas, Perpetual Snow, Tatry, Planica, Port Phillip, Ringwood, Roos, Royal Childrens Hospital, St Christina, SCV family units 2 - 5 (site of 2 now occupied by Cobbler), Windy Corner, Wombats/Cuckoo, 1962 The Abom (extended 1968), Amber, Blitz, Delatite, Geebung, Heathcote Bus, Hoppers, Sundowner, Telemark, 1963 Anjarra, Auski, Holland, Iltis, Maganni, Mt Buller Home Units, St Bernards, 1964 ABV, Collegians, Coonamar, Currawong, Discobolus, Downhill, Firmow, Glacier, Lantern (later Duck Inn), Mansfield, Meki, Monash University, Neringa, Ski View, Snow Gum, White Star, Yokohama, 1965 Alaska, Alkira (refurbished early 90's), Army (replaced 1988), Avalanche, Corio, Gonzaga, Kooroora (rebuilt after 1953 lodge burnt), Nomad, Nutcracker, Medical Centre (replaced 1995), Schuss S.C., Ski Lib, Snow Down, Terama, 1966 Australian Alpine Club (Patscherkofel, extended 1972, rebuilt 1988), Cristal, Hu'ski, Puringa, 1967 Jungfrau, Opal (extended 2005), 1968 Resort management office, SCV family units, 1969 Bluff Flats, Cedar, Crosscut Flats, Primary School (replaced 1982), Summit fire lookout hut (replaced 1941 hut),

1970 Arlberg (extended 1974), The Avenue, Ivor Whittaker Lodge (SCV. Built in stages over the summers of 1967 - 1973), Pendergast ski patrol hut on Baldy, 1971 Mitre (rebuilt 199?), Twin Towers, 1972 ... 1973 Ajax (extended twice), Beehive Apartments, Snowflake, 1974 Pension Grimus, 1975 Entrance gatehouse at Mirimbah, 1976? Ski patrol base (aka The Chook Shed, replaced 1983), 1977 Preston, 1978 Merrijig, VSL, 1979 17 The Avenue, Eltham, Pol-ski, Star Alpine, Yurredla, The last four of these were all built on the 1950 Yurredla site),

1980 Koomerang (replaced 1957 building), 1981 Breathtaker, 1982 Aeski, Burwood, Molony's, Omski, Shaky Knees Flats, Primary School (replaced 1972 school, moved to La Trobe building c.1997), Summit, 1983 Alpine Retreat, Ski Patrol (replaced 1976 base), University S.C. Cabin (replaced 1950 Cabin) 1984 Medical Centre, 1985 Cresta, CSIR (replaced former lodge at One Tree Hill), 1986 Kandahar (replaced 1953 building), Timberline (replaced 1954 lodge), Ullr (replaced 1950 lodge), University S.C. (replaced 1956 lodge) 1987 Club 25 (later Ace of Clubs), 1988 Apres, Army, Mt Buller Ski Lodge, Noorinya, Number 96, Patscherkofel, Spurs Cafe, 1989 Downhill, Chalet Apartments stage 1,

1990 ... 1991 ... 1992 Duck Inn (former Lantern Lodge), Melbourne Walking Club (replaced 1951 lodge), Winterbrook, 1993 Alpine Chapel, Black Forest, 1994 Chalet Apartments stage II, 1995 Chalet Hotel, Mawson (replaced 1955 lodge), Medical Centre (replaced 1965 centre), Woolybutt, 1996 Christiana, CFA Station, Mark II (replaced 1961 lodge), Whistler, 1997 Elkhorn, La Trobe Uni building (alter R.M.B.), 1998 Bluff View, 1999 ...

The list is incomplete. Some of the buildings with unknown construction dates include: Police station, Snowflake Factory, Clocktower, Corviglia, Winterhaven, Ski School buildings, Chamois race hut, Tyrol Lodge.

--© David Sisson 13:28, 10 July 2007 (EST)

Mt Hotham

. . . .

Lift name	Type	Manufacturer	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Blue Ribbon	Nutcracker	Hamilton	1952 -72, 3 or 4?	560or610/235or253	-	Cost £3000, capacity 12 at a time. Length & vert figures vary
Higginbotham	Rope tow	-	1958? - >1965	-	Davenport	Probably owned by Ski Tows Ltd.
Basin	Rope tow	-	1958 or 9- 62?	61 / ?	Basin Run	Ski Tows Ltd. Replaced by a Poma
Jack Hedley's	Rope tow	-	1962 - 1964?	-	Pimples - Swindlers	-
Basin	Poma	-	1963 or 4-1970	-	Today's Basin Run	Ski Tows Ltd. Moved to Davenport
?	Rope Tow?	-	1963 - ?	-	Above Blue Ribbon	Formerly "Novice tow at Hotham" before being moved
Jack's Tow	J-bar	-	1965 -1968?	-	Sun Run	-
Pole Line / Summit	Poma	Poma	1966 - 1987	790 / 95	Summit	Ski Tows Ltd.
Playground	2-Chair-F	Poma	1969 - present	614 / 199	< Originally 954 / 300	Initially planned for Aust Drift. Shortened c.1992? 1000 p/hr
Davenport	Poma	-	1971 - 1983	240 / 43	-	Moved from Basin, replaced by a quad chair
Brockhoff	Poma	Poma	1973 - 1986	790 / 290	North of Heavenly Valley	-
Basin	Platter	-	1974 - 1992	175 / 44	-	Moved to Koala Park?
Sun Run	T-bar	-	1977 - 1994	350 / 98	North side of present Sun Run	-
Summit	T-bar	-	1979 - 1994	580 / 87	-	Moved to Australia Drift
Blue Ribbon	3-Chair-F	-	1981 - present	710or560 / 271	-	Capacity 1600 per hour
Plains of Heaven/Ski School	Platter	-	1981 - 1983	153 / 36	Lower Blue Ribbon	Moved to Dinner Plain
Big D	4-Chair-F	-	1984 - present	396 / 64	Davenport	Replaced a Poma. Capacity 2400 per hr
Heavenly Valley	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1987 - present	845/314or395?	-	Replaced Brockoff Poma. Capacity 2400 per hr
Summit	4-Chair-F	Poma	1988 - present	595 / 98	-	Capacity 2400 per hour
Village	4-Chair-F	Poma	1993 - present	800 / 275	-	Capacity 2400 per hour
Koala Park	Platter	-	1993 - 1997	-	B/w Zirky's & White Cryst	Moved to summit. Renamed Summit Trainer
Road Runner	4-Chair-F	Poma	1995 - present	671 / 153	-	Capacity 2400 per hour
Australia Drift	T-bar	-	1995 - present	370 / 88	-	Moved from Summit. Capacity 1285 per hr
Gotcha	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1997 - present	472 / 140	-	Capacity 2400 per hour
Keogh's	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1997 - present	383 / 188	-	Continues over valley as Orchard, loads in middle. 2400 hr
Orchard	4-Chair-F	Doppelmayr	1997 - present	573 / 154	-	Continues over valley as Keogh's, loads in middle. 2400 hr
Summit Trainer	Platter	Doppelmayr	1998 - present	132 / 22	-	Formerly at Koala Park. Capacity 500 per hour
Big D Trainer	Rope tow	-	1999 - 2008?	-	-	-
Pups Playground	Carpet	-	? - present	17 / ?	Davenport	-
Harry's Hideaway	Carpet	-	? - present	50 / ?	Davenport	-

