Discovering Ski Touring’s Summer Cousin

By Skier & Snowboarder on 24th July 2025

From powder to power modes: Katy Dartford takes a look at why skiers should be paying attention to e-MTB on a trip to Les Gets this summer.

There’s a moment halfway down a steep, loose fire road after the Roc d’Enfer Envers lift where I start to wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake.

My hands are welded to the brakes, my forearms feel like they’ve done 500 push-ups, and my e-bike’s suspension is bouncing me around like a space hopper in a hurricane.

And then it hits me – this is basically red-run skiing. Only it’s summer. There’s dust instead of snow. And I’m on a €10,000 Mondraker e-mountain bike, not skis.

Welcome to the Pass’Portes du Soleil – an up to 90km mountain biking epic (yes, there are several routes and you can start from a dozen resort options, including Les Gets, Morzine, Avoriaz, Champery and Châtel). It’s the off-season equivalent of a long ski tour: chairlift-supported, snack-fuelled, scenic and just technical enough to make your legs wobble.

But the biggest difference this time? It’s electric.

Trying out an e-MTB at the Pass’Portes

I’ve skied Les Gets for years, but this was my second attempt at the Pass’Portes – the first being over a decade ago on a clunky analogue bike, no prep, and barely any confidence. This time, I had backup: a Bosch-powered Mondraker Chaser with 170mm travel and full-suspension finesse, plus coaching from Leo Mathieu at Bike Academy and Bosch’s e-MTB specialist Guillaume Heinrich.

“You’ve essentially got the legs of a Tour de France rider on demand,” Guillaume grins as we chat beside the Envers lift. “But that means people are riding further and higher than ever – and some don’t yet have the skills to descend safely.”

Guillaume would know. He’s ex-pro, and now works on making e-biking safer and smarter – from gearing systems that auto-adjust to future features that sound like something from NASA.

“We’re developing tech like adaptive ABS braking for e-MTBs,” he tells me. “Eventually, there’ll be haptic feedback to tell you when you’re pushing too hard into a corner or braking unevenly.”

I imagine an airbag going off mid-descent like in an avalanche pack – my mind wandering to inflatable Lycra or a self-righting saddle. But the truth is, a lot of this isn’t fantasy. Bosch’s smart system already includes automatic shifting, e-Suspension, and route planning. “It’s like the ABS of skiing,” Guillaume shrugs.

Skiing Muscles, Summer Settings

As a skier, I’m used to edge control, shifting weight, and responding to terrain. But on a bike — especially an e-bike — the physics are different. The torque’s instant, the weight distribution more top-heavy, and it turns out your hands take a battering. “Brakes are like your legs on skis,” Guillaume says. “Push too hard, and they’ll burn out.”

He’s not wrong. On one rocky descent above Avoriaz, we had to stop just to cool the discs. My thumbs were twitching. But that’s what makes it addictive. The skills crossover is real – and a little ski fitness definitely helps.

To get a better handle on technique, I’d spent a day training with Leo Mathieu from Bike Academy in Les Gets. He had us practising braking and balance on grass before we moved on to a green trail, talking constantly about how your body needs to counteract the bike – not unlike skiing. “Everything you give with the bike, you take back with your body,” he explained.

The idea wasn’t to just survive the descents, but to ride them with flow – a concept ski instructors bang on about too. Leo’s calm confidence and French charm made the drills stick. I found myself adjusting my stance and reading the terrain much more consciously by the next day.

A Lift-Assisted Odyssey

We started from the Mont Chéry lift in Les Gets under bright blue skies, weaving across alpine pastures with Mont Blanc in the distance. The e-assist made climbs a breeze – even on fire roads or rooty forest sections. After a snack stop near Roc d’Enfer (potato fritters, cheese and bike charging – naturally), we rode up to the Chaux Fleurie plateau where several lifts converge.

Here, a live band was playing French chansons, mountain bikers were sunbathing with beers, and tartiflette was being served from a pop-up tent. It felt like après-ski with handlebars.

From there, we descended to Morzine through singletrack and ski pistes, eventually catching the Pleney lift back to Les Gets for a final blast down the bike park’s green and blue trails. All in, we covered over 60km with 2,454m of climbing — and I still had 70% of my battery left.

Not everything was rosy. I got yelled at by another rider to “pick a line!” (despite her being behind me). And lifting the bike onto the chairlifts was no joke – especially at 5ft tall. “We really need workshops on that,” I muttered, after a kind stranger helped me hoist the Mondraker on.

There’s still a gender gap in MTB – not just in participation, but in kit, geometry and culture. The full-face helmets and armour look cool, but they can feel intimidating. And I don’t think the power-to-weight ratios always work in smaller riders’ favour. I had to run in Turbo just to keep up on climbs – despite being half the size of the blokes.

But here’s the thing: it’s fun. Like, really fun. E-MTB opens up the mountain in the same way ski touring or splitboarding does – but without the faff of skins or avalanche kit. It’s fast, flowy, fitness-boosting, and lets you explore the ski area in a totally new way.

And come winter, I reckon you’ll notice the benefits: better balance, stronger legs and sharper line choices. Plus, if the snow is right and compact, says Guillaume – showing me photos of himself riding in it – you can ride them in winter on the mountain.

Whether you’re an ex-racer looking for a summer fix, a piste cruiser curious about new tech, or just someone who misses the mountains once the snow melts, e-MTB might be your new obsession. Just don’t forget the brake pads.

And a helmet with airbags. Just in case.

TRAVEL FACTS

Katy stayed with jackandjillholidays.com

Summer