Rocky Mt. Impressions
That statement sums up the broad impression that Poma made on key lift executives from nine Rocky Mountain ski resorts visiting the factory and installations in France. Favorable impressions were however, derived from different factors—sometimes with conflicting attitudes and observations.
For instance, while Beidleman praised the testing and quality control of Poma’s operation (over that of Dopplemayr), John Rutter, area manager of Keystone, criticized the overall quality of the lifts.
“The general finish of the Poma lifts is not good,” he said. “The AC drive system won’t do because we need variable speeds, and I think they are behind electronically compared to the lifts we now have.”
Rutter praised Doppelmayr’s “cleaner design, simpler construction and longer guarantees on parts.” But then had good words for Poma’s imaginative gondola installations: “I feel positive about gondolas now. They have a real function and we need to figure out how to use them and work out the economics. The comfort for the skier makes consumer acceptance very high.”
Breckenridge is the first U.S. area to install a detachable grip chairlift (a Doppelmayr going in this summer), and Lift Manager Tom Clink had a chance to compare the two brands first hand. “The big problem with the Poma detachable chair,” said Clink, “is that it stops for sequencing and starts again, which tends to confuse the rider who is looking at the chair rather than the start wand. The Dopplemayr chairs run in a continuous smooth motion so people can judge the chair’s progress.”
Beidelman pointed to price as an added incentive for buying the Doppelmayr. “The Poma bid was more than 30 percent higher in design and materials,” he said. “But their factory in Grand Junction should permit them to manufacture at competitive prices. They are superb lifts, the company has good ideas, they are willing to listen and design to the user’s specs. If the price were the same and I flipped a coin—it would probably be in favor of Poma.”
Andy Daly, vice president for mountain and village operations at Copper Mountain, was not in a buying mode, but came away with the impression that the Poma equipment was well designed and competitive. “The plant and tests areas are as progressive as any I know of,” he said. “I also like Poma’s broad approach. They are in the transportation business—they make four lift systems: chairs, surface, gondolas and trams—and I was overwhelmed by the number of engineers they have.”
Daly was not ready to endorse the detachable chair for most Rocky Mountain resorts. “The European experience is different,” he said. “They have lots of wide open terrain and little concern for densities on trails. In Colorado we try to keep heavy densities to a minimum.”
Park West’s president, Jack Roberts, was in a mood to buy and left profiles of two hills at his resort with both Poma and Doppelmayr. “I went over there thinking the detachable chair was what I wanted,” he said. “But I was turned off when I got the cost data—it’s not justified unless you have a need for very high traffic on very broad slopes. For about the same price I could get two fixed grip chairs.”
“I did conclude that a gondola has lots of advertising and prestige benefits and gives the rider more comfort. Seeing Avoriaz I realized how we could take people to the 8,500 foot level and build a village using a gondola for access.”
A number of participants said they learned from seeing the European area operations in action. “They have really good lift systems in France, but their trail grooming is not up to ours,” said Daly. “The entire philosophy of running an area is different. The customer is responsible for taking care of himself and on lift services there is zero customer contact.”
While the French attitude toward consumers received low ratings, the resorts themselves—the planning, financing and long range development—were praised. “The French resorts are 20 years ahead of anything in the U.S.,” said Roberts. “Their mountains are huge, they have great vertical drops and they have more skiers to draw upon.”
The Poma team who will bring ideas from France was unamimously praised for their organization and eagerness to meet the demand of their customers. “I like Poma’s attitude about coming into the States,” said Rutter. “They’re going for it. The people working for Poma are competitive and aggressive. They’ll adopt their lifts to our needs.”
