The e-mountain bike brings people into the mountains who would not be able to do so without assistance. This is a positive trend, as it enables more people to enjoy healthy outdoor activities. However, the e-mountain bike has a dark side as a piece of sports equipment and means of transportation in the Alps. Numerous media outlets are reporting on this.

The South Tyrolean mountain rescuers say they are being called out more and more by e-mountain bikers who have overestimated themselves or their battery. They then find themselves in mountain areas that are technically or physically too demanding for them.

Luckily, there is the mountain rescue service, which, depending on the situation, will come and fetch them by helicopter. People are insured, the service costs them nothing, so it is easy for people to make use of it, interprets Thomas Hellrigl, regional director of the mountain rescue service, in an article in the RAI.

They incur high costs and also make use of the help of the volunteer mountain rescuers. In the same article, Patrick Ennetmoser, head of the Pfelders BRD rescue center, describes how they have to leave work when an emergency call comes in.

No problem with overtaxed e-bikers in Switzerland, Germany and Austria

What experiences do mountain rescue services in Austria, Germany and Switzerland have with mountain bikers and e-mountain bikers? One thing quickly becomes clear: they don't share the complaint of their South Tyrolean colleagues.

"We don't see the problem, there may be the odd case like this, but it's in the smallest way noticeable," replies Roland Ampenberger, spokesperson for the Bavarian Mountain Rescue Service. Austria reports that it has not yet been confronted with such missions.

The spokesperson for Swiss Rega even thinks it makes sense for exhausted mountain bikers to get help: "If someone calls Rega because they can't get any further, it means that there is no injury or dangerous situation." In other words, people who act in this way prevent situations that could become more dangerous for themselves and for the rescue crew. Nobody calls Rega lightly, "We find that people handle the alarm responsibly."

Spokesman Amensberger highlights another aspect in his area of operation, the mountains in Bavaria: "Most missions with seriously injured mountain bikers take place in bike parks and not in the alpine nature."