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First t-bar lift

First t-bar lift

Nostalgics love it to this day

“Ski lift” revolutionises skiing

90% ascending, 10% descending: An average beginners lesson on the ski slope. Until 1934. Because at that time on the Bolgen in Davos the first t-bar lift in the world started up, in order to ease the skiers' ascent. Invented by Zurich engineer Ernst Gustav Constam.

Nostalgics love them to this day: The T-shaped, black and orange ski lift bars, which have provided access to ski paradises in Switzerland for decades. Although many still remain - modern technology, demands for comfort from snow sports enthusiasts and more efficient spatial policies bring about their progressive demise every year. Something many people don't know: The first ski lift in the world and simultaneously the first ski lift in Switzerland operated on the Bolgen in Davos.

Modification to a double bar lift

At the end of the first season, the Bolgen lift had already transported 70,000 skiers - a complete success. Following on from this the conveyance capacity was doubled - the young ski instructor Jack Ettinger came upon the idea: He proposed that the J-shaped single bar be replaced by a T-shaped double bar. Constam, who liked the idea immediately, had the Bolgen lift modified and transformed into a double bar lift. The Constam t-bar lifts soon followed in St. Moritz, Mürren and France. "Constam" became the most widely used ski lift system. More information on the history of ski lifts and the history of cable cars in Europe can be found at www.seilbahn-nostalgie.ch.

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