These Working Lego Ski Lifts Are an Engineering Marvel

Skiing is a soulful sport.

So much has been said and written about the mountains that concerns feeling rather than fact. Poems do more to capture the embodied experience of skiing than spreadsheets. Yet, at the same time, skiing invites us to tinker like engineers and obsess over equipment. 

First, there are the basics, like affixing two skis together with straps or patching a coat with duct tape. Things get more complicated from there, including homemade skis with colossal presses and ad-hoc boot adjustments. The lifts that take us to our favorite runs occupy the highest level of this spectrum.

The latter is what caught the interest of YouTuber Build it with Bricks, who, as their name suggests, uses Lego to make all kinds of contraptions. On the page, there are trains, water parks, and, yes, a hydroelectric dam.

Their latest video is what we’re after, though. It features Lego versions of three of the most common types of ski lifts: conveyors, fixed grip lifts, and detachable lifts. Each one is cool as hell.

Check the full video out below.

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It wasn’t the first time Build it with Bricks took on skiing. 

In one video, they built a treadmill-like contraption that simulates a ski slope, sending Batman and Captain America mini-figures down it on skis. To make the slope grippier, the YouTuber rubbed it down with a wet towel, simulating slushy snow.

Both videos hint at further projects. What if someone built an entire Lego ski resort? Or a recreation of the Aiguille du Midi cable car? It’s not impossible, but either option would be a massive undertaking. 

For now, though, as a skier with a soft spot for Lego creations, I’m happy with the small ski slope set my partner got me as a gift a few years back. The bigger stuff is probably better saved for the off-season, anyway.