MAINTENANCE
Bamboo poles are usually shipped
in bundles of 50, which accounts for
a high price tag. Jacobs notes that the
last price per bundle his customers
paid was $120, which is $2.40 per pole.
Depending on location, the cost to ship
the poles to the end user could be as
high as $300 for five bundles of poles.
This means that the landed cost is
roughly $3.60 per pole.
“Syn-Boo are currently priced at
$3.95 per pole,” said Jacobs. “However,
we don’t sell in bundles of 50, we sell
by the pole. If a ski patrol only needs 73
poles, it’s no problem. Syn-Boo is half
the weight of bamboo, so it costs much
less to ship.”
Jacobs adds that there are other ben-efits
for the ski industry to consider as
well. From a sustainability standpoint,
Syn-Boo is made from recycled materi-als
and when its useful life is over, it can
be recycled again (vinyl tape on bam-boo
is not recyclable). From a risk man-agement
perspective, the fluorescent
orange color stands out far better than
taped or painted bamboo in flat light;
especially in foggy conditions, at dusk
and during night skiing. Groomers will
also be able to see Syn-Boo poles better
on the hill during night operations and
avoid running over them.
Patrollers, who often carry several
poles to mark hazards and trail clo-sures,
will appreciate Syn-Boo’s light-weight
material. Bamboo poles often
tend to freeze and can break at the
snow surface as patrollers try to re-move
them from the hill at the end
of the day; leaving bamboo remnants
behind. As the snow melts, the rem-nants
can become a hazard to skiers,
while Syn-Boo is easy to remove from
the snow.
Jacobs notes that some opera-tors
have indicated the Syn-Boo is
too flexible for use in rope lines, but
he suggests to double-up on each
end of the rope line with Syn-Boo to
add stiffness.
If you are looking to purchase Syn-
Boo, visit Reliable Racing’s website
at www.reliableracing.com, click on
“Brand Finder” and then “Syn-Boo.”
You’ll be able to place an order and
determine shipping costs.
“The purchase and use of bam-boo
is traditional,” said Jacobs.
“Some patrollers and operators don’t
like change, but they should em-brace
new technologies.”
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF RELIABLE RACING SUPPLY
Syn-Boo has a 13 percent larger outside diameter than traditional bamboo
poles, which makes it stiffer and more visible
snowopsmag.com | SnowOps 27
/www.reliableracing.com
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