Winston "Win" Robbins

The first record of Win Robbins as a skier was during his college years at the University of Maine from 1928 to 1932, several years before the first lift served ski areas appeared in the state. He participated in winter sports for three years and captained the team for one year. At Maine he also developed the skills which would later have a significant impact on the sport of skiing, acquiring both a B.S. and M. S. in engineering.

His interest in skiing continued following college as he served as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Through the thirties and early forties he utilized his engineering skills on a variety of construction projects from highways, bridges to dams and powerhouses. From 1943 to 1945 he served with the Army Corps of Engineers, rising to the rank of Lt. Col. and finishing his duty in engineering training with the ski troops in British Columbia.

Following the war Robbins put his talents to work in skiing. In 1945 he organized and operated Robbins Engineering Corporation engaging in steel erection and heavy rigging, also designing and building ski lifts and erecting ski lifts for other manufacturers.

This led to the construction of numerous ski lifts including a T-bat at Black Mountain in New Hampshire (1946), the first Constam T-bar at Sugarloaf (1949) and the second a year later. In 1952 he designed, built and erected a double chair lift on Mt. Cranmore in North Conway. Among the lifts he either designed or installed were a Tbar at Chisolm Ski club in Rumford, a T-bar at Lost Valley, a pair of T-bars at Mount Whittier in NH, the gondola at Mt. Whittier, a Riblet double chair at Lake Placid, NY, two T-bars and a pair of double chairs at Saddleback.

His knowledge of lift design and construction resulted in his being named in 1956 to the original task force which helped establish the American National Standard Safety code for Aerial Passenger Tramways. He was an original member of the Association of Tramway Authorities and the Society of Aerial Tramway Engineers. In 1959 Robbins became inspector for the State of M a i n e Tr a m w a y Board a position he held until retirement.

As a pioneer in ski lift construction Win Robbins gave skiers faster, more comfortable rides to the top of their ski runs, but what the skiers didn’t see was more important. The safety standards he developed guaranteed skiers could ride lifts in confidence and the years he spent inspecting lifts assured the tramway board and insurance companies that ski areas maintained those standards. As a result of his work, today’s ski lifts meet an ever higher standard of safety. Today’s ski lifts are faster, yet safer in loading and unloading, and today’s skiers take for granted that they will arrive safely at the summit. The tramway boards of our ski states and the lift safety committees of ski area operators are a direct outgrowth of the pioneering work of Win Robbins and this service to skiers has earned him a place in the Maine ski Hall of Fame.