MOUNTAIN OPERATIONS
ROPE TOW RENAISSANCE
Speed, culture, and economics are pushing resorts to reconsider the most old-school lift on the mountain.
Left: The first rope tow in the United States at Gilbert’s Hill in Woodstock, Vt., was powered by a Ford Model-T engine.
Below: The constant flow of the rope tow allows for hot laps in the popular Hyland Hills, Minn., terrain park.
By Matt Zabransky, midwestskiers.com
Source: Woodstock Historical Society
It was a cold December evening in 2020 at Hyland Hills, just outside Minneapolis. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, but in true Mid- western fashion, my night of skiing under the lights was only beginning. I climbed the steps to the base area— and there it was. Before me spun a sight I had never experienced in more than 30 years on snow: a side-by-side rope tow, shuttling skiers and riders uphill in a constant, chaotic rhythm. The ropes never slowed, but kids were packed elbow to elbow, and for the first time in my skiing life, I felt intimidated not by the terrain, but by the lift. That moment changed the way I thought about skiing. From Ingenuity to Industry Uphill transportation is a defining ele- ment of ski areas, brought about so skiers wouldn’t need to hoof it up to ski down. One of the earliest ideas to accomplish this was the rope tow, which got its start in North America nearly a century ago. In 1931, Alex Foster, in Shawbridge, Que- bec, watched skiers tire themselves out
hiking uphill. He thought there had to be a better way. So, he gathered 730 meters of rope, some telephone poles, pulley wheels, and a Dodge engine mounted to cement blocks, and the very first rope tow spun into existence. This simple idea spread and forever altered the sport. By 1934, the first rope tow in the United States was spinning on Gilbert’s Hill in Woodstock, Vt. Built by local handyman David Dodd, it was the result of a collaboration between the Gil- berts, the Royce family, and skier “Bunny” Bertram, who had been inspired by the European cable cars that transported ski-
ers up their mountains. That early tow used a large loop of rope powered by a Ford Model-T engine. The Woodstock tow transformed skiing from a niche activity for athletes into something fam- ilies could enjoy in an afternoon. Soon, rope tows popped up across the continent. Beer magnate and Brom- ley (Vt.) founder Fred Pabst Jr. even formed Ski Tows, Ltd. (later Ski Tows, Inc.), which got its start installing and operating several rope tows at its ski areas throughout the Midwest, East, and Canada in the late 1930s. Rope tows were essential in launching the mod-
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