WHO WE ARE
WHO WE ARE
WNDR Alpine was born out of a need for new materials and better products.
After nearly two decades running my own ski company, one thing became abundantly clear: As product designers, we were being limited by the building blocks available to us from large scale materials suppliers. Go to a supplier, choose from the materials they offer, repeat. Year after year.
I was done baking with the same old ingredients. Looking for a better way, I joined the team at Checkerspot, a 21st Century materials company set on revolutionizing the materials available to product designers. Checkerspot demonstrated a unique ability to use biology and chemistry to design new materials from the ground up for specific uses.
I was amazed at the potential. Not only at the potential to boost product performance by making materials designed for use in a specific product, but to use a renewable resource to make more sustainable materials. We got to work on product development, saw the massive potential for better alpine products, and WNDR Alpine was born.
Our vision is to use biotechnology to make better-performing alpine products, engineered to live up to the rigors of true backcountry explorers. We started by understanding what nature offers that we can use to create new materials that match and exceed petroleum-based options. Our dedicated team of scientists and athletes created a new algae-based composite—from the molecule up—that delivers better performance when integrated into a ski. And we’re just getting started. Our technology platform enables the creation of an array of new materials from nature’s own building blocks that we're using to engineer new bio-fabricated products in the outdoor industry, and beyond. We invite you to tread lightly and charge harder, without compromise.
Welcome to the new aspect.
#FRIENDSOFWNDR
We all know that the alpine experience is about so much more than the products we make and the peaks we summit. It’s about the people we do it with.
A mix of athletes, guides and industry legends, our crew is an eclectic one.
United by a shared love for the backcountry, we welcome you into the fold.
Join us on Instagram and tag your #FRIENDSOFWNDR moments.
MATT STERBENZ
Freeskier, industry veteran, founder of WNDR Alpine
Carson Meyer
Ski photographer
DAN GISH
Retired software engineer
JOEY WEAMER
Sales rep, Troy Lee Designs
Harrison Brickman
CSGA ski guide and Avalanche Professional
XAN MARSHLAND
Brand development, WNDR Alpine founding team
Isaac Kamink
ACMG ski guide
CODY LANK
Carpenter and backcountry hut custodian, Golden Alpine Holidays
ARDEN FELDMAN
Avalanche forecaster and ski patroller
Chris Brazeau
Suspension bridge builder
COLE THOMSON
RMI mountain guide
Tyler Miller
Quality control specialist for building materials
Logan Imlach
Structural engineer
Benny Schmitt
Backcountry ski guide
MORE FOWs
Aaron Enns - Kicking Horse, Rogers Pass, Rockies, GAH, Purcell Mountain Lodge - Golden, BC
Adam Connet - Loveland & Crested Butte, CO
Adam Rosenfeld - Winterpark, CO
Augi Fleer - Wasangeles, UT
Austin Grisham - Berthoud Pass, Loveland Pass, Rocky Mountain National Park
Brad McCutcheon - Park City, UT
Brandon Gulstene - Banff - Alberta, Canada
Bryan Reuer - Washington
Caleb Merrill - Wherever it is snowing
Conor Hurley - West Kootenays & Valhallas
Dan Bell - Wasatch, UT
David Friedlander - Aspen/Snowmass, CO
Eddie Schoen - Mt Baker / Stevens Pass, WA
Emile Hickson - Meribel, France (Park City for the coming winter)
Gregory Thaczuk - Lake Louise - Alberta, CA
Hunter Dagnon - Colorado
Jack Stauss - Wasatch Mountains, Utah
Jason Badgley - Rockies, CO
Jason Michaelides - Stowe, VT
Jon Whelan - Revelstoke and Cariboos - BC, CA
Kent Christensen - Revelstoke - BC, Canada
Kyle Toohey - Alta, UT
Matt Bowers - Indian Peaks and the Never Summer Range, CO
Nathan Rand - Vermont Backwoods
Nathan Trachte - Adirondacks, NY
Nick Praggastis - Alta, Big Sky, Crested Butte
Nick Springstead - Snowmass, CO
Ren Walkenhorst - Cascade Backcountry, Central Oregon
Richard Grove - Jackson Hole, WY
Sam Roberts - Crested Butte/Elk Mountains
Shane Fuhrman - Silverton, CO
Steve Hunt - Snowbird, UT
Tom Moxham - Idaho, Tamarack Resort, BC
Thierry Pomerleau - Switzerland & France: Engelberg, Andermatt, Davos, Laax, Verbier, Zermatt, Chamonix, LaGrave and everywhere in between
Zaman Forootan - Lake Louise - Alberta, CA
CHECKERSPOT
Checkerspot is a 21st Century materials company founded in 2016. Checkerspot's technology unlocks the potential found in Nature, and expands the palette of materials available to product designers. Through our science platform, we empower product designers with purpose-built materials that offer new performance characteristics. In doing so, we enable a more intentional way to design products across industries.