# Why are ski lifts so high? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561 "2011-01-30T22:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/1 "2011-01-30T22:23:39Z")
My least favorite part of skiing/snowboarding is dangling 30’-40’ above the ground on the way up the mountain before every run. Sure, coming down is probably objectively many times more dangerous, but I get a massive reward for that risk (fun). I cannot figure out the reward anyone gets for hoisting me to ridiculous heights on the lift. I realize drifts can get very deep and an exceptionally low lift might get buried from time to time, but it seems like it would be pretty easy to prevent that from happening, or clear it away when it does. Even a 15’ lift would make me feel a lot more comfortable, and I doubt that would ever get buried. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/2 "2011-01-30T22:45:27Z")
In the eastern US new lifts are considerably lower then older ones. Some can be reasonably jumped off at several points. My take on it is: 1 less expectation of really deep snow 2 better ability to remove deep snow if needed 3 desire to get the lifts below the trees so they are out of the wind, which allows them to run more consistently 4 better ability to shape the earth below if needed and place the lift and towers in the right spots to take advantage of the natural shape of the mountain. 5 Less emphasis on cost minimization of the lift, more on safety including evacuation. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/3 "2011-01-30T23:38:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Even a 15’ lift would make me feel a lot more comfortable, and I doubt that would ever get buried. A few years ago, one of the slopes around here got over 8 feet of snowfall in a single 24 hour period. Now consider an entire winter of snowfall, and that the drifts will be higher yet. Not only _could_ a mere 15’ lift get buried; I’d be surprised if a winter went by that it _didn’t_. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/4 "2011-01-31T05:06:42Z")
I suspect that keeping lift-borne skiers close to the ground is rarely a high priority. A ski lift is inherently expensive, and if it can be made more direct - and thus quicker - with less use of expensive materials, the fact that folks who ride it are 20’ further from the ground than they might be is not much of a problem. (Some of them no doubt enjoy this.) As for rescues, once you are 15+ feet high, jumping down is not a safe option, and the logistics of a rescue are non-trivial. Ski lifts are reliable, so a small reduction in the difficulty of dealing with a rare problem need not be an important consideration. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/5 "2011-01-31T07:23:17Z")
Along with the speed and cost considerations, there’s an upper limit to the length a chairlift can be. At some of the larger hills, the bigger lifts are already pushing that length and so a less-direct lower route might mean having less vertical gain or having to change chairs to get to the top. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/6 "2011-01-31T07:40:32Z")
Go to Candanchú in the summer, the lifts float waaaaaay overhead; it’s quite surrealistic, those bars and chairs floating in mid-air, above the cows and the lilacs and the grass. Go in winter, and if the slopes are open, those same individual lifts carry people on the ground. Go after a few heavy snowfalls, the bars for those are barely extended - I’ve seen one of the easiest slopes closed for skiers and turned into a sled-slope because the lift was almost buried. On that same day, people on the chairlifts were having to pay attention to how they placed the skies, as they could drag on the snow if placed by the typical idjit who can’t be bothered lift them into place correctly. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/7 "2011-01-31T11:16:45Z")
Another reason is to keep jackasses from jumping off the lift whenever they want. It shakes the cable due to the weight loss, and if enough people did it at once I could see Bad Things Happening. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/8 "2011-01-31T12:13:41Z")
I suppose the simple reasons are that you want to avoid smacking the downhill skiers on the run beneath in the head, even if the snow gets high. You could get rid of this by not having a run underneath the ski lift, but you’d have to fence it off – otherwise skiers would go there, anyway, and the owners would still be liable. For many years, Mount Cranmore in North Conway, NH had a lift that combined “low to the ground” with “fenced off” . It was their unique “Snowmobile”, which wasn’t the usual craft of that name, but an odd contraption built by the owner – it was a series of linked carts on an elevated wooden track (that you couldn’t go under, except at “bridges”, because the structure extended all the way to the ground) [http://teachski.com/articles/cranmoreskimobile/cranmoreskimopbile.htm](http://teachski.com/articles/cranmoreskimobile/cranmoreskimopbile.htm) It was shut down in the late eighties and dismantled. I saw it in position, but inoperable, before it was taken apart. The reason it was taken down shows why people don’t use these things, or allow for low lifts – they take up too much space, and are a pain to keep up. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/9 "2011-01-31T12:57:28Z")
