Ahh, the low tech surface lift. Harking back to a day before the fancy chairlifts came into being. Ski Magazine
contributor Alex Wells recently wrote of his
experiences seeking out ski areas which
used surface lifts (i.e. ropetows, T-bars, J-bars and poma lifts which keep your skis in contact with the snow) as
a means to get people up the slopes. Many of the spots he found, such as
Snowhaven in Idaho, require directions which
are sometimes akin to telling someone to turn right at the haystack. Needless to say, Wells found the down to earth
experiences he sought.