The world's largest ski resort operator, The Compagnie des Alpes, has signed a €38m deal with lift company POMA to supply five new gondola and chairlifts to Val d'Isère, Tignes, Méribel, La Plagne, and Serre Chevalier ski areas in time for next winter. Installation for all five – which will include some models that are the first of their kind in France - will start this summer with opening planned for December 2018.
At Val d'Isère, the La Daille gondola will be replaced by a new high-performance gondola with a capacity of 2,800 passengers per hour. It will be the first in France to be equipped with 50 Premium Symphony 10-passenger cabins as well as one VIP cabin. They are very bright, and feature heated seats.
At Tignes, a new gondola will connect Brévières to the Boisses area. The lift is part of the program to completely overhaul the base area, and will replace three lifts that will be dismantled. Thanks to the OWA (Operation Without Attendant), this new gondola lift will run without operating staff in the bottom station from 5 p.m. to midnight.
At Méribel, a new, high-speed detachable bubble lift, complete with heated seats and headrests, will replace the current POMA Plan de l'Homme DCL6 located at the foot of the resort. It will be the first lift of its kind in France.
At la Plagne, a new high-capacity, six-passenger detachable chairlift will replace the POMA Inversens, a fixed-grip quad installed in 1987. It will transport up to 3,600 passengers per hour.
At Serre Chevalier, the six passenger Côte Chevalier detachable chairlift with DirectDrive motor will replace an existing surface lift and a fixed-grip chairlift. It will connect two major sectors of the ski area, with 106 carriers and a transport capacity of 3,000 passengers per hour.
There is a strong French onus on the deal. The five new lifts will be produced and assembled in the French Alps. The cabins will be manufactured by Sigma, a POMA group subsidiary.
"We invest in France at our ski areas to increase their appeal and meet our guests' expectations," said David Ponson, director of ski area management at The Compagnie des Alpes. "For 2018 installations, we chose the French manufacturer POMA for their expertise and state-of-the-art technology, as well as for our long-standing, successful international partnerships."