These Robotic Arc’teryx Pants Could Be the Future of Hiking Gear

Some products are so disruptive that they create a clean break between the present and the past. The iPhone. The light bulb. The wheel.

A new offering may have the same effect for hiking gear. Only the product isn’t a boot or a bag or any type of waterproof jacket. It’s a $5,000 pair of pants designed to propel you up the side of a mountain like an e-bike.

Meet the Mo/Go

The device is called the Mo/Go — short for mountain goat (one of the best climbers in the world). And it’s a collaborative effort between Arc’teryx and Skip, a startup born out of Google’s innovation lab, X.

Though exoskeletons have been around for decades, the Mo/Go will be one of the first examples that goes beyond the commercial and rehabilitation sectors.

Perhaps the best-known exoskeleton was the Hardiman, a full-body suit developed by General Electric in the 1960s to help users lift heavy objects. Ironically, it never got off the ground.