Skilifts.org / SORT Forum

So I am currently on a small Midwest tour. Stopped by a small area in MN that I skied once as a kid. Talked to the lone staff member,(fairly new to the industry), and was told that one of their 2 lifts was a Cosmos? I didnt see the drive, only the return and a few towers. Was told the lift came from Steamboat at one time. Any knowledge out there. Will post picts when I return.

It's probably a Miner-Denver. Steamboat also had a Roebling.

I don't know if Steamboat had a Constam but that's another possibility and certainly sounds close to Cosmos. Constam was one of the originators of the TBAR lift design and also I believe one of the earliest lift manufactures. They did according to the lift survey install 4 different lifts. HOWEVER just now looking at that lift survey there is a company called COSMOS on it, so it might well be a Cosmos, in which case (not to say I wouldn't normally not want to know more but) I'D LOVE TO KNOW MORE!

Love to see pictures and get as much information as possible, thanks for telling us about it!

The only Cosmos lift was installed at Steamboat in 1962 and it was removed in 1979. It was named both Bear Claw and Christie at different times.

Here are a couple pictures of the former cosmos lift at steamboat from coloradoskihistory.com. So if the lift in question is a cosmos then it should look the same.

Well how about that, it must be a Cosmos after all.

I like the look of that lift, very simple and utilitarian, nice and straight forward. Does anyone have any more information on Cosmos and where they might have run off to?

skier691, on 10 August 2009 - 05:08 AM, said:

Well, what area was it?

The lift is at Coffee Mill, MN. The pict posted above look similar. The towers look the same, but the current install features different chairs, possibly older Poma/Heron'ish. Pics w/time

Yes, it is the cosmos lift from steamboat (Christie I / Bear Claw), but with heron or heron/poma chairs like the ones on priest creek @ steamboat or Green Acres @ copper.

Well, heres the two picts I took of this lift. Sorry, I usually take too many, usually of stupid stuff. The lift features a mid-unload station then heads to a steep finish.

skier2, on 12 August 2009 - 01:28 PM, said:

I looked on this site at the removed lifts from Steamboat, and there was indeed a Christie / Bear Claw lift, but the site claims it's made by Roebling. Those are definitely Heron/Poma chairs though.

Skier123, on 16 August 2009 - 03:00 PM, said:

I have the Steamboat history coffee table book around here somewhere. I know there is a detailed section about this lift in it; I will see if I can dig it out to confirm.

skier2, on 16 August 2009 - 08:30 PM, said:

Didn't have to dig out the book. Chairlift.org says: "CHRISTIE I (COSMOS) -This lift was one of only two lifts by the Swiss firm, Cosmos that were imported
The U.S distributor was Cowelco of Long Beach, CA. They were facing bankruptcy and shipping delays dragged
out for weeks. Though much work was done during the summer of 1962 the lift didn't open till 12 January 1963"

skier2, on 17 August 2009 - 09:56 PM, said:

Cool! Thanks for all the info.

skier2, on 17 August 2009 - 09:56 PM, said:

Do you some other pictures and information? I've never heard of a firm called "Cosmos" in Switzerland! It cant have been a Constam, because Constam was already living in Denver at this time.
This post has been edited by seilbahnbilder.ch: 20 August 2009 - 02:16 PM

Well based on the fact that the firm only built two chairlifts EVER, its not surprising that you've never heard of it.

skier2, on 20 August 2009 - 05:11 PM, said:

Yes, but it sounds strange to me that a swiss manufacturer only built two lifts beyond the sea and none in its home country Switzerland.

Indeed it is a Cosmos lift that was from Steamboat. I worked on it for 5 years at Coffee Mill and have seen the original pictures of them removing it and installing it in Wabasha MN.

snowmaker10, on 09 October 2009 - 02:08 PM, said:

So did they replace the chairs because they are different than the ones skiersage posted?

there wre 2 cosmos lifts built.I have the other one and it is still running at Mohawk Mountain in Ct.