The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss invention: 90-year anniversary of first T-bar ski lift

Ski lift
Traditional T-bar ski lifts still account for 44% of Switzerland's 1,650 lift installations. Keystone-SDA

On Monday it will be 90 years since the world’s first T-bar ski lift went into service in Davos, in eastern Switzerland. This Swiss invention was an instant success. Today, many installations of this type have been replaced by chairlifts.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The crossbow or T-bar ski lift was invented by Zurich engineer Ernst Gustav Constam. It first went into service on December 23, 1934.

Initially, the crossbow was shaped like a “J”, which was placed under the buttocks and could only pull one person at a time. The first ski lift of this type, 270 meters long on the Bolgen slope in Davos, recorded 70,000 lifts in its first season of operation.

The ‘T’ replaces the ‘J’

Early in the winter of 1935, Davos ski instructor Jack Ettinger had the idea of replacing the “J”-shaped crossbow with a “T”-shaped one that could pull two people. This doubled the capacity of the lift and making it possible for people to flirt on their way up the slope.

With the advent of chairlifts, the flirting factor faded. Some think it even disappeared. On modern six-seater chairlifts, most people keep quiet. Ski instructors, on the other hand, swear by the T-bar lift, as it prolongs the time spent on skis and trains coordination.

You have to learn to tug

Using the T-bar takes practice. Beginners often find it challenging. For children, the hardest part is getting rid of the crossbow at the finish line. For ski instructors, learning how to use the T-bar by beginners is the source of endless anecdotes. Falls are plentiful. It’s not uncommon for half a class to fall during the ascent.

More

More

The oldest ski lift in the world

This content was published on The T-bar ski lift was designed by Zurich engineer Ernst Gustav Constam who registered his invention with the patent office in 1930. Four years later, the first ski lift went into operation on the Bolgen practice area in Davos. A world first, it was instantly a media sensation and attracted 70,000 skiers in its first…

Read more: The oldest ski lift in the world

For snowboarders, the lift is a challenge. They have to take one foot off the bindings and find themselves almost at right angles. When the lift is long, the crossbow ends up causing thigh pain.

More and more chairlifts

As more and more snowboarders took to the slopes in the 1990s, ski resorts replaced many crossbow lifts with chairlifts. The long haulers have almost completely disappeared from major ski areas. Chairlifts are faster and offer greater capacity.

Nevertheless, traditional T-bar ski lifts still account for 44% of Switzerland’s 1,650 lift installations. Most of these are in low-altitude resorts, where it’s not worth investing in a chairlift because of the uncertainty of snow cover.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

The storm from the USA continues to sweep through the Swiss stock market

More

US storm continues to sweep through Swiss stock market

This content was published on The Swiss stock market continued to trade in the red mid-afternoon on Monday, following in the wake of the world's stock markets, which fell heavily as a result of the trade war launched by Donald Trump.

Read more: US storm continues to sweep through Swiss stock market
Swiss vote on e-ID likely

More

Swiss likely to vote on e-ID

This content was published on The referendum committee announced in Bern on Monday that it had collected more than 60,000 signatures against the e-ID project. The initials still need to be approved.

Read more: Swiss likely to vote on e-ID
Increase in offences committed by minors in Ticino

More

Crimes committed by minors increase in Ticino

This content was published on The number of offences committed by minors in canton Ticino, southern Switzerland, rose by over 20% in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Read more: Crimes committed by minors increase in Ticino

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR