How E-Skimo, The Electric Ski, Works For Ski Touring
POWER TO THE SKI TOURING PEOPLE
STYLE ALTITUDE asks Nicola Colombo, Founder & CEO of the electric ski, the key questions about how the E-Skimo actually works to assess whether it has traction in the ski touring marketIf you've ever ski toured up a long and/or steep gradient you will have wondered why no one has ever invented a power-assisted ski to take some of the physical strain out of climbing to earn those turns.
Well now they have.
Swiss start-up E-Outdoor have spent five years designing, testing and refining the technology for power-assisted ski touring, supported by the Ski Excellence Center of Mittersill at Tecnica Group for expertise and validation.
Their mission, to broaden the accessibliity for ski touring, has been accomplished in the form of the E-Skimo, featuring a removable 240W lithium battery and rotating skin belt that claims to boost ascent speeds by 400 percent and reduces physical exertion by 30 percent.
But although like the e-bike, it answers the need for an electric boost to go uphill, the E-Skimo introduces a lot of key questions, such as how heavy is it, how long does the battery last and how much will it cost? Also, how annoying will it be for ski tour purists enjoying the peace of the mountains under their own leg-power to share the backcountry with buzzing motorised skiers?
We put these questions among others to Nicola Colombo, Founder and CEO of E-Skimo:
