Utah startup WNDR Alpine has replaced the polluting, petroleum-based plastics usually used to wrap wooden skis with algae-based bioplastics that make them "more predictable, stable and durable".
While regular skis are generally clad in fibreglass and thermoplastic ABS, which is bound to the wood using resin or glue, WNDR Alpine's version is reinforced and coated with algal polyurethanes.
This means that, instead of crude oil, the plastics are made from oils produced by micro-algae in the process of being fermented.
Above: The Intention 110 ski is WNDR Alpine's first product. Top image: Pep Fujas skis for the brand
"Most of the oil that humans have extracted as petroleum was once some variety of prehistoric algae, so you can think of our process as going directly back to the source," WNDR Alpine's manager of brand development Xan Marshland told Dezeen. "We don't have to rely on any extractive industry such as fracking or drilling or a global petroleum supply chain. And, unlike petroleum, microalgae oil is a renewable resource."
"Even compared to other plant-based oils on the market such as soy, palm or corn, the water use, land use and carbon footprint of microalgae oil is significantly lower," he continued.
WNDR Alpine's skis are designed to withstand rough impacts and varying conditions
The plastics were developed by WNDR Alpine's parent company, the Berkley-based material innovation start-up Checkerspot.
First, microalgae are geneti...