10.15.2024

"Based on what I felt over several months of skiing in Colorado, algae may be the new king of freeride."

9.26.2024

The Belle Tour and the Vital 98 recognized by Backcountry Magazine for their versatility in a wide range of conditions.  

9.23.2024

"The Belle Aire has a distinct on-snow personality, with exceptional edge hold and very respectable stability when on edge. It excels in powder but still handles chop and variable snow quite well, in large part due to its notably damp / non-chattery construction."

2.26.2024

WNDR Alpine is a finalist at the show's WTF (What the Future) category!

9.28.2023

"It's stiff torsionally but released out of turns predictably. Insane performance in chop."

7.10.2023

Blister's Luke Koppa and Matt Sterbenz dive into everything that's new for the 23/24 winter.

7.10.2023

"The Intention 108 offers a remarkable fusion of adaptability and solid performance, excelling in all snow conditions and terrain."

7.10.2023

"'Going from 5 to 13 available products - all of which contain inputs made from renewable, microalgae-derived oils - is a big moment to celebrate for us,' says Matt Sterbenz, WNDR Alpine Founder and GM of Wintersports."

6.28.2023

"I’m constantly on the lookout for clothes that are good for the environment AND still functional and durable. I think I just found the perfect balance."

5.30.2023

“Most activewear is made with petroleum based materials—this one uses algae instead."

5.24.2023

The BelleAire is a solid board from WNDR built to handle a variety of in-bounds conditions and rider styles. The BelleAire has a wide waist and directional camber with an early rise, creating a confident feel, whether you’re charging fast, laying down big turns, or searching for side hits. It uses microalgae in the core and side walls to increase damping and stability, while reducing the overall weight.

4.12.2023

“'Historically the outdoor industry has always relied on commodity scale materials from other supply chains,' says Marshland. 'Finally, for the first time in history, we’re designing our own for the end use. And you can actually get much better performance characteristics if you’re designing with the end use in mind.'"

2.14.2023

"WNDR’s products aren’t just 'good for a biobased ski,' they’re just flat out great skis, and it’s cool to see them pushing the industry forward in both directions."

1.19.2023

We're proud to announce that the Intention 108 just won its second major industry award of the season!

12.20.2022

Tune in for a casual conversation with the one and only Frothpuppy.

11.27.2022

"The WNDR Alpine Intention 108 shows that building freeride skis with a reduced environmental impact doesn’t mean skimping on their performance characteristics."

12.14.2022

Listen in for laughs, harrowing tales, and backcountry wisdom from Friend of WNDR and splitboarding boundary pusher Nick Russell.

10.27.2022

“We want to eliminate high-carbon emitting materials and align our moral, environmental and humanitarian interests to make sure we aren’t excessively polluting as a consequence of making skis.”

10.11.2022

"WNDR Alpine's widest ski is one that, unsurprisingly, really shines in deep conditions, but with a level of adaptability that is rare among ~120mm-wide skis."

10.10.2022

“Inbounds hot laps to long days in the bc, the Vital is an absolute quiver killer.” Our testers don’t bandy about that phrase lightly, but they were hard-pressed to find conditions in which the Reverse Camber Vital didn’t hold up.

07.29.2022

"I prefer to ski fast, on and off-piste, and in the backcountry. These skis excel at cutting through choppy crud with no chatter and float on powder with ease. I haven't been able to outski these skis in any conditions! As well as skiing phenomenally, the materials are high-quality, the graphics improve every season, and they put the environment first and foremost."

07.18.2022

Instead of going straight to the landfill, Spiral Plate binding inserts are incorporated into WNDR Alpine's all-new Intention 108 better binding retention strength.

07.18.2022

In short, they’re using waste from a previous ski to help build a part of a new one, with the goal of reducing the net waste created. It’s a pretty sweet concept, and it reportedly offers greater pull-out strength than the previous maple inserts.

07.18.2022

The SpiralMade materials show WNDR’s industry-standard commitment to both environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and top-notch engineering that creates some of the industry’s best products.

07.11.2022

By using their own materials derived from microalgae oil, WNDR Alpine demonstrates how biomanufactured materials, specifically designed for backcountry applications, can deliver improved performance.

05.22.2022

"I'd recommend this ski to anyone who cherishes the descent and is looking for a winter/spring daily driver, something that performs well in every single condition imaginable."