Ski Tows Limited was operated on a cost recovery basis by members of the University Ski Club and the Alpine Club of Victoria. It never paid a dividend. It's lack of capital hampered further development of the mountain. After the 1968 season a controlling interest was sold to Desmond Schumann who built the Playground double chair which was originally planned for Australia Drift but the location was changed to the current site just before it was built. --© David Sisson 14:49, 19 July 2007 (EST)

Recent trail map.

More on Hotham history:

Donald Bennett. Hotham horizon: the Alpine Club of Victoria. The author, 1987.

Jennifer McLennan. Not below 5000: a history of the Ski Club of East Gippsland. S.C.E.G., 2001.

Lynette Sheridan. University Ski Club: 1929 - 1979. U.S.C., 1988.

Ticket prices in 1965. A 7 day ticket for all tows cost £7. Blue Ribbon nutcracker cost 30 shillings for 10 rides or 5/- for a single ride. Basin Poma and Higginbotham rope tow: 30/- for 40 rides or 1/- for a single ride.

A few details on the Blue Ribbon nutcracker tow.

Hamilton 'Type B' rope tow. Cost of purchase and construction £3,000. 1836 feet (560 metres) long, vertical lift 770' (235 m.), average slope 25 degrees. Powered by a 28 horsepower (21 kilowatt) Bedford Truck engine which was housed in a hut at the top of the tow near the road. The tow rope was 1 inch ( 2.54 cm) sisal. It was supported on 9 poles with waist height pulleys that could be raised or lowered according to the depth of snow. Capacity 12 at a time. The trip took four minutes at a speed of 6.8 miles per hour (11 kph) compared to a 40 minute walk up the slope. A canteen was added to the tow hut in 1957.

Building the Blue Ribbon nutcracker tow. An extract from: Donald Bennett. Hotham horizon: the Alpine Club of Victoria: reminiscence. Pages 95 - 97.

The first ski tow on Hotham was a major development. This too was conceived and brought about by the joint efforts of the University Ski Club and the Alpine Club of Victoria...

... The subject of tows was first raised during a... meeting on 22nd June 1950. The minutes... state, 'George Chisholm opened the subject of a ski tow for Mt. Hotham and produced detailed information of the Hamilton tow widely used in New Zealand. A meeting of a group of interested people was arranged for Monday, 3rd July 1950, to discuss the type of tow and the financing of the project'.

George Chisholm had visited New Zealand in 1949 as Captain of the Australian Inter Dominion Team. He had been most impressed by the Hamilton rope tow manufacturers at Littleton near Christchurch. This rope tow was used at Coronet Peak and gave George ample opportunity to assess the practicability of the device.

A company, rejoicing in the name of Ski Tows Ltd., was formed in 1950 with four U.S.C. and three Alpine members earlier mentioned as directors. We determined to purchase a Hamilton Tow and, as usual, the immediate problem was finance. This elusive commodity was acquired by our joint contributions and the practice of a polite species of highway robbery, brow beating and moral suasion on our unfortunate friends. In all there were over fifty shareholders of touching faith.

Nobody ever expected that the company would pay a dividend. Their expectations were absolutely correct.

The Hamilton tow consisted of an endless one inch diameter sisal rope passing over pulleys, mounted on brackets adjustable in height to cope with varying snow depths. The pulley brackets were attached to nine inch steel pipes some 20 feet high, set at appropriate intervals down the slope. A 'nut cracker' attached to a waist belt, clipped onto the moving rope. These waist belts were fabricated from old war time aircraft belts. Power was derived from a 28 Horsepower, 6 cylinder, Bedford Truck motor, located in an engine house just below the road. The engine house also provided accommodation for the tow operator in separate living quarters.

A certain skill was required whilst stationary and awaiting uphill transport to clip the nut cracker onto the moving rope. Failure to adequately connect, or careless ski orientation, resulted in undignified collapse or being dragged up the slope on your posterior. Another hazard was the possibility of loose clothing being wrapped up in the moving rope. On its upward journey the rope sometimes revolved slowly compounded with forward motion. Legend has it that a lady of superb physical charms became thus caught up. First the parka was shed, then the pullover and finally the shirt. The tow operator, a man of rigid moral principles, is alleged to have stopped the tow some distance from the expectant uphill onlookers. This allowed the deprived damsel to fade gracefully into the bushes. Topless skiers were rare in those days.

