Arc’teryx and wearable robotics startup Skip have teamed up, launching mountaineering pants powered by battery motors and machine learning.
As summer comes to an end in August, Arc’teryx, the Canadian technical outerwear brand that grew explosively thanks to a post-pandemic frenzy in high-end outdoor gears, hosted their latest Climb Academy in the heart of British Columbia’s Squamish First Nation reserve. A distinct program that sets this event apart from its previous editions in England’s Lake District and France’s Chamonix is a collaboration with Skip.
Skip is a San Francisco Bay Area startup developing wearable robotics that support human movements. Together with Arc’teryx, Skip launched MO/GO, dubbed “the world’s first pair of powered pants,” which boost the user’s leg muscles and knees using a sensor-equipped motor with a computer that analyzes and predicts the user’s movements.
“MO/GO fuses Skip’s robotics and machine learning know-how with Arc’teryx’s deep-rooted product innovation and engineering in outdoor gear and apparel.”
Cam Stuart, Arc’teryx
The motor-powered module and its algorithmic software are integrated into Arc’teryx’s Gamma pants, known for their outdoor durability. “When the team at Skip reached out about their wearable robotic hike assist project, it immediately piqued our interest,” says Cam Stuart, manager of advanced concepts research and engineering at Arc’teryx. “MO/GO fuses Skip’s robotics and machine learning know-how with Arc’teryx’s deep-rooted product innovation and engineering in outdoor gear and apparel.”
Skip started as a project at Google’s R&D-geared innovation lab X and eventually became an independent company in 2023 after co-founders Kathryn Zealand and Anna Roumiantseva took it a step further. According to World Health Organization statistics, 1.7 billion people have musculoskeletal conditions worldwide, a number rapidly increasing amid population growth and aging. Both Zealand and Roumiantseva have seen loved ones being left behind on outdoor adventures for the same reasons, so they aspire to create “a world with nobody left behind” through what they call “movewear.”
“It takes inspiration from exoskeleton technology and elevates it into a new kind of consumer product.”
Anna Roumiantseva, Skip
Movewear is a new wearable product category coined by Skip, described as the “missing middle” between fully powered aids and the human factor, designed for people to enjoy movement but need an extra boost. “It takes inspiration from exoskeleton technology and elevates it into a new kind of consumer product that is useful, understandable, comfortable, and exciting for everyday people in search of a little boost,” says Roumiantseva in a post. MO/GO is Skip’s first Movewear product.
The product is said to have been extensively tested on hiking trails, including at the Climbing Academy in August, where hikers with knee pain, muscle weakness, cardiovascular fitness, or fatigue summited the challenging Stawamus Chief Mountain wearing MO/GO.
“We’ve seen an incredible response from the public, and we’re excited to see how MO/GO can help to open up access to the outdoors for people with mobility challenges and get them back into the mountains, doing what they love,” adds Stuart.
