Poma Lifts

[jamesdeluxe]

For those like me who were always curious about the origin of this liftmaker's name, but not enough to bother to do a search -- yesterday came the sad news about a former U.S. Olympic snowboarder, Julie Pomagalski, who died in an avalanche on Gemstock in Switzerland. Toward the end of the article was this note:

In 1934, her grandfather Jean Pomagalski, a 29-year-old engineer at the time, invented the first surface lift in Alpe d’Huez in the French Alps, according to a history of the Poma Group, a company he founded. The lift carried skiers about 705 feet and a vertical distance of about 210 feet, according to the company’s website. The Poma lift name became widely associated with chair lifts.


I always assumed that Poma meant purely surface lifts, but that's not the case (I'm sure that lift geeks already know this):

Poma - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Harvey]

Cool.

People definitely use the term "poma lift" and surface lift somewhat interchangeably.

 

[Big Deal]

I could tell by the look in her eyes
when I slapped that pipe between her thighs
I knew she was gonna wanna
by the way she rode the poma

 

[snoloco]

The technical term is platter lift, but it's often called the poma lift because they invented it. The platter lift was the first overhead cable surface lift. Before it, there were only rope tows. It paved the way for the J bar and T bar, as well as the chairlift.

 

[Brownski]

I was about to say pommel lift. Do you know which is more correct, Sno? Or is there a difference between pommel and platter?

 

[Kingslug]

A true ballbuster of a lift.....

 

[Cornhead]

Kudos to boarders that can ride them. The upper Poma at Hickory lifted my fat ass right off the ground for a good bit. Can't imagine riding it on a board.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

I was about to say pommel lift. Do you know which is more correct, Sno?

I've never heard "pommel" before.

 

[Warp daddy]

Crotch rippers

 

[Kingslug]

Go to South America..lots of them there..come back singing soprano..