Despite these hazards the ascent out of the Drag was reduced from 40 minutes on climbing skins to about 4 minutes over 770 vertical feet, the rope tow carrying ten skiers upwards at a time. Initially, there was much debate amongst the directors on a suitable location. After all, the tow was to be the longest in Australia at that time and the first at Hotham. The chosen site was on a slope now occupied by the Blue Ribbon chair lift and effectively serviced the Drag, Blue Ribbon and the Wood Run downhill descents. The final location was surveyed and cleared during the weekend of 16th and 17th February 1952.

An alternative site was considered near the later situation of the Brockhoff Tow. This was ruled out partly because of doubts if a rope tow and passengers could negotiate a bend in the tow line, obviously needed at this location because of the terrain. It is of interest to note that during our explorations in the valley around this area we discovered a small grass grown flat on which could still be seen the outline of a log cabin. The outline was nothing more than moss lines with cross-over points at four corners. We surmised that it had once been an overseer's quarters when the water race to Brandy Creek Mine was under construction in the sixties of the last [19th] century. Today, of course, the water race, partly dug into the hillside and partly supported by stone escarpments, is a convenient track for skiers passing between runs off Loch Spur.

The company was unique in that the Directors were also the installation engineers, fabricators and general labourers. A shop steward of the Builders Labourers Federation would have been completely non-plussed. A major labour was pole erection, much of it over a rock scree slope. In some locations base holes had to be blasted out of the rocky soil. Hamish Pearson was O/C gelignite and he developed a playful habit of letting off a charge with scant warning. If one was working down the pole line the drill, on hearing the explosion, was to immediately cease all activities and gaze intently at the blue sky. Thus the observer skipped nimbly aside to avoid falling rocks descending out of the heavens.

To assist in correct installation, we imported a New Zealander, one Snowy Hansen, to supervise the project. Snowy was a man of iron nerve, having been in a Bomb Disposal unit at the Middle East Front during the 1939-1945 war. However, like many New Zealanders, he had somewhat of a complex about snakes - New Zealand is free from these reptiles. On arriving at Melbourne Airport his anxious queries concerning snakes at Hotham were soothed by soft and oblique answers. Even we did not then know that the Blue Ribbon scree slope housed a significant number of tiger snakes and copperheads.

Snowy was installed at Hotham and all was peace and joy until one day he noticed various directors at work down the scree slope suddenly leaping downward or sideways for no apparent reason. Naturally he queried this eccentric behaviour and, perforce, we had to tell him about the snakes. His immediate reaction was to arm himself with a pale blue broom handle as a defensive weapon. This never left his side and rumour has it that he even took the broom handle to bed with him! Our duplicity pained him and he sorrowfully stated that 'if he had known he would not have left New Zealand'. Fortunately nobody was bitten and it is probable Hamish Pearson's mighty gelignite blasts dispersed the snakes to more peaceful quarters.

The tow commenced operation in the winter of 1952 and gave many years of service until 1965. Subsequently Ski Tows Ltd. was disposed of to Desmond Schuman. It was the forerunner of the network of chairlifts, pomas and T-bars now reticulating over Hotham slopes.

Mt Mawson

. .

Lift name	Type	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Cuming	Rope tow	1958 - 1959	153 / ?	Golden Stairs - Picnic Boulder	Harold Cuming. May have been open in 1957, burnt Jan 1960
Mawson	Nutcracker	1963 - present	198 / 50	-	Extended in 1982. Most southerly ski lift in Australia
University	Nutcracker	1968 - present	250 / 58	-	-
Rodway	Nutcracker	1973 - present	275 / 80	-	Reputedly the steepest ski lift in Australia
Beginners	Rope or Platter?	<1982- present	.70 / 15	Sitzmark	-

Unlike Ben Lomond in northern Tasmania, Mt Mawson never developed into a full scale ski resort. It is the last 'club field' in Australia still open to the public. (Although there are still three club run nutcracker tows in Victoria, a club owned Poma and handle tow at Cabramurra in NSW and plenty of club fields in New Zealand).

The lifts are operated by volunteers drawn from the seven clubs with lodges on the mountain. In recent years they have only operated on weekends and midweek during school holidays. Rodway is the steepest surface lift in Australia, but due to a shortage of volunteers, it often doesn't operate even when other lifts are open. --© David Sisson 14:39, 25 July 2007 (EST)

Click for "resort" map showing the day shelters, four lifts and seven club lodges.

New South Wales, outside resorts

Location	Owner	Operated	Name	Notes
Main Range	Ski Tourers Assoc.	1953 - 1956	Northcote Tow	Burnt, parts used in Crackenback rope tow
Diggers Creek	Hotel Kosciusko	Late 1940's?-51?	-	Dates uncertain, near Hotel Kosciusko
Diggers Creek	Tony Sponar	Early 1960's	Poma	Dates uncertain, near Sponar's Lakeside Inn
Kiandra	Wally Reed	c1950 - 1957?	-	Township Hill
Kiandra	Colin Myers	1958-late 70's	T-bar	Two locations, moved to Selwyn
Kiandra	Colin Myers	?60's-late 70's	Rope tow	-
Kiandra	Colin Myers	?60's -late 70's	Rope tow	-
4 km SW of Kiandra	Tumut Ski Club	c.1960 - c.1970	-	-
Kings Cross	?	? - < 1973	Rope tow	Half way between Kiandra & Selwyn
Cabramurra	SMHEA (Snowy Hydro)	1956 - ?	-	-
Cabramurra	Cabramurra School?	1960's - present	Handle tow	Now operated by Cabramurra Ski Club
Cabramurra	Cabramurra Ski Club	? - present	Poma	-
Round Mountain	Corryong Ski Club?	1960's? - 1970's?	-	Some poles remain
Tooma Dam: Montagues Hut	?	1960's? - 1970's?	-	Pulleys attached to trees, dismantled each year

All non resort lifts in NSW were probably nutcrackers except Sponar's Poma, the Cabramurra Poma and the Kiandra T-bars. Thanks to Craig Doubleday for his reports on sites near Selwyn Snowfields and the Northcote Tow. For more detailed information see the non resort tows article. --© David Sisson 14:52, 24 July 2007 (EST)

Perisher Blue

. . . .

