CARBONDALE, Colo. — Peter Arlein is a self-described ski bum.
He worked for a few years as a ski patroller at Aspen Snowmass and as a ski tech, spending his days waxing skis and boards for riders.
The more he worked with the wax, the more he began to explore what exactly was going onto the bottom of these skis. What he found was that the majority of the wax in the world is made from petroleum and has a distinctly negative impact on the environment.
>Video above: Carbondale company creates plant-based ski wax
From the bottom of your board or skis, this wax goes into the snowpack, which then melts and becomes the drinking water for many Coloradans.
He saw a hole in the market and thought there must be a better way.
“We wanted to come up with a formula that was nontoxic, biodegradable and made with plants instead of petroleum,” he said.
Carbondale-based mountainFLOW eco-wax started making wax in 2016, largely focused on the backcountry, and launched its new line of nontoxic products last fall.
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