Riding a ski bike is super easy to pick up when you’re on the nursery slopes, with the difficulty level and bravery required only really ramping up a notch when you get it on the steeper pistes. Turning the handle bars works for gentle turns but if you’re giving it some beans, you really have to commit to the weighted body leans. Our boy Jeff, who also had no problem whatsoever popping “wheelies” at the drop of a hat, brought a lot more style to these turns than we did with our wobbly, occasionally nervous, efforts.

You can slow a ski bike down by putting your feet on the snow, waterproof boots recommended for this, or more effectively you can brake by putting some pressure on a pedal near the back which’ll cause a pair of upside down scoops to dig down into the white stuff. Our attempts to bring some big-time flare to our stops, with sideway skids straight out of a supermarket carpark circa 2003, are mostly unsuccessful.

The bike’s front suspension and rear shock soak up the bumps superbly and help to deliver an extremely smooth ride. The fact we’re all slightly disappointed to give up our “hogs” at the end of the day says a lot about how comfortable, and generally enjoyable, ski bikes are to slide about on.

“It’s how rare Pokémon must have felt in 2016 when grown adults were losing their minds over Pokémon Go.”

Getting off our bikes at close-of-play, we’re approached by a small group of teenage park-rats all wanting to know more about our chosen mode of transport. It’s the type of enthusiasm we’ve gotten used to as our ski bikes have clearly been catching people’s attention all day; with most of that attention being positive.

At one point in the afternoon, a stranger on the slope asks our group of five to pose for photos with her. Despite the fact they’re becoming an increasingly common sight, it turns out they’re still enough of a rarity in Le Grand Bornand that people are excited when they see you. It’s how rare Pokémon must have felt in 2016 when grown adults were losing their minds over Pokémon Go.

Final thoughts. If you love mountain biking and want something a little bit different from fat biking, you’ll have a great time with the ski bikes. Likewise if you’re a skier/snowboarder who fancies mixing it up for a day or two in the French Alps, you seriously need to get on this.