Lift name	Type	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Perisher Valley	.
Village	Rope tow	1956 - ?	-	?	Johnny Abbotsmith, moved from Smiggins
?	Rope tow	1958 - ?	-	North Perisher	Svere Kaaten
?	T-bar	1959 - ?	-	Below Sundeck Hotel	Ken Murray’s “Murray Publishers”
Mt Perisher Double	2-Chair-F	1961 - present	1075/ 275	-	Mueller. Aust's highest & oldest chairlift. Top = 2034 m
Lawson (No. 6)	T-bar	1963 - present	540 / 125	-	-
Blaxland (No. 5)	Duplex T-bar	1963 - present	510 / 110	-	Duplex with Wentworth
Sturt (No. 4)	T-bar	1964 - present	470 / 50	-	-
Flat	T-bar	? - c.1976	-	Perisher Creek	Used to access North Perisher
North Perisher	T-bar	1968 - present	565 / 175	-	-
Mitchell (No. 1)	T-bar	1968 - present	420 / 70	-	-
Sun Valley	T-bar	1969 - present	530 / 165	-	-
Wentworth (No. 5A)	Duplex T-bar	1969 - present	510 / 110	-	Duplex with Blaxland
Olympic	T-bar	1973 - present	345 / 65	Above Sun Valley	Curved T-Bar, accessing some of the hardest terrain
Eyre	T-bar	1974 - present	735 / 205	On Mt Perisher	The furthest west lift in Perisher
Flinders (No. 3)	Duplex T-bar	<1976 - 2002	545 / 100	-	Duplex with Bass, replaced by Village 8
Bass (No. 2)	Duplex T-bar	<1976 - 2002	420 / 100	-	Duplex with Flinders, replaced by Village 8
Leichhardt (No. 7)	T-bar	1976 - present	540 / 40	-	Called The Self Loader by those who recall when it was
International	T-bar	1977 - present	890 / 255	Between Eyre & Mt P double	-
Tom Thumb	J-bar	1977 - present	140 / 55	-	May have been a T-bar circa 1983
Pretty Valley	2-Chair-F	1978 - present	990 / 153	-	-
Pretty Valley	3-Chair-F	<1983 - ?	1707/ 264	-	Moved to Mt Dobson NZ, replaced by Perisher Exp Photo
Mt Perisher Triple	3-Chair-F	1979 - present	1230/ 280	On Mt Perisher	-
Happy Valley	T-bar	1979 - present	697 / 111	-	Ext by 90m in 2010. Eviro Effect Statement Was 608/96
Home	Rope Tow	1982 - present	-	-	-
Telemark	Poma	<1976 - ?	-	-	-
Telemark	T-bar	1982 - present	455 / 65	-	-
Piper	Poma	<1976-1981?	-	Same as Piper T-bar	Marked on '76 trail map, replaced by T-bar
Piper	T-bar	1982 - present	640 / 70	-	Built on site of a Poma
Perisher Ex/Freelander/Forester	4-Chair-D	1986 - present	1540 / ?	-	Changes names according to sponsorship
Interceptor	4-Chair-F	1995 - present	-	-	-
Village 8	8-Chair-D	2003 - present	-	-	Doppelmayr. Replaced Flinders and Bass T-bars
Borer	Portable rope tow	< 1983 >	-	-	-
Ski Carpet	Carpet	? - present	-	-	-
Ski School	Rope Tow	? - 2007	-	-	-
Ski School 2	Carpet	2007 - present	-	-	-
Kids Carpet 1	Carpet	? - present	-	-	-
Kids Carpet 2	Carpet	? - present	-	-	-
Planned lift					-
Mt Perisher	6 or 8 chair	Announced '08	-	Mt Perisher	To replace 2 old chairs
Smiggin Holes	.				-
?	Rope tow	1953 - 55?	-	?	Johnny Abbotsmith, moved to Back Perisher
Link	T-bar	1964 - present	610 / 130	-
Hume	T-bar	1964 - present	520 / 80	-
Burke	Duplex T-bar	1968 - present	610 / 155	-	Duplex with Wills
Wills	Duplex T-bar	1969 - present	610 / 155	-	Duplex with Burke
Scott	J-bar	1973 - present	280 / 35	-	Converted from a Poma pre 1983
Captain Cook	J-bar	1975 - present	275 / 35	-	Converted from a Poma pre 1983
Kaaten	3-Chair-F	1979 - present	477 / 85	-	(Doppelmayr)
Ski School	?	? - ?	-	-	-
Harry’s	Rope tow	? - 2007	-	-	-
Herman’s	Rope tow	? - 2007	-	-	-
Zappy’s	Rope tow	? - 2008	-	-	-
Zoe’s	Carpet	? - present	-	-	-
Harry's & Herman's	Carpet	2008 - present	-	-	-
Guthega	.				-
SMA Tow	Nutcracker	1957 - 1965	213 / ?	Mt Tate East Ridge	Island Bend Ski Club. Burnt 1965
Beginners Tow	Rope Tow	1961 - 1975	-	Above Walter's Hut	YMCA S.C. then Walter Spanring. Short
Blue Calf	T-bar	1965 - 1980?	-	Western Blue Calf slopes	Poma brand T-bar. Walter Spanring
Powder Valley?	Rope tow	1976 - 1981	-	Near Cow Pastures	Bruckschloegl Austrian tow
Blue Cow	T-bar	1976 - 1980	-	Mt Blue Cow	McCallum brand, ex Mt Buller. Replaced in 1981
Blue Cow	T-bar	1981 - present	670 / 149	Mt Blue Cow	Doppelmayr. Replaced the 1976 T-bar
Cow Pastures	J-bar	1981 - present	320 / 70	Cowpastures basin	Doppelmayr J-Bar
Blue Calf	T-bar	1981 - present	570 / 133	-	Built as a duplex T-bar
Beginners	Rope tow	1982 - ?	150 / 10	Top of chair (Saddle area)	Cow Pastures tow relocated after J-Bar built
Beginners	J-bar	< 1983 >	140 / 30	Off home run	Served runs named Romeo, Juliet and Fred
Carpark	2-Chair-F	1982 - present	610 / 130	Carpark-base Mt Blue Cow	Doppelmayr chairlift
Rope Tow 1	-	<1992 - 1993?	-	-	-
Rope Tow 2	-	<1992 - 1993?	-	-	-
Blue Cow	.				-
Ski Tube	Rack railway	1988 - present	8500/ 755	Bullock's Flat - Blue Calf	Official webpage, Tunnels webpage, Wikipaedia
Ridge	4-Chair-F	1987 - present	1000 / ?	-	-
Summit	4-Chair-F	1987 - present	-	-	-
Early Starter	2-Chair-F	1987 - present	-	-	-
Terminal	4-Chair-F	1987 - present	-	-	-
Pleasant Valley	4-Chair-D	1987 - present	1200 / ?	-	-
Brumby	T-bar	88><92- present	-	-	Moved from Guthega - formerly ½ of Blue Calf Duplex
Pony Ride 1	Rope tow	88><92- present	-	-	-
Pony Ride 2	Rope tow	>92 - present	-	-	Previously named Ski School?
Donkey Ride	?	>92 - ?	-	-	-

