Fish,
In your note about Skiing in Scotland you actually missed the more important story about a rope tow for home use. Clicking on some of the sites shown leads elsewhere to more interesting stuff such as homemade snowmaking and other very portable tows.

http://www.grabandgoropetow.com/

DCSKIers might remember a couple of years ago when a fellow DCSkier in VA made a snowmaking system for his hilly back yeard!
This ratchetes this up a notch. Be sure to click on lots of the links!
A portable lift would have sure come in handy last winter!!!
The Colonel
The Colonel