Building a Rope Tow

[Harvey]

Anyone ever done it?

Our "steepest" terrain, is right up front coming down to the road. And there is a power pole right there.

Would it be insane to put in a electric service, and some kind of electric motor for a rope tow? It would have to be all weather, and I need to be able to lock it up. That's not the kind of secret that would stay secret long.

How many horse do I need? The run would have maybe 40 feet of vert, and 200 feet of horizontal.

I was thinking if it got bumped out, it could be really fun on fishscale BC tele. It's right on our trail system too.

Crazy idea? Anyone with experience or info to share?

 

[marcski]

Anyone ever done it?

Our property is actually two properties side by side. On the newer property there is no official "development" beyond ski/mtb trails.

But I always made note of one thing:

Our "steepest" terrain, is right up front coming down to the road. And there is a power pole right there.

Would it be insane to put in a electric service, and some kind of electric motor for a rope tow? It would have to be all weather, and I need to be able to lock it up. That's not the kind of secret that would stay secret long.

How many horse do I need? The run would have maybe 40 feet of vert, and 200 feet of horizontal.

I was thinking if it got bumped out, it could be really fun on fishscale BC tele. It's right on our trail system too.

Crazy idea? Anyone with experience or info to share?

Calling Ethan??

 

[Harvey]

I did send him a note asking him to join.

 

[rebel1916]

A beater sled or quad is virtually always going to be cheaper, easier, more reliable, and less exposed to vandalism.

 

[Benny Profane]

A beater sled or quad is virtually always going to be cheaper, easier, more reliable, and less exposed to vandalism.

But needing two skiers to work.

 

[Harvey]

I like the idea of an electric lift. Maybe have to wait until I can ski it everyday.

Still I want nay need a plan.

 

[rebel1916]

I like the idea of an electric lift. Maybe have to wait until I can ski it everyday.

Still I want nay need a plan.

Since you only want to travel 200 feet I got a plan for you.

Get a winch, the length of the cable they are rated for is based on a very high load cable. Fill drum with a much lighter weight cable and add 200 feet of rope to the cable, so the end of the rope coincides with the bottom of the hill. Use the rope to pull the cable down when you need a lift, so to speak. You could probably get it done for under a grand

 

[Milo Maltbie]

Since you only want to travel 200 feet I got a plan for you.

Get a winch, the length of the cable they are rated for is based on a very high load cable. Fill drum with a much lighter weight cable and add 200 feet of rope to the cable, so the end of the rope coincides with the bottom of the hill. Use the rope to pull the cable down when you need a lift, so to speak. You could probably get it done for under a grand

That’s not a bad idea, but pulling the cable down is harder than hiking the hill. You need a second winch to pull the cable down.
A couple of years ago a guy at Gore told me he had a GPS controlled tractor for skiing his property. Those things exist but they are costly and I never heard of one being used in the Dacks, but it would be cool if it’s true.

mm

 

[TomCat]

Take a ride over to dynamite hill and see what they have. It quite a bit bigger than what you are looking to do but you can scale it down. In addition to the motor you need to provide the right tension on the rope

tom

 

[Brownski]

Thos has been done before. As has been noted, the original rope tow at Suicide Six was powered by an old car.