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James Michael Curran Sr. (June 9, 1903 – February 12, 1968) was an American civil engineer who designed the chairlift that was essential for establishing skiing as a recreational sport in the United States.
A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts . The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/ Eisenbach , Hochschwarzwald .
The ski lift had 4,200 feet of cable and took 250 skiers per hour. [27] The first chairlift in Europe was built in 1938 in Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic), from Ráztoka, at 620 m (2,034 ft), to Pustevny, at 1,020 m (3,346 ft), in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain range.
As lifts became more common, especially with the introduction of the chairlift in 1936, the ski world split into cross-country and downhill, a split that remains to this day. In 1937, Hjalmar Hvam broke his leg skiing, and while recuperating from surgery, invented the Saf-Ski toe binding.
The dual slalom event, where racers ski head-to-head, was invented in 1941 and has been a competitive event since 1960. [12] Alpine skiing is contested at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup , the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships (held only in odd-numbered years), and the Winter Olympics.
The first gondola built in the United States for a ski resort was at the Wildcat Mountain Ski Area. It was a two-person gondola built in 1957 and serviced skiers until 1999. The lift was later demolished in 2004. The lift and its cabins were manufactured by a former Italian lift company: Carlevaro-Savio.
Dozens of people were injured after a ski lift collapsed at a resort in Spain, emergency officials told CNN. Some 30 people were injured in the incident, which happened at around 12:00 p.m. local ...
Skiing gained in popularity, and soon ski lifts became the major part of the Riblet Tramway Company's business. They built more than 400 lifts, particularly in Washington, Oregon, and California, and as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Chile; one secondhand American lift has also been relocated to Pakistan. [3]