Poma, incorporated as Pomagalski S.A., and sometimes referred to as the Poma Group, is a French company which manufactures cable-driven lift systems, including fixed and detachable chairlifts, gondola lifts, funiculars, aerial tramways, people movers, and surface lifts. Poma has installed about 7800 devices for 750 customers worldwide.
Poma's only major competitor is the Doppelmayr Garaventa Group which is based in Austria and Switzerland. Italy's Leitner Ropeways was historically another competitor until 2000 when Poma became part of Seeber Group (now HTI). Poma and Leitner remain independent, but formed a strategic partnership which includes the combined purchase of raw materials and the formation of Leitner-Poma as a joint venture in North America.
The majority of Poma's lifts are used in ski areas in Europe, Asia, and North America (as Leitner-Poma), they have also installed installations in amusement parks, scenic locations, and industrial transportation applications.
In some areas Poma lift is used as a generic term for a platter lift, as this was the company's first and most popular product.
History
In 1936, Jean Pomagalski (born 1905, Kraków) installed his first ski lift on the Eclose Trail in l'Alpe d'Huez in France. In 1947, he founded Pomagalski S.A. in Fontaine, France. The first Poma chairlifts were built in 1958 in France and the United States. 1967 brought the first detachable gondolas built by Poma. The prototype gondola by Poma was the La Daille gondola at Val D'isere and installed in 1966 but replaced in 2018. The corporate headquarters and the production shops are still in Fontaine, but since 1988 most of their management, design engineering, sales and service offices are in Voreppe, France. Poma currently employs approximately 750 people worldwide.
Early Poma chairlifts were installed at Squaw Valley, California for the 1960 Winter Olympics. Poma also supplied lifts for the Olympic Winter Games at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia in 1984, at Albertville, France in 1992, at Lillehammer, Norway in 1994 and has worked on the lifts for the 2014 Games at Sochi, Russia.
Products
Circulating ropeways
Fixed grip chairlifts
Poma's fixed grip chairlifts have proven popular throughout the world. Poma's first two-seater fixed grip chairlift was constructed in 1958. Following this, the three-seater chairlift was introduced in 1973. This was followed by four-seater, and more recently six seater fixed grip chairlifts.
The Alpha chairlift terminal was introduced in 1982 and continues to be popular today. Prior to the Alpha terminal, Delta terminals were used. This type of terminal was such a great success that even presently a majority can still be seen operating worldwide. Both the Delta and Alpha chairlift terminals have the capability of being converted into detachable lifts later on, thus increasing the chairlift's capacity without constructing an entirely new installation.
Detachable chairlifts
Poma introduced detachable chairlifts in 1972 in Pralognan-la-Vanoise (Dou de l'Ecu) and Saint-Lary (Soum de Matte). In 1982, Poma built a detachable chairlifts with an operating speed of 5 m/s - which, at the time, was the fastest in the world. In 1991, Poma unveiled their Omega detachable terminal which was more compact than previous terminals. The company built its first six-passenger detachable chairlift in 1993 and its first eight-passenger lift was constructed in Méribel, France in the year 2000. Also in 2000, the company replaced the Omega line of detachable terminals with the new Phoenix model. In addition, Poma also have now introduced the Multix terminals in their detachable chairlifts, while new North American lifts continue to feature the Omega terminal.
Gondola lifts
Poma built its first detachable gondolas in Val d'Isere and Queenstown (New Zealand) in 1966, and then, its first automatic gondolas in Chalmazel, Les Menuires (France) in 1967. It built the world's first six-passenger gondola in 1973, also in France in Villard-de-Lans. The world's first ten-passenger gondola was built by the company in 1984, followed by the world's first 16-passenger version in
Funitels
The company has built three funitels to date: the Funitel du Grand Fond, a detachable funitel built in 2001, the Funitel du Bouquetin, a fixed grip jig-back funitel built in 2003 (both located at Val Thorens in France) and the more recent Funitel de la Perdrix in Super-Besse, France, which was built in 2008 and is the first Funitel to feature the shared mechanics of Leitner and Poma.