A few years ago I started a thread on the old chairlift from thredbo to charlottes pass and it became a facinating topic with worthwhile contributions from many learned members of the moosh, out of curiosity and self indulgance I would love to garner that wealth of knowledge again for our more recent members, if anyone would like to contribute i'm sure it would be appreciated by all

I'm too lazy to check, were the earlier topic/photos archived? There has been some great input and photos over the years on the ol' chairlift. Fascinating.

I tried and didn't find any relating to it,but maybe my search tactics were wrong, :doh: but that is the main reason, the photo's and relevant links made some great reading and I lost most of the info when I had my last computor update. :cheers: Troll
p.s. I hope this stirrs up some input
Regards Andrew

Part of the lift is currently work theme park somewhere near the cost south of Sydney. I forgotten where it was, but I will have a look latter.

Jamberoo grass ski park. Has been there for 20+ years.

I love this annual thread - tried that Jamberoo grass skiing way back in our bi-centennial year, crickey it can hurt!

Jamberoo recreation park- unfortunately they got rid of grass skiing some years ago. There is a picture frame up on the wall with info regarding the origins of the lift. I find it fascinating to thing how long it may have been, does anyone know?

I also picked up somewhere that when there was that major snow season it was getting buried, they were using tnt to try to free it up, but the snow would land back in the same place.

I remember when the Jamberoo lift opened I think it was late 70s. In the early 80s I went to a grass skiing world championship there with european grass skiers getting into it.

this is the Thredbo to Charlottes Chair you are talking about:


Source: unknown

How far away from each other are they ?

was it a chair lift or gondala ?

I remember seeing a photo of the chairs frozen at an angle due to the wind, correct me if I am wrong, I think the chairs had a few steel panels and a roof(rounded bunker style) but was still open to the elements.

Didn't somebody die on this chair when it stopped & they were left out there? Or did that turn out to be an urban myth?

Hey. Thanks for the pic. Apparently you can still see traces of where this left went up and over from the Thredbo valley on a guided walk ??

Also - was there not one way back in 50's or 60's that burnt down withe the original CP chalet? Someone fill me in on the facts.

The buiding of the lift commenced in 1963 and was completed in 64,it was built by Transfield on behalf of Kosciusko Chalet who were then owned by Broken Hill Holdings.The project reportatly cost 1,200,000 pounds. It ran during the 64 & 65 season before going into receivership.

I was taken by my dad in 64' for a couple of day trips. From what I remember it was essentially two seperate lifts, that may be just my memory though, the second lift which terminated at Charlotte Pass hardly ever ran due to the high wind problems. Also there were problems with snow banking up on some of the towers.They may have been a little unlucky in opening the project in one of the biggest winters on record, not only large snow falls but apparently 64'was also a particularly windy season.

The lift had brightly coloured fiberglass canopies that you pulled down for protection against the wind, there was window in the middle so you could see where you were going. The whole thing was pretty dicey in bad weather, once or twice the chairs came of the pullies and down they went passengers and all.That was not that unusual around this time, Thredbo also had similar problems with losing passengers when the chairs jumped the pullies just abovethe old Kareela station.

It was advertised as the longest chairlift in the world, but that claim was not widly accepted, at least by the old blokes in our club.

The lift had 50 towers, 8 stations and stretched over 5.5 kilometers. The skiing between the stations was as I recall a series of shallow bowls much as you see in the photo above.

The top station at Charlotte's was sold off in the winter of 79, it was lot 18. For thoses of you who know Charlotte's it's about4 chalets up from the ticket office.

Thanks Shrimp for that. :thumbsup:

OK Here it comes for its annual outing.
Charlotte end of the chair. KAC & Chalet in b/g

UMMMM. I am a little confused. I never saw the chair in operation at CP. I assumed it came in over the back of KAC somewhere, but from the picture it seems to be coming from the direction of the bottom of the triple chair.

Does anyone know the line the lift took into Charlotte Pass? Say looking up the mountain from the balcony of KAC.

Headed straight up Mt Stiwell, across Trapyard creek valley and down the northernmost 'Twin Valley' to the current Ranger Station just down the road from thredbo. Its actually marked on the old 1:50000 kosi topo.

Shrimp
The "cell block" at CP (now staff accom) was the bottom station so the lift line was almost perpendicular to the present chair at CP.
So at CP the lift ran between the KAC & the bottom station of the Kangaroo ridge chair.

is this real or is this like a "the fish was this big" story?

Thanks for that i have often wondered where it was. The cell block ehh, makes sense the shape of the building, often wondered why it was built there over the stream. One of life's little mysteries solved.

This photo shows the section across Trapyard Creek to Mt Stiwell (where the lift station is). The steep area to the left of the lift station is the Blue Lake chutes, which are a considerable distance from the chair but look close due to the zoom of the photograph. Charlottes is tucked down below the visable lift station.

One of the past threads had me do a summer trip out to the old mid station last year. Here's a pic:

Awww man! That lift looks like it really gave you alot of slope that you could cover.

Was the lift for skiing the area below it, or merely a method of transport??

What was the ski-patrol situation like in those days??

Was it closed due to the advent of ridiculous civil litigation??

This is really interesting.

Are there any websites with information about this? Why was it closed? Would they build it again later in the future?

I find this very interesting!

i'm fasinated by this thread!

The Stillwell Restaurant was built as the highest point on the Thredbo Valley to Charlottes Path chair lift in 1964-65.

The operation closed when a person came off the end of the chairlift dead from exposure. At the time, it was the longest chairlift in the world.

The hut was destroyed by the elements in 1970 and later abandoned.

A hut or shed nearby, albeit with a damaged roof, would make an excellent shelter hut, with minor restoration.
This was information is from: http://www.kosciuskohuts.org.au/Hut%20Profiles%20KNP/Profile%20Stilwell.htm

So it's true then? I have heard this story a number of times but never seen any evidence.

You could still drive to the base of the Kosci knoll / hill - to that flat bit before winding around and up. Glad that is gone!

This thread is definitely worth archiving when discussion is complete - Truly fascinating.

[img]http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3095159-v[/img]