Perisher Valley Unlike many resorts that have replaced lifts on the same location several times, Perisher has mostly stuck with the original lifts and some of them are approaching 50 years old. By 1964 Perisher had 12 lifts and by 1972 there were 14 lifts. Ken Murray sold the resort to Australian Consolidated Press after the 1972 ski season. Originally, the Perisher T-bars on Front and Centre Valleys were not named. Number 1 was Wentworth on Front Valley, and they were numbered consecutively westward to what is now Leichhardt. The Mt Perisher T-bars, Sun Valley, International, Olympic and Eyre have always had those names. Current Perisher and Guthega trail maps.

Guthega. For an updated history of Guthega and its ski lifts, go to Guthega History.

Mergers. Perisher and Smiggins merged after the 1972 ski season. Blue Cow and Guthega merged in 1991. Both these combined companies merged to become Perisher Blue in 1995. In 2009 'Blue' was deleted from the resort name and it became just 'Perisher'.

Perisher. Thanks to "VSG", "Ian S", "Golds70", "shadow1" and especially the anonymous person who supplied many of the dates.

Guthega. thanks to "Atlantisau" for contributions that helped to untangle the confusion of hearsay and conflicting information. --© David Sisson 14:00, 20 August 2007 (EST)

Selwyn Snowfields

Lift name	Type	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
?	Rope tow	1961? - ?	-	-	John and Helen Dowling, tow formerly ran in the A.C.T.
The Quarry	Rope tow	1966 - ?	-	Township run	Colin Myers.
Car park	2 x rope	< 1983 >	250 / 27	South of Selwyn Centre	-
Beginners	2 x rope	< 1983 >	200 / 20	Near New Chum chair site	-
Township 1	T-bar	1972 - 2008	500 / 75	-	Moved from Perisher. Replaced by Township chair in 2009
Township 2	T-bar	1978 - 2008	500 / 75	-	Moved from Kiandra. Replaced by Township chair in 2009
Bullock Head	Poma	< 1983 >	450 / 90	North of Selwyn Centre	-
Racecourse	Poma	< 1983 >	500 / 110	-	-
Racecourse	T-bar	<1984 - present	-	-	-
Ski School	Rope tow	<1984 - present	-	-	-
New Chum	2-Chair-F	1988 - present	-	-	-
Powerline	Rope tow	< 1983 >	300 / 42	-	-
Powerline	Poma	? - present	-	-	Was to be replaced by the extended triple chair, but still intact
Homerun	Poma	? - present	-	-	-
Boomerang	Platter	? - present	-	-	-
Home Run	Poma	<1984 - present	-	-	-
Snowflake	Snowtube	? - present	-	-	-
Wombat	Rope tow	< 1983 >	250 / 35	-	-
Wombat	T-bar	<1984 - present	-	-	Converted to snowtube circa 2003, back to T-bar 2009
Gentle Annie	Carpet	? - present	-	-	-
unknown	?	<1998 - ?		B/w Ski Sch & Home Run	-
Township	3-Chair-F	2009 - present	709 / ?	Township	Buller's Helicopter Flat / ABOM chair relocated

Either Powerline or Homerun Poma was moved from Smiggins. Colin Myers and his family have built and operated all tows on Mt Selwyn since 1966. More information on dates of lift construction would be appreciated. Current trail map.

