Ever take a Rope Tow?

[4aprice]

IMO The Alta transfer tow is cheating. There is an authentic tow there down by the Wildcat chair that goes up to one of the Inns. Rarely used, you have to support the rope up while getting towed up the hill. Whats a rope tow without pain?.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[dmc]

again, burned out gloves...

Yup - 1975 - Boston Mills in Ohio..
Rope tow ruined my glove s and my parents were so pissed they wouldn't let me ski again until I could pay for it myself...

 

[thetrailboss]

The Lyndon Outing Club still has an old school rope tow that I rode once or twice for the hell of it. It destroys gloves and really moves!

 

[Warp Daddy]

yep Big Tupper yrs ago in the 60's --------------one n' done !

 

[steve22]

Lincoln, NH has a rope tow (no handle-they recommend duct taping some old gloves) at the town recreation area. Lincoln must be pulling in some nice tax revenue from all those new homes by Loon. They have 2 or 3 new looking fan guns and a nice sno cat groomer for this tiny little area. I own a condo in town so they let us ski for 5 bucks once I showed them a utility bill to prove it. Lots of townie kids there, dropped off for the day by their parents. The woman running the place told us they close the lift for lunch and make all the kids go in to eat and get warm. Waaaay too much strain on my old bones for the few turns I got. My boys didn't like it either. We're just spoiled city dwelling, HSQ riding wimps I guess!

 

[mister moose]

All these people saying they ruined their gloves....

You had the wrong gloves!!!!

For a rope tow you use heavy leather gloves, not the soft stuff that is typically sold. Never wool, although there was always some poor soul with grandma's handmade wool mittens shredding them on the rope tow. We frequently used winter work gloves. Gloves would get wet faster holding the wet rope, and you went to the hill with at least 2 pair.

 

[crank]

I remember the rope tow. Trick is you have to put one arm and hand behind your back clamped onto the rope to keep you from slipping back and one in front. I was tortured by that snake for the first time in decades about 5 years back at West Mt. NY. hanging with my beginner nephew...it was a lot easier when I was 4 feet tall and weighed about half what I do now.

 

[darent]

first time skiing, 1970 at eldora ski area, half way up crossed my skis and fell on my face, still falling on my face!!

 

[whitemtn27]

I learned on the ski school rope tow at Bousquet. Brodie was still open then and had rope tows in their beginner area too.

The tows at Bousquet have long since been replaced by a magic carpet, but the Greylock ski club still has a couple. Leather work gloves highly recommended.

Hadn't seen a J bar in years until I went to Burke last year. Last T bar I was on was probably up at the top of Breckenridge. As far as I know it's still there.

 

[playoutside]

1968 or 69 @ Craigmeur in NJ. I was no older than 5 -- not skiing with parents/adults since none of them skied. It was brutal -- the rope would drag when no one used it making it VERY heavy and wet. I recall hating being first in line...it was ok as long as there was a small army of kids sharing the weight, but some days you had to be front and hold up all that rope weight. Lots of times crashing into kids in front who had basically given up and let the rope run through their hands.

Perhaps worst of all is that Craigmeur is an upside down area, so we had to get to the top to get home for dinner! One of my brothers never really mastered the rope or the T-bar, so was frequently stuck walking up the hill to end his day.

I think the only other rope I used was much more recently at Alta to get across the base area...a very different experience, nothing like my memories, really easy actually.

 

[skimawk]

Good old rope tows

Growing up in Central Massachusetts I remember using rope tows at:
Hidden Valley in Ashburnham, it had big bumps, skiing moguls going up hill.
Benjamin Hill in Shirley,
Burbank Hospital Hill in Fitchburg,
Pheasant Run in Leominster.

My Dad was good friends with the Foresman Family that owned Hidden Valley. He has given some old rope from the area. He hung some of that rope from an old oak tree in our front yard. We had a rope you could sit on and swing and another he made with big knots in it as a climbing rope.

Wonderful memories of the Rope Tow era.

Ski to the level of your smile!

 

[SkiDork]

All these people saying they ruined their gloves....

You had the wrong gloves!!!!

For a rope tow you use heavy leather gloves, not the soft stuff that is typically sold. Never wool, although there was always some poor soul with grandma's handmade wool mittens shredding them on the rope tow. We frequently used winter work gloves. Gloves would get wet faster holding the wet rope, and you went to the hill with at least 2 pair.

Of course I had the wrong gloved. Mostly knit gloves or maybe deerskin. This was the 60/70s

 

[jack97]

First lift ever was rope tow on beginners trail at Nashoba, then moved up to the War rope tow. Fast and ruined your clothes and mittens quickly. Carnage could cause backups lol.

We took our daughter there for a while. One time there was big pile at the top, I skipped out and skidded right into some ice, fell and twisted my knee. lol, I hade to wear a knee brace that whole season and into the summer just to recover from that.

 

[billski]

If you ever have the opportunity again, wear work gloves.

 

[ALLSKIING]

Bald Hill on LI had one. Ruined many gloves on it.

Killington has a couple of handle tows as well.

Have not thought about bald hill in a long time. Wish it was still around for my kids.

 

[SkiDork]

Have not thought about bald hill in a long time. Wish it was still around for my kids.

Bald Hill rocked. $1.25 for night skiing. The huge air at the bottom of the T-bar hill...

 

[deadheadskier]

There's still a handle tow at Ski Ward. They unfortunately use it for their beginner lessons, so half the time is wasted teaching them how to use the damn thing.

That's what I learned on. Pretty frustrating as a 7 year old to learn how to use.

First and one of two rope tows I used was at Ward as well. They used to have one that went all the way to the top at the far lookers left of the 'mountain'. Somewhat where the tubing hill is now and looking at the map it ended at the top of 'east bowl'. Very fast. Loved it as kid.

 

[deadheadskier]

didn't way back they use to have handles that you latched onto the rope toe with? almost like a hand held vice type device? Thought I read this somewhere and they were really dangerous, but the idea behind them was to prevent burning out gloves.

 

[NJSkiBabe]

I used a rope tow at Craigmeur Ski Area and Great Gorge Ski Area in New Jersey.

Also used the one at Alta.

 

[freddy1111]

Back in the day....Powder Ridge in CT