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A T-bar lift, also called T-bar, is a mechanised system for transporting skiers, snowboarders, etc. uphill. It is generally only employed in low capacity situations in large resorts and small local slopes servicing skiers numbered in the dozens rather than in the hundreds or thousands.
It consists an aerial steel rope loop running over a series of wheels, powered by an engine at one end. Hanging from the rope are a series of vertical recoiling cables attached to a T-shaped bar, about a meter in both dimensions, that is placed behind the skier's or snowboarder's buttocks. This pulls the passenger uphill while they slide across the ground. A single T-bar transports a maximum of two people per T-bar unit.
An older design known as a Poma lift is rarer and these employ a spring-loaded pole with a mushroom shaped bottom (Base or grip) instead of the recoiling rope mechanism and cross-bar. The skier grips the pole with the thighs straddling it like one would a hobby horse whilst gripping the pole. The T-bar variant became more popular for two reasons— the T-bar offers twice the lift capacity for the same motivator mechanisms and the Poma's spring loading is subject to wild swings and possible backlash causing bruises, etc. if the unwary rider lets it go carelessly when dismounting. The retractable rope systems retract at a slower rate and so limit potential liability.
T-bars and Pomas are often misunderstood by beginners who incorrectly believe the objective is to sit down on the bar. This almost always leads to the beginner falling as the T-bar is simply pulled to the ground along with the skier.
T-bars are rarely installed anymore save on small local slopes such as a golf course doing a seasonal business in local night skiing. Generally chairlifts are the preferred, albeit more expensive option, but they are used extensively in in-between terrain for short lifts at the bottom of one slope to allow an short uphill fork over a ridge into the next valley, the skier would not otherwise be able to reach.
However, T-bars (along with their single passenger equivalent, the J-bar) are mostly found at beginner slopes or in locales where high winds commonly prevent chairlifts from running.
See also
"T-bar lift"