In the past there were 11 other lifts nearby at: Kiandra (4), Tumut Ski Club (1) Kings Cross (1), Cabramurra (3), Round Mountain (1) and Tooma Dam (1). All were removed long ago except the Poma and a handle tow at Cabramurra which still operate. For details see the article non resort ski tows. --© David Sisson 15:41, 12 August 2007 (EST)

Tasmania, proposals outside resorts

Location	Date Proposed	Notes
Mt Rufus	Late 1940's	Rufus Ski Club. Work began on two lifts but was never completed
Black Bluff	1960	Part of Ellis brothers scheme to build a chalet & 16 Cabins at Lake Lea near Cradle Mtn
Mt Rufus	1971	Planned to include a gondola, 4 chairlifts and 2 pomas. Access from Lake St Clair area
Florentine Peak	Early 1970's	May have been intended to link with Mt Mawson club field

Despite a number of proposals, there have been no succesful attempts to build ski lifts at locations other than the ski resort at Ben Lomond and the club field at Mt Mawson. For more detailed information and a map of the proposed Rufus resort, see the non resort tows article.

Thredbo

. . . .

Lift name	Type	Manufacturer	Operated	Length/Vert	Location	Notes
Crackenback	Nutcracker	Various	1957 only	c.800/c.250	Mid half of Kosci Express	Cost £1870, used parts of Northcote Tow *
Gam Tow	T-bar	John Gam	1957 - ?	275 / 76	Below C/back rope tow	Light & underpowered. Probably 1957 only
Crackenback	2-Chair-F	Mueller / Riblet	1958 - 1989	1835/ 560	Same as Kosci Express	Originally to Kareela, lengthened 1962 *
?	Rope tow	-	1958 - 1963	. ? / 122	Kareela - Upper C/back	Relocated 1957 Crackenback rope tow
Middle	T-bar	-	1962 - 1967	-	Middle Snowgums	Later moved to Merrits, renamed Ski School
?	Rope tow	-	1963?	-	Upper Snowgums	Original Crackenback rope tow moved again
Basin	T-bar	-	1963 - present	650 / 145	In Basin, top of mountain	-
Ramshead	2-Chair-F	Riblet	1963 - present	1770/ 480	Base to bottom of Basin	Top station moved uphill, orig prone to drifting snow
?	Rope tow	-	1964 - 1967	-	B/w Kosi Ex & Ramshead	4th location for 1957 Crackenback rope tow
Merritts	2-Chair-F	Riblet	1968 - present	1350/ 299	Base area to Merritts	-
Merritts Duplex 1	T-bar	-	1968 - 1994	696 / 162	Merritts, Walkabout run	Replaced by Cruiser Chair
Merritts Duplex 2	T-bar	-	1968 - 1994	753 / 180	Merritts, Walkabout run	Replaced by Cruiser Chair
Ski School / Easy Rider	T-bar	-	1968 - present	now 275/65	Merritts Spur	Shortened & renamed in 1995. Originally 410/80
Anton's	T-bar	-	1977 - present	800 / 230	Central Spur	Originally self-loading (= chaos)
Harusch?	Rope tow	-	1978 - 1995	-	Valley Terminal	-
Harusch 100	Rope tow	-	< 1982 >	220 / 15	Beyond Harusch 500	-
Harusch 500	Rope tow	-	< 1982 >	131 / 15	Top C/back - top of Basin	-
Harusch 1000	Rope tow	-	1978 - 1995	148 / 40	West of Merrits T-bars	Under Merritts top station, remains still visible in 2006
Mitey Mite	Rope tow	-	< 1982 >	163 / 28	Merritts Spur	-
Karel's	T-bar	-	1979 - present	464 / 83	-	Highest remaining ski lift in Aust
Sponar's	T-bar	-	1979 - present	942 / 260	Central Spur	-
Snowgums	2-Chair-F	-	1980 - present	1735/ 472	Parallels Kosci Express	Fastest chair in Aust when opened
Gunbarrel Express	4-Chair-D	-	1988 - present	1679/ 426	-	-
Easy Does It	4-Chair-F	-	1988 - present	448 / 49	Friday Flat	-
Crackenback/Kosciusko Exp	4/4-Chair/Gond-D	Doppelmayr	1990 - present	1860/ 560	-	Replaced Crackenback, renamed 2001
Cruiser	4-Chair-D	-	1994 - present	1000/ 214	Merritts Spur	Superseded Merrits duplex T Bar.
Snowrunner 1	Carpet	-	2000 - present	. 80 / 13	Friday Flat	-
Snowrunner 2	Carpet	-	2000 - present	. 85 / 10	Friday Flat	-
Planned lifts	.
Twin Valleys	?	-	Planned 1983	-	Nth east of Friday Flat	-
High Noon	Sextuple chair	-	Recent plan	-	Upper slopes	-
Golf Course Bowl	Chairlift	-	Recent plan	-	Upper slopes	c.1820 - c.2030 metres
Lower Golf Course	Chairlift	-	Recent plan	-	9th hole-mid Ramshd Chair	-
Golf Course Beginners	?	-	Recent plan	-	Near Crackenback estate	-
Fiveways	T-bar	-	Recent plan	-	500 m west of Sponars	-
New Kosciusko Express	6-Chair-D	-	Recent plan	-	-	Replace & extend current quad

See the Charlotte Pass entry for details of the two chairlifts that operated between Thredbo Valley and Charlotte Pass in 1964 and 1965.

• The Crackenback nutcracker tow was built from components of the Northcote Tow. Gelignite was used in the Kunama Basin to stop further build up of the avalanche causing snow which had demolished nearby Kunama Lodge. When faulty heating in the Northcote Tow hut caused a minor fire, the occupants bolted outside before the gelignite ignited, blowing the hut to smithereens. But the poles and sheaves were in good condition and these were utilised in the Crackenback tow. The engine was second hand from a rock crusher which had been used on the Snowy Hydro Scheme, the gear wheels and bullwheels were from cranes. The engine was put on a sled and winched itself up to the top station where it was installed in a shed made from bush timber and second hand iron. The lift designed by Geoffrey Hughes who had been chairman of the Northcote Tow sub-committee. It cost £1870 to buy and install. After the chairlift was built, the nutcracker tow was moved to provide access to the higher slopes.

