Petroleum wax vs modern plants. (Image courtesy mountainFLOW)
Plant-based wax: a solution to pullution? We speculate.
What’s in your wax? If you have ever leaned over a waxing table in a poorly ventilated garage, you’ve probably asked this question. Depending on the brand, purpose and the amount of money exiting your wallet, it is likely a petroleum based product containing hydrocarbons or, even worse, the dreaded perfluorocarbons. It seems only fitting that in the similar poorly ventilated garage just down the street from WildSnow HQ in Carbondale, Colorado, Peter Airlein has been huffing his own special waxing blends. This time he has left the petroleum out of the equation and is focused on 100% plant-based ski wax.
Lou doesn’t necessarily think years of petroleum sins can be absolved by just switching to a new ski wax, but he is willing to give it a try. His take: “Back a few years ago, a guy with dreads down to his butt told me I’d be running my truck on fry fat from McDonalds ‘Within ten years!’ I believed him. Or, actually, I wanted to believe him. As one does in these eschatological days of planet ending gasses, one grasps at straws. Or fries.
“Well, I’m indeed running my truck on old flowers, seeds and stems. But they’re not from McDonalds. Rather, they’re from somewhere deep in the shale of North Dakota, where a bunch of carbon based life wadded up, got smothered by geological activities, and in about 350 million years became my much appreciated diesel fuel. Okay. I’d still love to run my truck on fry grease. Next best thing: wax my skis with vegetables?”
Enter the latest in plant-based technology: last year, mountainFLOW (known for their skin wax and anti-snow build up spray), came out with an eco-friendly ski wax in a quick application paste version. They are now setting their sights to a melt-on plant-based hot wax.
In general we avoid covering non-existent products here on WildSnow. But the way this fits into the increasingly popular trend of environmentally-friendly ski products, it asks to be written on. Plus, it’s not often to find someone else in Carbondale that spends as much time in his garage as we do. With big brands like the North Face about to release their new FutureLight fabric that claims “the highest performance and the lowest footprint,” and Patagonia long producing products with a more sustainable slant, the outdoor industry as a whole is moving in the green direction. Recent studies have shown that consumers will pay more for a product deemed sustainable, and it’s been off to the races across the industry.
If you take into account the manufacturing forces behind it, skiing, even in the backcountry is not an inherently “sustainable” sport. But, in these days of micro-plastic particles and diesel particulates, could there be one small thing that would chisel away at pollution? Seems like “plant-based ski wax” (at least that’s based on plants recently harvested, instead of those from the Carboniferous era), could be a good thing. So consider this blog post an invitation to the Kickstarter for what appears to be a viable product.
According to the Kick: “Plant wax is endlessly interesting as there are hundreds of plants from which a wax can be extracted. Through a proprietary combination of waxes we found the perfect attributes for a ski wax–glide, hydrophobicity, durability, and ease of application. Other plant-based ski waxes have been made primarily with soy. While we do use some soy wax in our product, it makes up a small percentage of our formula. Instead we are using a combination of waxes that are faster and more durable…”
We have, however, seen this before. Back in 2011, we wrote a review of Green Ski Wax. This product has seemingly disappeared from the web. There are modern products in Europe, though, like NZero Wax which uses a blend of soybeans and corn. In the U.S. we’ve got a few biodegradable (though not entirely plant-based) options from Purl Wax and Swix. But all in all, the stuff hasn’t quite taken off. Does that mean it doesn’t work? Or does it mean modern ski society wasn’t yet ready to embrace it on a large-scale level?
Yet to be seen, as this is all pretty speculative. There’s a fair amount of information on the Kickstarter site as to what mountainFlow is doing differently than others. It’s got some good momentum already. At time of publication, just over 24 hours since it was launched, the Kickstarter has received over 100 backers and has raised over $6300.
The jury is out on whether we’ve truly reached the critical social (and literal) climate for widespread change in the industry, and whether eco-friendly stuff can replace its polluting counterparts on the basis of merit and effectiveness, not just trendiness. Hopefully, after careful testing, we can report news in this direction, but, that’s yet to be seen.
Meanwhile, back to blotting the fuel oozing from freedom fries, and, is that Kool-Aid in that jug, or real orange juice? We’re optimistic.
Editor’s Note: This article is the teaser for additional coverage of mountainFlow. Stay tuned for a Q&A with Arlein next week where we’ll dive deeper into the process of developing a plant-based ski wax and the state of ski waxes industry wide.
While most of the WildSnow backcountry skiing blog posts are best attributed to a single author, some work well as done by the group.
7 comments
I read the FAQ and (other than a brief reference to Soy) there was no mention of which plant based oils are used in the product. I appreciate that they don’t want to give away their secret recipe, but it would be good to know if palm oil is used in the wax. If palm oil is used, is it from a sustainable source?
SteveR: Indeed, trade secrets are staying close to the cuff, but according to a chat I had with Peter (which will be published in a Q&A next week), there is no palm oil in the wax.
I am ignorant as to the environmental deficiencies of a petroleum-derived paraffin base. To my knowledge, it is a by-product of other refining processes, rather than something that is an intended result. The base is food safe, although who knows what additives are in some of the finished was products on the market. To me few things are more sustainable than reusing a waste product. I could be operating off old information.
I’ll admit to a load of healthy skepticism when it comes to the “our product is greener” narrative. I certainly like this idea, and am intriguied by it, as well as expressing myself and riffing on it. One just has to be super careful these days.
For example, I was resarching recyling the other day (our town wants to stick us with paying for mandatory), and ran across a resonable argument that all wood based products should be land filled rather than “recycled” in any way. The premise is that landfilling the waste paper, cardboard and such easily sequesters the carbon, while other uses might incur a substantial carbon footprint. My faith in recycling was shattered, and I wept for seven days and seven nights. And I still don’t know it this is really true.
Same thing for “plant based” stuff. If I’m going to buy it based on claimed environmental benefits, I want to see a “birth to grave” audit as to everything from carbon footprint to environmental pollution — including the agricultral impact. And if something is made from otherwise disposed waste, that throws a big wrinkle in the audit.
Down fill insulation is a good example. It’s a byproduct of the fowl meat industry, if it’s not used for insulation it is thrown away. But how much environmental debt is there to processing down for use in products? We addressed the down fill issue once, super interesting. Perhaps time to revisit that as well as ski wax? https://www.wildsnow.com/7994/international-down-feathers-lab-idfl-visit/
Lou, Landfill sites emit methane, and I’m told that some of that methane comes from rotting paper.
The carbon footprint is one thing: I’m more interested in what happens when the stuff scrapes off your skis into the snow. Around here in the summertime, you’ll find these big globs of black, gooey stuff, naturally with all kinds of detritus in it. (looks a lot like skin glue, but slimier) Gross. I’ve heard, but never been able to confirm, that this is what happens to ski wax and especially paste wax. I can confirm at least that you generally find it on slopes that are ski runs in the winter, or in the little creeks near them. I’ve been told that this stuff doesn’t break down well, so those blobs are several years worth of crud that collects over time in the snowpack. Again – I don’t know if its true. But if it is – that alone would be a good reason to switch to something that perhaps breaks down better.
That’s super interesting, Wookie. I’ve never seen the globs you mention, but now am curious to wander around nearby ski runs and have a look. Since we decided to run this article I’ve been looking into wax byproducts more and generally am surprised at the limited research out there. Maybe it’s just a small enough piece of the bigger pollution picture that it’s been overlooked.
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