The electric mountain bike is a hit with the Swiss. Good news for tourism of ski resorts.
For ten years, electric mountain biking has traced its path to the Valais Alpine trails. A real “revolution” that promises ski resorts a future that smells good in summer.
The Val de Bagnes launched in 2019 a festival to encourage the practice of electric bikes and boost its summer activity. The 2020 edition is accompanied this year by weekends offering tailor-made hikes. Almost half of the 2,500 outings planned for this Thursday and until September 27 have already been sold.
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“We are very excited about what’s going on in the world of electric bikes. It’s a real revolution, ”exclaims Nicolas Hale-Woods, who set up the events and who is none other than the creator of Verbier’s X-Treme and the patron of the Freeride World Tour.
There is such a demand for electric ATVs this year, that the brands are already out of stock. The stores are still asking for it, but the supply is not following, he adds. The craze is there, confirms Médran Sports in Verbier. “We have been offering electric bikes for ten years, but demand has exploded this summer.”
According to figures from the Swiss Cycling Association, in 2019, mountain biking represented almost 40% of the bicycle market and e-bike sales increased by almost 19% compared to 2018, abounds Valais / Wallis Promotion .
An activity for everyone
Blue, red, black, modeled on the difficulty of the ski slopes, the trails offered at Val de Bagnes are intended for all users. Big differences in level, technical difficulties: before, mountain biking was an attractive activity but required good physical condition to explore alpine destinations, explains Verbier tourism director Simon Wiget. The electric mountain bike “has democratized this activity”.
Everyone knows how to ride a bike and the electric assistance allows users to complete routes that would have been impossible otherwise. The ebike is even more popular than the bicycle “also because it allows a heterogeneous group of people of all ages and all horizons to arrive at the same time at a cabin while having fun”, explains Nicolas Hale-Woods.
You would think that the electric mountain bike is less physical. It is nothing: “we put the same intensity and we simply go further,” notes Christoph Sauser, bronze medalist at the Sydney Olympic Games in cross-country to respond to a popular belief well entrenched. In 2019, he participated in the first edition of the E-Tour du Mont-Blanc where he placed second.
Planned projects
On bikes which can cost up to 13,000 francs, pedalers can choose the intensity of the assistance. Eco mode for a minimum of support over a long period, medium mode to soften the slopes and turbo mode to flatten the most recalcitrant steep slopes. Everyone then pedal as they wish while being careful not to burn all of its juice at once.
And for those who would still have abused the assistance, there are fifteen terminals scattered in the Verbier region in front of public establishments. Sportsmen and mounts can then regain strength before leaving. For a full recharge, it takes three hours. But the HES-SO Valais is working on a prototype allowing this time to be reduced to 20 minutes. The little motor queen has therefore not finished electrifying her audience.
The ebike to save the summers
For Nicolas Hale-Woods, the arrival of the electric bicycle not only saves part of summer tourism, but it will also develop it. “It’s summer skiing,” he says in front of the Brunet cabin. According to him, in five years, some destinations will have as much economic activity in summer as in winter because there is a real complementarity between electric two-wheelers and skiing.
When one of the two activities is not possible, the other takes over. And everything is ready: the ski lifts, the trails, the network of hotels, mountain restaurants, sports shops which now sell skis and bikes. This development seems to be super logical, summarizes Nicolas Hale-Woods for whom this activity represents an opportunity that the stations must seize by enriching the offer and developing routes, signage and communication.
(ATS / NXP)
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