GMD Müller Lifts AG, known as GMD Müller, was a ropeway manufacturing company based in Dietlikon,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. GMD stands for Gerhard Müller Dietlikon. Founded in 1947 by engineer Gerhard Müller, who is credited with the invention of the modern detachable

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

in the late 1940s, it was one of the most prolific and respected aerial lift manufacturers in skiing history. The company was bought out by the management in 1985 after Müller's death

Overview

In the late 1920s, Gerhard Müller, a

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

student, was a newcomer to growing sport of

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

. At the time, there were no user-friendly ski lifts in

. At a resort

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

outside

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Müller created his first usable ski lift consisting of a 1-inch hemp rope and some old motorcycle parts. Naturally, being a

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for mountain sports in which skiers, snowboarders, or mountain bikers remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher ...

, guests regularly complained about sore hands and torn clothes resulting from using the lift. The

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

use

reindeer The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, taiga, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only re ...

to tow themselves around on

skis Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can ...

, but they rest their hands by looping the reins around their hips. Inspired by this practice, Müller solved the problems of his rope tow by creating the first modern T-bar lift. GMD Müller gave the licence for T-bar lift to polish company Mostostal Zabrze in 1959. Some of this lifts are still exists. During the 1960s and 1970s GMD Müller installed more than one hundred fixed-grip chairlifts in North America. Many of these lifts are still in service today. In Europe 4-seater gondola lifts with Müller's patented detachable cable grips and T-bars were more popular. Some resorts, such as Whistler, were at the time exclusively equipped with Müller lifts. GMD Müller is also noted for inventing the Aerobus, a self-propelled bus-like vehicle riding on a suspended overhead cable. Rowema AG legally succeeded GMD Müller Lifts AG in 1985, and continues to service and supply spare parts to existing GMD Müller systems.

References

{{reflist

External links

Chairlift.org page on MüllerOfficial Aerobus web page
Aerial lift manufacturers Manufacturing companies of Switzerland Skiing organizations Vertical transport devices

Overview

See also

References

External links