The Award Winning Intention 108, with SpiralMade™ Materials
The original ski to bring microalgae-based innovation to the backcountry has been reborn in an all-new shape. The Intention 108 emphasizes the intuitive nature of the ski that preceded it, with a more consistent flex profile, greater stability, and a higher top speed.
A Nod to Our History
As the first - and at one point, only - ski in our lineup, we designed the original Intention 110 to do everything for everyone. Flotation, easy pivoting, and intuitive skiing was the name of the game. Enhanced by our biobased Algal Core and Algal Wall, we created an award-winning ski with an impressively damp and stable feel for its weight.
As we grew, more skis entered the family. First, the Vital 100 - a light but stable freeride ski focused on firmer snow and high alpine objectives. Then last year, the Reason 120 joined the fleet to fulfill our deep powder desires.
Now equipped with three versatile and fun-loving choices to select for any possible terrain and snowpack combination, it was time to rethink the Intention shape and emphasize the traits that we believe a mid-width backcountry ski should truly embody. With the all-new Intention 108, we sought to preserve, yet expand upon the unique capabilities of the original ski.
The Intention 108: Big Mountain Backcountry
As a ski made for diverse backcountry snowpacks, predictability is a mandatory trait. The first order of affairs was to emphasize the intuitive nature of the Intention, with a mount point and sidecut that would intersect to create a ski that could be driven from a variety of stances, regardless of conditions. The Intention 108’s balanced and snappy turn radius - 21.5m in a 188cm length - keeps the ski easy to maneuver without hooking.
We also expanded our length offerings to allow skiers of all shapes, sizes, and terrain inclinations to find the skis to perfectly suit their aspirations. The Intention 108 is now available in more sizes 164, 170, 176, 182, 188, and 194cm lengths to accommodate more skiers and skiing styles!
Naturally, the renewably sourced materials that we’ve pioneered and refined up until now live on in the Intention 108, with Algal Core, a laminate of domestically sourced aspen and high density algal hard foam, and Algal Wall, a biobased cast polyurethane sidewall that we pour as a liquid to seamlessly bond to our core without the need for epoxies to the join the materials. Algal Core reduces weight relative to a traditional core, and Algal Wall offers significantly better damping than the traditional petroleum-based plastic typically used in a ski sidewall.
What’s more, the Intention 108 also features a brand new material category…
SpiralMade™ Materials
Integrating the Spiral Plate into our Algal Core. Salt Lake City, UT. Photo: Pep Fujas (@pepfujas)
Is recycling a circle, or can it be a spiral?
Meet SpiralMade™ materials, a new palette of materials that are made in our own facility from reclaimed fabrication waste to improve performance and reduce landfill inputs from ski production simultaneously. Rather than being completely circular, these materials move in a spiral, by finding life in new places.
Product specialist Zach St. Clair combines ground up ski production flashings with a biobased resin system to create the Spiral Plate. Salt Lake City, UT. Photo: Pep Fujas (@pepfujas)
The first SpiralMade™ material to be integrated into a consumer product is the Spiral Plate, a recycled binding plate found in the 2023 Intention 108, Vital 100, and Reason 120. In these skis, Spiral Plate offers 35% better binding screw retention strength compared to a traditional maple mounting plate.
“We embraced the concept of ‘spiral fabrication’ as a play on circularity, acknowledging that while not every material can be re-created in an infinite cycle, we have a very real ability to reconstitute waste material into a new form that’s still valuable. Now that the concept has been demonstrated, we’re excited to bring SpiralMade™ to backcountry athletes this season.”
- Pep Fujas
Stay tuned to learn more about the Intention 108, the process behind SpiralMade™, and more.