T-bar lift
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A T-bar lift, also called T-bar, is a mechanised system for transporting skiers and snowboarders uphill, along the surface of the slope. In the United States it is generally employed for low-capacity slopes in large resorts and small local areas servicing skiers numbered in the dozens rather than in the hundreds or thousands.
It consists of an aerial steel rope loop running over a series of wheels, powered by an engine at one end. Hanging from the rope are a series of vertical recoiling cables, each attached to a T-shaped bar measuring about a meter in both dimensions. The horizontal bar is placed behind the skier's or snowboarder's buttocks. This pulls the passenger uphill while they slide across the ground. A single T-bar transports one or two people. A J-bar is a one-sided T-bar.
In some lift designs, the bar isn't a bar at all, but a single, usually plastic, button for one persons occupancy. The user sits on the button, a leg either side of the metal pole through the centre that attaches the button to the overhead pulley mechanism. These types of lift, usually similar in operation to a T-bar lift, as sometimes called button lifts.
An alternative design, known as a button lift or Poma after a manufacturer, is rarer in the United States; these employ a spring-loaded pole with a mushroom shaped bottom (base or grip) instead of the recoiling rope mechanism and cross-bar. The skier grips the pole with the thighs straddling it like one would a hobby horse whilst gripping the pole. The T-bar variant became more popular in the United States for two reasons: the T-bar offers twice the lift capacity for the same motivator mechanisms, and the Poma's spring loading can produce wild swings and possible backlash, causing bruises or other injury if the unwary rider lets it go carelessly when dismounting. The retractable rope systems retract at a slower rate, and so are more tractable.
T-bars and Pomas are often misunderstood by beginners who incorrectly believe the objective is to sit down on the bar. This almost always leads to a fall as the T-bar is simply pulled to the ground along with the skier.
T-bars are rarely installed as the primary lift, save on small local slopes such as a golf course doing a seasonal business in local night skiing; generally chairlifts are the preferred, albeit more expensive option at established resorts. T-bars (along with their single passenger equivalent, the J-bar) are mostly found at beginner slopes or in locales where high winds may prevent chairlifts from running, or on in-between terrain to allow a short uphill fork over a ridge into the next valley that skiers would not otherwise be able to reach without climbing.
Besides lower expense, T-bars have another advantage over elevated chair lifts: the rider may leave the lift at any point, instead of being forced to wait until they arrive at the designated exit point at the top of the hill.
[edit] See also
- Platter lift
- J-bar lift
- Poma lift
- Ski tow - (rope tow)
- Chairlift
- Skiing and skiing topics
- Skis
