The "Impossible" Ski Lift That's Been Running For 41 Years
Ski lifts go up and down only, right?
The impossible ski lift in Hohstock, Belalp, in the Swiss Alps challenges any preconceived ideas you may have had about the directionality of chairs on the mountain.
Belalp is a village and ski resort in the Swiss canton of Valais, a popular climbing area in addition to skiing. The view from Hohstock is spectacular: you can see many other mountains in the Alps, including the Matterhorn, Dom, and Weisshorn.
Perhaps coolest of all, Hohstock has a lift that "should be physically impossible." Why? Because it has T-bars that go left and chairs that go right, making it a ski lift that turns in four different directions.
Even more impressively, the ride turns during the ascent instead of going in a straight line up the hill.
Have you ever looked up while riding the chair? Have you noticed the clamp on the rope at the top goes through those little wheels without getting blocked?
Normally, this system only works for chairs going one way, and cannot make turns, because the clamp juts out to the left or right connecting the chair off the side of the rope.
Apparently, the reasoning behind this crazy 4-directional sight is simple.
The Hohstock lift has two almost parallel ropes and the T-bars are connected through a unique clamp that hooks on to two ropes. The ropes can then be rotated depending on whether that T is going left or right.
The connector can then sit on the outside of the curve regardless if the lift is turning left or right, whereas normally the connector would hit the wheels on top of the lift poles if the lift was going straight up and down.
What do you think of this newfangled concoction?
Asking the real questions here... what do you think of T-Bars?
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