MOBILE CHAIR: Don’t forget to pack the lift
Anatoly Pivarunas, bringing the resort to your backyard
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Motorsport Engineering Portable Ski Lift $950
[416.787.7560, skilift.nashacanada.com ]
In the early 1960s Anatoly Pivarunas’ portable ski lift was a sensation in the Soviet Union. The invention appeared in magazines and was used by skiers grateful to have a means up the hill. But the product was heavy and expensive and Pivarunas, living in the U.S.S.R., didn’t have infrastructure support to produce it on a larger scale.
Now 75 and living in Toronto Pivarunas’ product, patented in the United States and Canada, has been perfected and is gaining popularity among skiers.
“Rich people call me with cottage or house with own slope. It is unique opportunity to have own lift in your backyard. I am very satisfied,” says Pivarunas with a thick Russian accent.
The simplification of his design is largely due to mechanical advancements, namely the lift’s Briggs and Stratton motor, a five horsepower engine that has made the invention lighter and more affordable. The lift costs $950.
The selling point for contemporary skiers though, is that the lift is small enough to fit in the back of a car trunk or on a sled. It weighs 25 kilograms and can be installed in just 15 minutes, making it a viable device for backcountry use. The lift stretches 150 yards, but extra cable can be purchased. The speed of the lift ranges from 11 to 18 miles per hour.
Pivarunas, with genuine pride in his product, said the popularization of the lift wouldn’t have been possible without the help of internet search engine Google.
“The people are so excited because without my patents it is impossible to have a portable ski lift,” says Pivarunas, who is also a 12-time Russian motorboat racing champion and one-time speed record holder. “And everything I owe is to Google. It puts you on first page you see. I am so grateful for the Google. I don’t know how to return–I’m ready to do everything I can.”
Pivarunas currently has 52 orders to be assembled by him and his mechanics at Motorsport Engineering. Aside from North Americans, he has received product requests from Australians, Pakistanis, Indians, and South Africans that wanted to use the lift on sand dunes. “Because I have very famous design,” he says.
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