• The Crackenback double chair was origninally 100% Mueller product, as was the 1962 extension. The towers and sheaves on the upper section were later replaced with Riblet components due to 'technical issues' including derailing. The lift was built by Transfield with on mountain transport provided by Helicopter Utilities. The cost (before the extension) was £35,000.

A few areas of this listing are still incomplete. Names are missing for some Thredbo rope tows and dates for a few lifts on the same sites overlap, so they may be a year out. Current trail map. Thanks to 'Ian S' for help and to 'Richardo' for details of manufacturers of early chairlifts.

More on Thredbo history.

Jim Darby. Thredbo 50: 1957 to 2007. tSm Publishing, 2006.

Helen Swinbourne. Accordions in the snow gums: Thredbo's early years. Thredbo Historical Society Inc., 2006.

Geoffrey Hughes. Starting Thredbo. The author, 2008. pp. 28 - 33.

--© David Sisson 15:29, 31 July 2007 (EST)

Readers comment. The changes in lift names and locations reveal a lot about how long someone has been skiing a resort, and their familiarity with it. This contributor knows people who call Merrits, 'Falls' (and it is probably called something else now) at Thredbo Merritts (no Falls), because that is what it was called before the Merrits Chair was put in. And there is Little Merrits. I call what is now called 'Meadows' at Thredbo, the 'Middle Slopes', because that is what they were called when the old Crackenback Double had a middle station. And I still call the quad chair Crackenback. In the same way, at Perisher, the people who have been skiing the place forever always call the T bars by the numbers, not the explorer names.

Victoria, outside resorts

Location	Owner	Operated	Name	Notes
Mt St Bernard	Wangaratta Ski Club	1955 - present	Mt St Bernard	Tow was originally at Bull Run on Mt Buller
Mt St Bernard	Wangaratta Ski Club	1958 - present	Nursery Tow	-
Bogong High Plains	Rover Scouts	1968 - present	-	Langford West Aqueduct. Didn't operate 2003 - 2005
Mt Wills	Tallangatta Ski Club	1950's - c.2000	-	2 km north of summit near the lodge
Dinner Plain	Dinner Plain	1985? - present	Cobungra Platter	175 m, 18 m rise. Capacity 731 p/h. Formerly at Plains of Heaven, Hotham
Mt St Gwinear	Resort	2009 - present	Portable	Australia's newest ski lift! (Well possibly, installation not confirmed)

All lifts are nutcracker tows except the Cobungra Platter at Dinner Plain and the St Gwinear tow. For more detailed information see the non resort tows article. --© David Sisson 10:55, 30 July 2007 (EST)

Other passenger ropeways (non snow)

Area	Name	Type of lift	Dates	Length/vert	Notes
New South Wales					.
Sydney	Taronga Zoo	Gondola	2000?-present		Sky Safari Cableway. Web page. Photo gallery on Poma website.
Sydney	Former showgrounds	Gondola	1970's - 1997		Reinstalled at Wonderland.
Sydney	Former showgrounds	Double? chair	1960's? -1997		-
Sydney	Wonderland	Gondola	1999 - 2002		Ex showgrounds, renamed Skyrider
Sydney	Moore Park grass ski	Rope tow	?		-
Kurrajong	Grass ski & cart	Drag tow?	<1983-present		Now only carting. link
Camden	Razorback Grass Ski	?	< 1983 >		Located on Mt Hercules Road
Fernleigh	Fernleigh Grass Ski Pk	?	?		Located on Fernleigh Road
Port Macquarie	Grass ski	Drag tow?	?		-
Katoomba	Skyway	Cable car	1958 - 2004		Amusement park directory
Katoomba	Skyway	Cable car	2004 - present	380 / -	Web page. Amusement park directory
Katoomba	Cableway	Cableway	2000 - present	545 / -	Web page. Amusement park listing
Wollongong	Jamberoo Action Park	Double chair	1980 - present	500 / 130	Ex Thredbo-Charlotte Lift history & Amusement park directory
near Urunga & Mylestom	Grass skiing	c.1982	.	.
Albury	Grass ski	?	? - 2009?		At the site now called Great Aussie resort caravan park.
Victoria					.
Melbourne	Showgrounds	Double chair	19?? - 200?		-
Montrose	Fox's Point Scenic Railway	Funicular r/way	1956 - 1962/3		3 rail & passing loop, 34m vertical, 45° angle. more info
Dromana	Arthur's Seat	Double chair	1960 - 2003		Made by Australasian Ropeway. Rebuilt 2003 - 2004
Dromana	Arthur's Seat	Double chair	2004 - 2006	950 / 225	Speed 0.8 m/s. The website is still available
Portsea	Back Beach	Double chair	1960's - ?		Made by McCallum, probably relocated to Carribean Gardens. Photo.
Scoresby	Carribean Gardens	Double chair	? - present		Built by McCallum. Probably the old Portsea chairlift relocated
Torquay	Grass Ski Torquay	Handle tow?	1980's		Located on Duffields Road
Marysville	Marysville Fun Park	?	< 1983 >		Grass skiing. Located on Buxton Road
Yinnar South	Dunalton Grass Ski	Rope tow	1970's - >1983		Located on Brewster Road
Tasmania					.
Hobart	Showgrounds	Double chair	? - ?		Made by Australasian Ropeway
Hobart	Hobart Grass Ski Centre	?	< 1983 >		Austins Ferry
Launceston	Cataract Gorge	Double chair	1972 - present	457 / -	Claims to have longest chairlift span in world (308 metre) Web page
Stanley	The Nut	Double chair	c.1990-present		Web page. Lift previously located at Mt Baw Baw
Queenstown		Double chair	?<2009>?		No website, so no details Photo.
South Australia					.
Adelaide	Mt Thebarton	Conveyor/carpet	1987 - 2005		World's first indoor ski slope
Adelaide	Showgrounds	Double chair	1980's-?		-
Kersbrook	Kersbrook Grass Ski Pk	Drag tow?	< 1983 >		Located on Kersbrook Road
Adelaide	Grass ski park	?	1980's?		Unconfirmed second grass ski park
Victor Harbour	Granite Island	Double chair	? - present		-
Western Australia					.
Perth	Showgrounds	Double chair	? - present		Built by McCallum
Wooroloo	El Caballo Blanco	Double chair	>1974 - <1993		Current website. Moved to Adventure World
Bibra Lake	Adventure World	Double chair	1993 - present		Sky Lift, 43 chairs. Amusement park directory
Wanneroo	Grass skiing	Rope tow	1980's
Queensland					.
Brisbane	Showgrounds	Double chair	? - 2009		Made by Australasian Ropeway. Removed when showgrounds redeveloped
Brisbane	Samford Grass Ski Pk	?	1983 - 1993		link.
Gold Coast	Magic Mountain	Double chair	1962 - 1987		Reinstalled at Dreamworld
Gold Coast	Dreamworld	Double chair	1989 - 2005	312 / -	Skylink ex Magic Mountain Web page.
Gold Coast	Seaworld	Open gondola	1989 - present	480 / -	Sky High Skyway. Web page. Amusement pk directory
Woombye	Grass skiing	?	?		Apparently didn't last long. Possibly at Nambour rather than Woombye
Mt Bellenden Ker	Telecommunications	Open gondola	<1972-present	5300 / ?	Used by Broadcast Aust. Provides access to antenna on summit. Photo
Kareeya Power Station	-	?	1957 - present		Near Tully. Used by Stanwell.
Caravonica-Red Peak	Skyrail	6 seat gondola	1995 - present	Combined	2 separate cableways, total 114 cars, capacity 700 hour. website
Red Peak - Kuranda	Skyrail	6 seat gondola	1995 - present	= 7.5 km	2 separate cableways, built by Leitner-Poma. website

