After riding a scooter on land or surfing in the sea, young entrepreneurs put electricity at the service of individual trips on the snow with self-propelled skis and all-terrain skateboards.
Edouard Aubert, who was already a surfer and snowboarder, took up skateboarding during the pandemic, attracted by deserted roads.
“Since I’m an engineer, I quickly put an engine in it,” he slips mischievously at a stand at the CES consumer technology fair in Las Vegas. “But we needed more. The asphalt was no longer enough for us, nor was the off-road. We needed sand, snow.”
Make off-roading a way to stand out
Although electric skateboard brands number in the hundreds, “there was nothing to make a great all-rounder,” says Adrien Ladan, CEO and former student friend of Edouard Aubert.
The two Girondins set out and created SQ-Motors to develop a board with three large wheels that was not afraid of any surface, the Sternboard, capable of exceeding 60 km/h on the track.
At first they thought mainly about sand, but “for fun” they developed a caterpillar model, which earned them positive reviews, to the point of recently selling six of them to a ski resort in the Pyrenees, La Pierre Saint-Martin. To the approximately 3,000 euros for the basic configuration, we must add 1,000 for the snow equipment.
“The snow version is not designed to hit the slopes, nor to replace snowboarding,” explains Edouard Aubert. “It’s more like walking, cross-country ski trails.”
The station will test both winter and summer configurations, with tracks and mini skis on the two front wheels, and then without them, for all-season use.
Two Bordeaux residents democratize skiing in the desert
As for the sand, the Qatari funds have spoken with the two Bordeaux, “because they are in the process of democratizing board sports” in a desert environment, says Edouard Aubert, who announces the series production of the Sternboard for this year.
Until now, the two founders have manufactured the dozens of models that leave their workshop themselves, “to improve the product and guarantee reliability”, because “we are in the highest range that exists.”
“The idea is to open playing fields that are still inaccessible,” he professes.
As for the classic Sternboard with wheels, “we have received quite a few requests from farmers who walk around their farm,” reveals Edouard Aubert. “We’re already on the fifth.”
Nicola Colombo went to Las Vegas with his E-Skimo, a touring ski whose concept, according to him, is close to that of an electric bicycle. Ski touring consists of going up the slope on skis and not on a ski lift, before going down it.
When the hiker moves, a motor sets in motion a strip of fabric, a kind of treadmill located under the ski, which moves forward, respecting the calves and thighs.
Capable of evaluating the slope and position of one ski in relation to the other, the system uses artificial intelligence to calibrate assistance based on the user and their pace. The motor stops as soon as the skier finishes his movement, with his leg extended forward. Once at the top, the fabric strap, motor and battery are removed and the hiker can descend with normal skis.
Increase the practice of ski touring
“The idea came to me one day on the slopes,” remembers this entrepreneur. “I took some friends ski touring, but I realized they didn’t enjoy it because the physical effort was too intense.”
In fact, ski touring is, in its usual practice, a more demanding leisure activity than alpine skiing.
With E-Skimo, “we reduce the intensity to open the practice to people with lower physical condition,” describes Nicola Colombo, whose Swiss company E-Outdoor is seeking to establish a partnership with a ski manufacturer.
Even though production hasn’t started, he imagines a retail price of “about $1,500,” not far from double the average price of touring skis on the market.
On flat terrain, the power of e-skis would allow you to move without using your legs, as Nicola Colombo demonstrates during a demonstration on an ice rink in Las Vegas. But “we didn’t design it for that,” he replies, committed to “maintaining physical exercise.”
Source: BFM TV