03.11.2022

There is no doubt a (false) belief that products made sustainably or ethically are inferior in quality and performance. WNDR Alpine was founded with a healthy awareness for this fact and they made it a goal to flat out disprove it.

01.28.2022

Legendary ski shaper Matt Sterbenz and biotech company Checkerspot have masterminded an AlgalTech material, which uses lab-grown microalgae to replace petroleum products in the ski. The result is an all-new, eco-friendly ski construction with remarkable strength-to-weight characteristics."

01.14.2022

"I'm fired up to be joining my teammate Pep Fujas as well as Alex Andrews to work together on innovative products designed for the mountains. Sky’s the limit!"

01.11.2022

"Well, there's two big pieces of news here. First off, sustainability-focused snowsports brand WNDR Alpine is now making snowboards. Secondly, Nick Russell has made the switch to become WNDR's first snowboard athlete – a perfect mix of shared intentions."

01.12.2022

"He has carved his own path in snowboarding, pushing the boundaries of what's possible while maintaining a balanced lifestyle. Nick is conscious about the products he uses and is constantly surfing the Earth in search of another adventure – an adventure in which he'll need quality products with purposeful materials."

12.23.2021

"The Vital 100 works well on New England slopes: The all-mountain ski maneuvers quickly in tight situations, can hold an edge on long arcing turns, and has enough width to handle off-piste conditions."

11.23.2022

"A Utah-based company is reinventing how skis are made, substituting petroleum products in ski production with an algae-based bioplastic."

11.22.2021

"Something that could actually make a significant impact is the widespread adoption of algal oils, algal ingredients and algal materials across multiple industries ... with these skis, we're going to inch as close as we can to that, every year."

11.22.2021

"And not only does replacing petroleum with microalgae have benefits for the environment, the team at WNDR Alpine argues that it has benefits for ski quality, too. According to Marshland, petroleum gives ski manufacturers very little control over the structure and functionality of the finished product."

08.16.2021

A pioneer in ski design, Sterbenz had been playing with ski geometry for years through his innovation as the founder of 4FRNT, but now he was eager to shake up the industry with different materials (which until then, had remained relatively unchanged).

07.08.2021

"On a personal level, my first order of business when I joined WNDR Alpine was to create a 120-mm waisted ski that I could take to Japan and bounce my way through the depths."

07.08.2021

"I skied the 120 and loved it. Very surfy and intuitive. Playful but not extremely light. It felt similar in suspension to the 110 but much looser and more surfy. I really liked that ski."

02.17.2021

"When Checkerspot approached me with the ambition to develop modern polyurethane from algal-derived oil inputs, and that we could tune materials specific for the applications, I was like, 'I had no idea that was even possible.'"

01.25.2021

The Vital 100 from WNDR Alpine shows what is possible in the ski industry of the future. The backcountry ski is not only light and stable, it also impresses with its very good edge grip.

12.16.2020

"In Berkeley, California, just a few hours from the snow-covered slopes of the many Lake Tahoe area ski and snowboard resorts, scientists with a company called Checkerspot are growing microalgae in stainless steel tanks - to make skis."

09.30.2020

Intention 110 ski is the winner of the Fast Company 2020 Innovation by Design Award in the Sports and Recreation category.

08.09.2020

Matt, Pe and Xan came to Crested Butte and sat down with us in Blister HQ to fill us in on WNDR Alpine’s new materials.

07.22.2020

The skis, bikes, bags, trailers, and more relied on during a 16-day, self-supported sufferfest in the Pacific Northwest.

07.15.2020

Checkerspot has unveiled the Vital 100 ski by its outdoor consumer brand WNDR Alpine featuring Checkerspot’s new Algal Cast and Algal Hard Foam polyurethane materials..

07.08.2020

WNDR Alpine marks first anniversary with enhanced Algal Tech and Vital 100.

02.15.2020

Matt Sterbenz, the founder of 4FRNT skis and WNDR Alpine, has broken new ground in the world of ski manufacturing.

02.11.2020

Last summer, 4FRNT founder Matt Sterbenz flipped the ski manufacturing industry on its head when he announced that he was working on a new backcountry ski made with algae.

08.26.2019

What does biotech have to do with backcountry skiing? And what does microalgae have to do with skis?

08.04.2019

Short answer: While there’s a lot of work to do, WNDR Alpine might well be bringing about a serious revolution in the snowsports industry.