In addition to these passenger lifts, there were dozens of aerial freight cableways and hundreds of tracked steep cable haulages built for dam construction, timber harvesting, mining, hydro electricity, etc.

Thanks to Maurie Copsey for info on FNQ ropeways, these posters from http://ski.com.au/forum for help with this section: SnowAndrew, ians 158, HiLo, jt-ski, Heinz, Dive, BLB, cashie, SAL, Claude Cat, pigface, Rowdy, PolePlant, K10, TACKIE, Mamabear, kimberlee81, currawong, D-eye, the following from http://www.railpage.com.au/f.htm : Johnmc, 2001, watchdog, and these posters from http://www.parkz.com.au/forums : reanimated35, pinksmile, AlexB

Proposed lifts outside ski fields

Location	Date Proposed	Notes
Perth area, W.A.	2007 - 2010	Proposed indoor 400 m ski slope. website.
Kooralbyn, Qld	1990's	Proposed outdoor 300m slope on artificial snow. website.

Cross country ski resorts (no lifts)

. Corin Forest (ACT). No WikiSki page. Resort website.

. Dinner Plain (Victoria). WikiSki page. Resort website.

Lake Mountain (Victoria). WikiSki page. Resort website.

. Mt Donna Buang (Victoria). WikiSki page. No resort website.

Mt Stirling (Victoria). WikiSki page. Resort website.

. Mt St Gwinear (Victoria). WikiSki page. Resort website.

WikiSki notes on Australian backcountry ski touring in all states.

Links

• A useful illustrated glossary of ski lift terms. It's American, so some terms may be a little different.

• Chairlift identifier. Identify the manufacturer and age of lifts by parts such as grips, terminals, sheaves, etc.

Ski lift directories.

• An incomplete directory of North American ski lifts.

• A directory of Swiss ski lifts. Despite a basic English interface, much of the text is in German.

• Lift World includes lifts in most countries, but there are lots of omissions and only two Australian resorts have (incomplete) entries.

Ski lift manufacturers.

• McCallum. Ron McCallum built quite a few chairlifts and T-bars throughout Australia in the 1960's. Hoepefully an artcile will be written soon on his acheivements.

• Australasian Ropeway. Another local outfit that built at least three chairlifts. Details are still sketchy.

• . . . . BMF (Bartholet Maschinenbau AG). A new Swiss entrant in the market.

They haven't installed a lift in Australia or New Zealand yet. BMF website. BMF ropeways publicity book (big download).

• . . . . Poma: Europe.

• Leitner: Europe.

• Leitner - Poma: North America.

• Doppelmayr: all areas.

• Riblet was an American chairlift manufacturer which grew to be the biggest in the world. But they failed to cater to the market's demand for detachable grip lifts. After atrophying for years, they finally closed down in 2003. The Ramshead and Merrits chairlifts at Thredbo are Riblet products.

• Wikipedia page on Mueller Switzerland which closed in 1992. Mueller North America web page. Mueller built a few lifts in Australia, notably the 1958 Crackenback chair at Thredbo, the Mt Perisher double at Perisher in 1961 and the ill fated, 5.5 km chairlift between Thredbo Valley and Charlotte Pass which operated in 1964 and 1965.

• Von Roll was a legendary Swiss company that attracted fiercer brand loyalty than any other lift manufacturer. They built chairlifts and gondolas throughout the world, but none in Australia. The company sold it's cableway and ski lift division to Doppelmayr in 1996. Wikipedia page.

• Harusch Lifts. 30 years ago Thredbo had four lifts made by this small Canadian surface lift company. It's possible that they also made the portable handle tows that were used at Falls Creek and Thredbo.

• Wikipedia list of curent and former manufacturers. Incomplete and excludes some companies such as Hamilton and Yac that have installed lifts in Australia.

• skilifts.org links pages for large lift manufacturers.

• skilifts.org links pages for small lift manufacturers.