If the idea of a challenging uphill hike has you wishing for an e-bike-style booster, a Canadian clothing maker soon might be able to help. The outdoor products company Arc'teryx and the mobility company Skip have introduced MO/GO, a set of motorized pants that can shave about 30 pounds off your hiking load.
The product, playfully named as a reference to "Mountain Goat," won't be out until late 2025, but the company is now accepting $99 preorders that bring the price of the pants down from $5,000 retail to $4,500.
The MO/GO is a powered module that weighs two pounds per leg, with a battery pack adding additional weight. (Fast Company says the components plus the pants equal seven pounds.) The module snaps into the company's Gamma pants, a $200 pair of weather-resistant climbing pants.
The system provides more leg power, providing a boost uphill and absorbing impacts of steps. Like an e-bike, it can provide multiple levels of assistance.
Arc'teryx is offering in-store demos at its Climb Academy in Squamish, British Columbia and $80 day rentals for use at the city's Stawamus Chief Park.
Fast Company writer Mark Wilson took the device out for a try and said the experience felt more automatic that you might expect, but that the sounds of the motor and slight "microdelays" will keep the user from forgetting they're wearing MO/GO.
That said, the company still has more than a year to refine the technology. Wilson said that he was able to climb up and down a staircase three times without getting out of breath or experiencing an elevated heart rate.
The company says its exoskeleton-style pants can help hikers climb peaks that might have been inaccessible to them before.
Arc'teryxMobility company Skip was spun out from Google X and has been focused on "Movewear," taking technology that has also been in development for military applications and warehouse work, and gearing it toward products for consumers as well as those with mobility challenges. It's an area drawing the interest of other companies as well: earlier this year a Chinese company called DNSYS introduced an X1 exoskeleton for running and hiking on Kickstarter starting at $600. Last year, a company called Hypershell had a similar product on Kickstarter.
The MO/GO is said to provide a 40-percent boost to leg muscles while predicting and assisting a hiker's movements. A battery pack circles the waist to power the two modules at the knees.