surface lift vs ski tow

surface lift and ski tow both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
surface lift	Yes	No	No	No
ski tow	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, ski tow is a hypernym of surface lift; that is, ski tow is a word with a broader meaning than surface lift:

surface lift: a ski tow that pulls skiers up a slope without lifting them off the ground
ski tow: a powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill

Other hypernyms of surface lift include lift, ski lift.

surface lift (noun)	ski tow (noun)
a ski tow that pulls skiers up a slope without lifting them off the ground	a powered conveyance that carries skiers up a hill