Originally built in 1960 by Dr. Vladimir Hayek a Czech Engineer the chairlift was totally rebuilt in 2003/2004 to encompass the modern design and safety features of the latest International passenger chairlift standards.

First opened on December 21st 1960 the chairlift is 950 metres long and rises 225 vertical metres on its ascent from the entrance of Arthurs Seat State Park to the summit. Originally the chairlift was fitted with 60 chairs today it has a design capacity of 80 chairs with only 63 chairs being currently installed.

Originally the chairlift was powered by a 30HP DC variable speed motor drawing Direct Current from a 40 HP AC/DC generator. The drive was by a pinion onto a 2540mm diameter spur gear on the main rope driving sheave. The gearbox was a Radicon worm box and the brake was a 254 diameter electro-magnetic brake.

Today the chairlift is driven by a 30kw(40HP) 8 Pole AC motor with variable frequency power supplied by a Danfoss frequency converter unit. This enables the operator to vary speed between 0 and 125% of normal operating speed of 0.80 meters / second (approx 2/3 walking speed).

The main driving sheave has been fitted with a 2600 diameter disk upon which two disk brakes operate. One brake prevents uncontrolled rollback while the other acts as an emergency brake and also an overspeed brake actuated by a sheave spoke counter.

Therefore overspeed is monitored physically by spoke countering and also by over voltage detection. The chairlift also has a 15kw 4 pole AC motor standby drive through triple vee-Belts to the cardan staff, and a 42 kva stand by diesel powered generator to produce 415 volt 3 phase power in event of loss of mains power.

Each of the eight (8) pylons have been replaced by new updated design towers with access ladders each with 'Ladsaf' safety ropes and maintenance platforms incorporating 2 tonne capacity lifting beams. Each pylon has a set of loudspeakers for passenger communication purposes.