29 replies to this topic

[Lift Kid]

I prefer Leitner-POMA chairs from my rider point of view. I have never (but would like to) worked on a lift so I can't answer the matenece or operator parts of the question. Please, I would like to hear from everyone! If you can't answer on of the questions, select the Don't Know answer.

[Jonni]

Hey Lift Kid, I deleted your last polls as they appeared to be repetitive. As far as my preferences, I would have to say I like Leitner/Poma for comfortability. I haven't had the honor of having to catch any Dopp/CTEC chairs in my time in the industry, but I do tend to like catching the Leitner/Poma chairs. They aren't all that light, but you can get a good ride off of them when slid correctly.

[SkiBachelor]

It appears that Doppelmayr/Garaventa pad all its chairs for its European clients, while Doppelmayr CTEC just sells a basic carrier design. However, I'm sure you can get pads for them if you want. The Lewis & Clark lift at Spanish Peaks has the nice European carriers with the padded seats. They look like a couch.

[skierdude9450]

Poma has always been ahead of Doppelmayr in seats. Back in the day, Poma still had nicely padded seats, and Doppelmayr had the stupid foam seats. When they joined CTEC, the seats got better, but most of them had metal backrests! On a high speed quad!

[Lift Kid]

So, it sounds like most are in favor of Leitner-POMA chairs. Keep your opinions coming!! I enjoy learning this information!!

[Peter]

DoppelmayrCTEC keeps lifts cheap. If Ski Areas want comfy seats, areas like Spanish Peaks and Deer Valley can get them if they want. It is an option that most ski areas don't add on simply because of price. I don't find the Doppelmayr faom seats all that bad, but Southern Comfort at Big Sky has no back pad and is very uncomfortable. The original seats on Rexx were really comfortable, but they have since been replaced with new flatter cushions. The old ones were so thick and slippery, after someone fell off the lift midline, they did something about it.

This looks about as comfy as I can imagine...

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[floridaskier]

Skier, on May 10 2006, 06:50 PM, said:

DoppelmayrCTEC keeps lifts cheap.

I always thought Doppelmayr had the most expensive lifts

On Poma lifts, it felt like the chair was angled too far forward like you were gonna fall off. I like the Garaventa chairs that new CTEC lifts have. Metal backrests don't bother me, probably because a lot of the lifts I ride don't have back pads

[Peter]

I don't know, I thought the reason they are so much more popular is because they are bidding lower that L-P.

[SkiBachelor]

Doppelmayr did have the most expensive lifts I believe, but now that CTEC is running the show, that's no longer the case.

Pine Creek at Bogus Basin and Ramcharger at Big Sky both have the nice comfy seat pads for the Doppelmayr carrier.

[WBSKI]

Some of the seats on older dopp lifts are really hard (Wiz, Solar Coaster, 7th Heaven and others. I think the current ones are about the same.

[liftmech]

Doppelmayr used (perhaps they still do) closed-cell foam for the seats because there was no vinyl to rip and tear. It doesn't soak up water very well either. As for the comfort factor, I think all lifts regardless of manufacturer are more comfortable than spending hours in those hard plywood desks in school, wouldn't you agree?

Maintenance- I haven't worked on Doppelmayrs very much at all, so I can't really speak for their strengths in that arena. Poma's carriers are almost all bolted together, so there are only a few welds to inspect and part replacement is pretty simple. You only need a 17 and a 19-mm wrench and you've got all the connections taken care of.

[lastchair_44]

What about a good 'ol Yan chair??? They're comfy and if they're long enough you can drink a beer or two on the way up

[KZ]

I like newer poma chairs unless it is a padded DoppCtec. Schoolyard at Mammoth is nice with full padding but most Doppelmayr lifts don't have full padding.

My favorite carrier is still the yan teardrop hsq chair. Looks kind of funny and is damn comfortable.

[highspeedquad]

In my opinion, the poma chairs are very comfy, more than the doppelmayrs I have ridden, though the chair in the picture takes the cake.

[Warren733]

LP's like Ruby express have smooth rides, and comfortable chairs, But DC has probably the best controls.

[P01itiC4lR3B31]

I went on Ranier Express at Crystal which is the first high speed quad and only POMA lift on the mountain. Much more comfy than the six packs due to coushins and didn't raddle so much when going over the towers.

[skierdude9450]

To me Tea Cup Express at Vail takes the cake. It's a south-facing lift with poma omega carriers, so on sunny days the seat warms up as it goes down the hill. Ruby Express at Keystone comes in second.

[Lift Kid]

skierdude9450, on Mar 23 2007, 11:29 AM, said:

To me Tea Cup Express at Vail takes the cake. It's a south-facing lift with poma omega carriers, so on sunny days the seat warms up as it goes down the hill. Ruby Express at Keystone comes in second.

Seat warmer with no expenses!

I must say that I don't hate the Doppelmayr pads or chairs, but I don't like how the Doppelmayr chairs rattle sooooo much over the towers. They seem to have a much stiffer ride that a POMA. However, I don't like the old POMA seat pads that have been worn down too much like the Colorado SuperChair at Breck. The ones on the Flyer at Copper were fine though. Something I really don't like about the POMA Falcon chairs in general would be the extremely small back rest. The newer chairs are fine though.

The Yan chairs are actually really comfortable! When I made this topic, I hadn't yet ridden a Yan yet. Well, since then I have ridden 10 different Yans. Very very comfortable. I like the chair designs too. The really old one, like Blackjack at Copper, is my favorite but the newer ones are ok.

This post has been edited by Lift Kid: 23 March 2007 - 02:52 PM

[poloxskier]

Lift Kid, on Mar 23 2007, 01:51 PM, said:

However, I don't like the old POMA seat pads that have been worn down too much like the Colorado SuperChair at Breck. The ones on the Flyer at Copper were fine though. Something I really don't like about the POMA Falcon chairs in general would be the extremely small back rest. The newer chairs are fine though.

The pads on the colorado have not been on it for very long, it used to be much more comfortable with the old pads on it.

This post has been edited by poloxskier: 25 March 2007 - 03:05 PM

[EagleAce]

lastchair_44, on Jun 12 2006, 08:45 PM, said:

What about a good 'ol Yan chair??? They're comfy and if they're long enough you can drink a beer or two on the way up

I'll drink to that! Although Kirkwood's old 70's Yan double (#3, Iron Horse) isn't too comfy. Their triples on the other hand are like couches! I wish we had chairpads like theirs. When I'm riding our triple I'll stretch out sideways.

One of my favorite things to do when riding down is scaring the crap out of someone riding up who doesn't expect to see somebody riding the lift down!

My biggest beef with Riblets are the centerpole carriers.