The Best Resort For: Ski Lifts

St Anton, Austria

Onwards and upwards. In the last seven years of the 20th century, the average passenger capacity of the lifts at US ski areas increased by 50 per cent, although the number of American skiers remained fairly static. Europe's resorts have been similarly uplifted. The secret is the four-seat, high-speed "clutched" lifts. These move slowly when collecting and depositing passengers, then accelerate to get maximum capacity out of the system. With each one capable of transporting almost 3,000 skiers per hour, the lift queue seems set for extinction.

Onwards and upwards. In the last seven years of the 20th century, the average passenger capacity of the lifts at US ski areas increased by 50 per cent, although the number of American skiers remained fairly static. Europe's resorts have been similarly uplifted. The secret is the four-seat, high-speed "clutched" lifts. These move slowly when collecting and depositing passengers, then accelerate to get maximum capacity out of the system. With each one capable of transporting almost 3,000 skiers per hour, the lift queue seems set for extinction.

Although that is not wholly a good thing (less congestion on lifts means more on the slopes), most skiers would welcome it. But not every skier. The elderly and infirm, nervous or lonely skiers, heavy smokers – they all enjoy a slow chair-lift ride. Me too, because as a lift ascends the mountain views get bigger and better and civilisation (noise, traffic, crowds) recedes.

There is a range of criteria for judging the quality of a resort's ski lifts. Those who value queue- and hassle-free travel would enjoy Sun Valley in Idaho; for a big, efficient system, the Trois Vallées in France is the place to go; engineers should head for Les Diablerets in Switzerland to ride the Glacier 3000 cable-car, whose two-stage ride spares passengers from climbing even one step between the car park and the snow; and industrial archaeologists should go to eastern Europe.

But for anyone who just wants an uplifting experience, St Anton in Austria is the place. Much of the chair-lift ride to the 2,650m Schindler peak is uneventful, but almost at the end the chair simultaneously slips over a brow and switches out of a narrow gully into a wide valley – and instead of surveying a snowfield you are suddenly hanging in mid-air. If it was a scene in a film, you'd wonder how they did it. But it's real, and really sensational.