More on the Cranmore Skimobile: > [@](#): > > The Skimobile > > Invented by George Morton of nearby Bartlett, the Skimobile opened in December 1938, only two years after the first chairlift in the world was installed. After visiting the chairlift installed at Belknap Mountain in Gilford, New Hampshire, Morton realized he disliked his feet dangling in the air as he rode. Drawing his inspiration from the San Francisco cable cars he had heard about, Morton decided to develop a ski lift that ran on tracks. Morton’s son, Parker, had recently graduated from the Wentworth Institute in Boston, and his engineering training was critical for the lift’s design. Morton and his son tinkered with a number of designs for their new lift. Originally, Morton planned the lift to allow skiers to ride the lift while wearing their skis, but he feared lines would grow too long. Morton’s daughter began helping the development by sitting in different positions at the dining room table while carrying her skis. Finally, the design was completed, and the trestle was laid. The cars were built in Massachusetts and shipped to Conway for painting by the Mortons. > > Following a hectic summer of trial and error in the Mortons’ shop, 150 cars painted red, white and blue carried skiers halfway up Cranmore Mountain that first winter. > > The Skimobile was a revolution. The 1,800-foot lift offered skiers unparalleled speed. On New Year’s Day, 1939, it carried 1,065 passengers at a rate of approximately 255 skiers per hour. > > Although the Skimobile arrived at Cranmore the winter before the Schneider family, the new lift was critical in implementing Schneider’s first suggestion, which was to expand to the summit of the mountain. In 1939, a second trestle was added using timber felled from the New England Hurricane of 1938. The top to bottom Skimobile transported over 200 people to the summit of Cranmore Mountain on its first day. > > The unique lift quickly became an attraction unto itself, and the resort began running the lift during the summer. The scenic rides continued until the Skimobile was finally laid to rest in 1988. The high-speed quad that replaced the Skimobile, the Skimobile Express, bears its name in reverence to Morton’s invention. Which brings up another issue. Although I never saw it in action, I get the impressiojn that it was a hechuva lot slower than a normal lift > **[Cranmore Mountain Resort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranmore_Mountain_Resort)** > > Cranmore Mountain Resort, operating in the summer with a Mountain Adventure Park, is a ski area located in North Conway, New Hampshire, United States. It began operations in the winter of 1937–38, and was owned until 1984 by the Schneider family. During the late 1980s and 1990s, ownership of the resort changed hands several times; it is now owned by a group of New England businessmen and is undergoing several years of expansion and modernization. > Cranmore was founded by local businessman Harv... The Skimobile in action: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BD5OGCRFHd4/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGEcgZShQMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDc5spxCK2AV0cbW_xNddRSuHEx5A "North Conway NH Skimobile on Mt Cranmore 1960's") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD5OGCRFHd4) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/10 "2011-01-31T14:07:08Z")
The higher the towers, the fewer of them you need. Take a look at trams; they only have 3-4 towers total but they are wicked high off the ground. One downside of high towers is that the chairs are exposed to the wind. It can be a discomfort to the skiers but the main problem is that it means you have to shut down or slow down the chairlift in high winds. Many ski areas in New England will go on “wind hold” and only the lowest lifts can stay open. Granted, these are usually lower on the mountain where there’s less wind anyway, but the height of the lift towers is a factor. ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/11 "2011-01-31T17:27:39Z")
Mount Snow in Vermont ran several low-to-the-ground chairs, built in the 30s I think, that had wooden benches suspended from an overhead track that were pulled by a chain - my guess is it was a modified industrial conveyer of some sort. Slow and noisy, unlike the Cranmore skimobile which was whisper quiet. I tried but failed to locate a picture or any information about these, but I rode them many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-ski-lifts-so-high/569561/12 "2011-01-31T19:21:25Z")
Because if ski lifts were low, we would not be able to make [scary movies about them](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_(2010_English_film)).