World’s first electric skis make US ski town debut at GoPro Mountain Games
John LaConte/Vail Daily
It was a little over a decade ago that an unheard-of electric board made its debut at the GoPro Mountain Games, saying it mimicked the sensation of snowboarding on land.
It was called the OneWheel, and has since become ubiquitous in ski towns across the globe.
Since that time, and probably before, skiers have asked themselves when they will be able to use a personal transportation device that mimics the sensation they’re used to feeling on snow.
That device is now here, it’s called Skwheel, and it made its American ski town debut at — where else? — this year’s GoPro Mountain Games.
“We knew Vail was a Mecca for skiing, so we thought this would be the perfect summer event to show off our product to skiers,” said Skwheel Business Manager Sacha Coulon, who was putting on Skwheel demonstrations and letting visitors try the product on Gore Creek Drive on Thursday. “People are picking it up on their first try.”
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It’s the French company’s second visit to the U.S. to show off the product, with the first coming at the CES event in Las Vegas in 2024, when company officials visited the technological innovation conference to show off a prototype of the product they had been working on. Skwheel was well received at that conference, Coulon said, and by 2025, the first 200 units were delivered to customers.
On May 10, Skwheel received the company’s crowning achievement thus far, winning the gold medal at the 125th Lépine Competition, recognizing the invention’s intersection of mobility, leisure and sports.
Founded in 1901, the Lépine Competition showcases hundreds of inventions each year before a panel of expert judges, and 205 projects competed in 2026.
