World’s first e-skis: genius or joke?

The Hasenflüeli summit in the Prättigau, canton Graubünden, is considered one of the best ski touring destinations in the region. Keystone / Arno Balzarini

It might sound like an April Fool’s gag, but a Swiss company is very serious about its e-skis – the world’s first battery-powered skis. However, initial reactions suggest it will be an uphill battle winning over purists.

“The idea came about during Covid, when the ski lifts were closed,” software and technology entrepreneur Nicola Colombo told Swiss public broadcaster SRFExternal link last year in his workshop in San Bernardino, southeastern Switzerland. “I was already going on ski tours, and some friends wanted to join me. But after the first attempt they realised they weren’t fit enough.”

That’s how the idea was born to create something that, according to Colombo’s start-up E-Outdoor, would make the sport “more accessible, exhilarating and inclusive, empowering more people to explore the beauty of the mountains with ease and joy”.

Colombo wanted to create for ski touring – skiing up and down unmarked or unpatrolled areas – what the e‑bike had done for mountain biking. The result is E-SkimoExternal link, launched at the end of 2025 after four years’ research and development.

“It’s not a ski lift mounted under your feet but a device that reduces fatigue and increases uphill speed,” Colombo told SRF. The pulling power is generated by a skin that rotates beneath the ski, driven by an electric motor. The two motors are activated with buttons on the poles which – before you can say “007” – set the skins in motion.

The entire system is controlled by artificial intelligence, which coordinates all the information about the ski’s position. Once at the top, the equipment (2.8kg on each ski) can be unclipped and stowed in a backpack before tackling the descent.

E‑Outdoor claims that E‑Skimo reduces physical effort by up to 30% and increases ascent speed by up to 80%. The battery is said to last for about three hours, with a full charge also taking around three hours. The price? The E-Skimo packageExternal link will set you back CHF4,500 ($5,850). By comparison, normal touring skis cost on average around CHF500.

Typical buyer

As for whom the innovation is aimed at, Colombo says the system is “not intended for technically demanding tours but rather for easier routes in safe environments – such as marked trails where you can be out for two to four hours at a moderate intensity, perhaps reaching a hut or a mountain pass before enjoying a relaxed descent”.

He said such marked routes exist, for example, in certain ski areas in Valais or in Graubünden around mountain lifts. There, safe uphill routes are prepared and clearly demarcated, and the descent can then be made on the pistes, he added.

The developers of E‑Skimo said they also see great potential outside the Alpine region, for example, in Scandinavia or North America.

Swiss business magazine Bilanz reported at the beginning of FebruaryExternal link that 100 pairs of E-Skimos had been brought onto the market and 25 had been bought immediately. The entrepreneurs had expected that ski tour beginners would buy the skis, but it turns out that the typical buyer is male, around 60 years old and a long-time ski tourer – they just want a bit of help going uphill as they get older.

Sometimes you just need a little help. Keystone / Arno Balzarini

The Italian and French armies had also signed up for tests, according to Bilanz. E-Skimo is available for private trials at “experience centres” in St Moritz, Verbier and San Bernadino in Switzerland, and in Sansicario in Italy.

Environmental and safety concerns

However, e-skis are not without controversy. In particular, quite a few people have raised environmental concerns about a possible “invasion” of the mountains, as well as issues related to safety and the danger of underestimating hazards, Swiss public broadcaster RSI reportedExternal link.

“With e-skis the slope is less tiring, and also people with insufficient preparation or insufficient physical condition can get to the mountain. What’s more, there’s the risk of disturbing wild animals – and during winter, which is a sensitive time for them because of the cold and the snow. Every disturbance takes a toll on their energy,” Aaron Heinzmann from nature conservation association Mountain WildernessExternal link told RSI.

Colombo sees things differently. “Even if we assume that a certain number of traditional skiers switch to this type of activity, given the size of the network and the number of routes we have in Switzerland and, more generally, in the Alps, we’ll never be able to saturate the trails,” he told RSI. “We’ll never see those images of long queues of cars and people you get on certain Sundays at ski resorts.”

What goes up must come down. Keystone / Arno Balzarini

Regarding safety, Colombo added that it wasn’t the equipment that made a person more prone to taking risks or behaving irresponsibly. “It always comes down to education, to setting certain rules. In this sense, I don’t see any difference from traditional ski touring, where preparing an outing requires taking into account the weather, avalanche risk, physical and technical fitness, and everything else needed to minimise danger.”

Mixed reaction

So what’s it actually like? “It’s an unnerving thing to feel a ski move without your input,” wrote a journalistExternal link from the Financial Times who took E-Skimo for a spin in Verbier in January.

“As each heel lifts, there’s a thrum of motors and rotating skins and the skis slide forwards around 80cm. All the effort is outsourced. When the photographer asks if I can attempt that steep slope, passers-by stop to watch. If not entirely effort-free, it’s literally no sweat. I am a ski-touring Terminator, undaunted, unstoppable. At least until the batteries drain.”

Summing up his thoughts, he admitted he was “torn”. “After the battery issues on this test, I can understand why purists might rail against motorised skis. Equally, E-Skimo let me pack far more into an afternoon than I would usually manage.”

Financial Times readers were also split, with arguments ranging from “not everything should be easy” to “a helpful way of keeping up with fitter friends”:

“Huge respect for some very clever engineering. It might catch on, but I doubt it as there are a number of important limits that exist in the winter mountains: […] outside groomed slopes, if you aren’t fit enough to skin up it, you probably won’t be able to ski down it if snow conditions get any way tricky (especially with an additional 5kg in your pack).”

“Ski touring should remain exclusively reserved for those willing to put the work in. Else people won’t appreciate/respect the mountains as much.”

“Another device to add to my daily device charging list? No thanks.”

“My partner doesn’t have the same skill at skiing as I do, and it can be difficult at times to persuade them to join me. With something like this, they’d feel more comfortable going out and keeping pace with me.”

“I’m not going to be an early adopter, but I won’t rule it out either. I was sniffy about e-bikes, but now I have one and it has its place.”

“E-skis – bring them on! Just need some snow…”

Edited by Samuel Jaberg/gw