For anyone who would like to know a little bit more about this story, I'll be delivering a brief lecture on the subject in Sydney on 27 May 2014: http://www.rahs.org.au/ai1ec_event/...l-society-ths-cocktail-party/?instance_id=399
Wonderful @Diponza will see if I can do it. Have done a brief presentation at History House and it is well worth attending just to see the place! Really lovely building.
Enjoyed the talk Diponza. And how cool was it having Laurie Seaman Junior presenting his father's skis to the Threbo and Perisher Historical Societies.
Thanks for coming down and being a part of it. I'm absolutely delighted that everyone enjoyed the story. It was a great night.
These comments on the Charlottes Pass to Crackenback lift are fascinating. My father, George Grainger Buckworth was the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Broken Hill Holdings Limited which traded on the ASX. BH Holdings founded and owned Kosciusko Chalet Pty Ltd. George let me out of school to ride the chairlift and ski all the trails. As an 11 year old it was the thrill of a lifetime. In 1964 the press in Sydney were giving George a hard time about the Chalet, saying that he was snow blind and that the lift did not even exist. To put paid to this George put his 76 year old mother on the lift at Crackenback and she rode it all the way to Charlottes Pass. He then convened a press conference in Sydney and proceeded to show the movie of his mother riding the lift. Thank you everyone for your reminiscences and comments. George died in 2009. Google SMH to see his obit and the mention of the Chalet.
Nicholas Thanks, so much, for getting in touch. As you may have read, this topic has been bantered around these forums for years ...and many theories have been expounded on the history of the ski lift. A few "tall tales" as well. The media certainly were not kind to your father. I'd say that rather than "snow blind" your father was a visionary ...of the ilk we no longer meet these days. I'm sure all the members here would all agree that the pioneering spirit exhibited by your dad & his collaborators on the Charlotte Pass to Thredbo lift demands the respect of all ...snow sports enthusiasts as well as the general public.
Nicholas, you should get in contact with @Diponza who is putting together what is to date the definitive histroy of the venture.
Hi guys. I think it was the time I've just spent on Trove correcting mistakes in the OCR scans of the papers on the back of a search for various terms related to this thread that got me to register. Anyway, just dropping this link here in case it is of interest or use to anyone wanting to look back through old articles. Note that my term used in the link is just one, I bet if the press were invited to that screening it would be in a paper somewhere as well. Do I hear a "Challenge accepted" from anyone? I had a ball reading and correcting this Article.
Love all this history of the Snowies! This "ghost" chairlift is fascinating. Pity I missed the Thredbo Historical Society movie night! Would enjoy seeing Mr G.G.Buckworth's (God bless his soul.) movie of the existence of the ghost-chairlift. It's not only a testimony to the pioneering spirit and our deep desire for the mountains but an inspiration toward the possible linking of the current resorts. Despite the challenges of distance and nature's intensity up over the Ramshead Range it's still possible to achieve. It seems this Ghost-chairlift may have crossed close to the tops of the Twin Valleys east of Thredbo I've heard are awesome ski slopes. (Oh-oh I hear a Greenies uprising). Makes me appreciate what we have today even though the tickets aren't cheap (we lack the population base here to lower prices I guess). Thanks for all the info!
I remember as a kid it was in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest chairlift in the world, even thought it wasn't running. Around 1980 would have been the publication. There's still heaps of evidence of the lift around Still well.
Seems as there exists some misinformation on the history of the lift. My understanding, from various books and internet discussion, was that the lift opened for operation at the beginning of the 1964 Ski season. I have the excellent book, written by Rick Walkom, 'Skiing off the roof: the Kosciusko Chalet at Charlottes Pass Amongst the many pages is a recount of the history of the lift. A lengthy extract of this is found very early in the thread. In particular I quote "..... the lift was officially opened for the June long weekend in 1964..... ..... The lift was allowed to open the next day and hundreds of skiers lined up to take their first aerial adventure from the Thredbo road to the Chalet at £1 per ride". I have heard and read pretty much the same date and details from others. Yet, whilst digging through the newspaper archives at Trove, I discovered this item from 'The Canberra Times' Date : Monday 3 August 1964 Top of page, right corner. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/11474780?zoomLevel=3&&&&searchTerm=Kosciusko According to that, the lift began operation on Sunday August 2 "Although the Department of Labour and Industry passed the chairlift as safe about four weeks ago, Kosciuszko State Park authorities had not given their approval until Saturday [ August 1] "
I signed up because of this thread. It would be fantastic if there were video footage of this chairlift and restaurant somewhere. The best source of photos I've ever found is here: http://www.ozbc.net/nsw_stanleytwin.html
Diponza and I walked up the lift line - this time starting from the point where the terminal was at the Cell Block at Charlotte Pass to the restaurant ruins, passing the sites where Main Range View Station and Wrights Creek Station. Instead of continuing down to the Alipne Way as we did in 2012, we headed around to the North and picked up Trapyard Creek to follow this back to Charlottes. Either Diponza or I will post a few of the photos we took along the route. You can still see the original lift cable in many spots along the way. Wildflowers this Summer are pretty spectacular too. One senior ranger says he's not seen anything like it for decades.
