Jean Pomagalski, born in 1905 in Poland, arrived in France with his family at the age of two. Fleeing Polish repression, Jean Pomagalski’s family found refuge in the Grenoble region, where his father quickly found a job in industry, which was booming during this period.
Jean Pomagalski adapted perfectly to his life in France, so much so that he chose French nationality. He was an exemplary student at “Vox”, the Vaucanson vocational school in Grenoble, in the “Building” section.
The first company, the first ropeway transport systems
In the 1920s, he created his own masonry company, “Entreprise Générale de Travaux Jean Pomagalski” and carried out the structural works for buildings in Isère.
An inventor at heart, he created his first ropeway in 1927 on one of his construction sites. Long before transporting skiers to the top of the slopes, this first aerial conveyor was used to transport materials more easily to the site of a hard-to-reach chalet in Saint-Hilaire-du-Touvet (France).
The creation of POMA
Passionate about skiing, Jean Pomagalski designed a new way of operating a “ski lift”.
In February 1934, after several years of research and testing, the first surface lift with a tow rod was installed in Alpe d’Huez (France), on the slopes of Eclose. It didn't look anything at all like today’s surface lifts! It was made using telegraph poles, an old truck deck and a used Ford engine. A system that looked wobbly but which nevertheless worked, marking an important milestone in the world of ropeways.
Jean Pomagalski worked to make the tow rods detachable so that they could be stored in the station and made available on request. In 1944, after several years and several stages of improvement, the engineer developed the bushing fastener, based on the principle of an elongated ring locked in line by lever effect. He then filed the patent “Improvements to traction or ropeway systems using endless cable”. This efficient system became popular and is still used today on most surface lifts with detachable tow rods.
Following the success of his invention, Pomagalski refocused the activity of his public works company on the assembly and marketing of his fixed and detachable surface lifts.
Faced with growing demand, on 11 December 1947, he created the public limited company Pomagalski, named after himself (which would become POMA in 2014).