I camped near the Top Station Restaurant at night in Autumn 2014 and it was windy and freezing. Flapping tent all night and one hour sleep! My advice is seek the shelter below the treeline on the Thredbo Valley side. Autumn 2015 I walked up the opposite side to see the line of the Chairlift through the trees first hand. Regrowth after 2003 fires was awful and it took me 5 hours to get up to the peak. The view was worth it and there was plenty of Brumbies to see. I was happy to discover a scrap from a chair. Sunset at Top Station Restaurant Line of Chairlift from opposite side of Thredbo Valley (Top Station Restaurant is on the skyline about one quarter across from the left hand side) Full size link below: Line of chairlift
Another pic that you may like. When camping you have time to search for things. The 2003 fires missed this area and so preserved the remains. The coloured part is made of fibreglass. Quick link: Number 44 Chair Detail 1 This is a mystery cast iron/steel item on the chairlift route (generally found broken with two bumps instead of three). Width 150mm, length is about 400. There are several discarded near the top station restaurant ruins & on the way down to the tree line. One suggestion (of an outsider) is that they were part of a portable rail track for moving construction items from one place to another. I imagine that they would use them like sleepers to space out two rails made from angle or something.
Great photo's Boxen - and a very interesting find with the chair! (also love the sunset pic - stunning) You've certainly uncovered a find with the cast iron 'sleepers' for wont of a better term. Diponza, who has researched this lift plus developments around Thredbo and CP extensively might have some insight. If the dents are evenly spaced on all the samples you found then there may be some merit in what you've said. Regardless, I'll put the thinking cap on......
shouldn't that be saved and preserved as a piece of history. Its only a matter of time before vandals and nature will see the end of it
I was thinking the same. Boxen, that piece won't be around much longer if you reveal the location. Strongly suggest you get in touch with people at the Thredbo Ski Museum who may be able to retrieve it and keep it safe for posterity. http://www.thredboskimuseum.com/contact.htm
Some good ideas coming through. The photo doesn't show it well but there are two definite 'vees'. I also found a broken chunk by a railway line several hundred kilometres away...
Those lumps of sculptured steel were employed as counterweights in attempt to stop the chairs being picked up by the wind and derailing the cable.
Unless someone has access to a helicopter, that chair will stay on the mountain because it's in a very remote place. It's also extremely heavy. The Thredbo Historical Society already has a chair in its museum which was donated by Rick Walkom. The Perisher Historical Society is also interested in adding a chair to their collection, with the idea for it to be a permanent exhibit by suspending it from the roof structure inside the Skitube building in Perisher.
Great thread all. It's been active for nine years now, wow! Unfortunately a lot of the links are no longer valid. Interested to hear if the book has been published yet, it would appear maybe not.... I'm really interested to walk the old lift route in a few weeks time (early December 2015) and after reading through, I will be heading off on my own, looking to start on the Thredbo side of the mountain and grab the Kossie lift up and then follow the plateaus to above the old ranger station and then traverse across. The actual lift outline is still shown on the Perisher Valley 1:25,000 map which is very handy. Would appreciate please, any additional advice feedback from those who have traversed and followed the lift line.
Above the tree line is relatively hassle free..wear gaiters, beware snakes Below the tree line by all accounts is still painfully slow up or down.
If you want to stay on the lift line below the tree line you will need to employ a compass, checking the bearing every 50 metres or so. The tree canopy blocks the view of the horizon so losing your sense of direction is inevitable. The thickness of the vegetation also contributes to the difficulty of the walk, even while descending. I would only attempt to follow the lift line below the tree line with a reasonably high level of fitness because the constant wrestling with the scrub is extremely fatiguing.
I absolutely hate to be that guy but has anyone plotted the lift line on a topographic map by chance? I tried to use this as a general idea and match it up with Google Maps but it's a bit tough: http://s562.photobucket.com/user/craigdphotobucket/media/Spring 2011/KosciuskoEd5HQ.jpg.html I'm considering doing a trip to CP to check out the remains but I'm a bit hesitant without a real good idea of where I should be looking for these things. I've gone through the entire thread and it looks like the images with the line plotted are all dead - I'm a bit late. General consensus seems to be to walk up the line from CP - is that right? Would it be a good idea to literally walk straight up the lift line from the village or go around the back then up (as in from Summit Rd-ish)? Thanks! EDIT: Just found this a page back - http://www.potofgrass.com/albums/anon/back_of_charlottes_chairlift_1975_gearth_001.jpg - gives some idea of where things are but question still would stand - what's the best way to walk up from CP?!
Okay, my night shift brain is in overdrive - I think I've managed to plot the line from CP to the Mt Stilwell Restaurant... Managed to find this little guy - eventually:
Yes - NSW Dept. of lands (or whatever its called now) You can see the lift line clearly marked ot their on-line mapping service http://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/ I already found it and created a pdf copy of the map http://users.tpg.com.au/mr_mook/forums/cp long chair.pdf
