It’s a truism that the economy is dependent on nature. Yet skiing is an industry that demonstrates this with unusual clarity.
The traditional backdrops to the sport are alpine forests and wintry snowscapes. Both are under threat from global warming.
As the ski season gets shorter each year, participants are calling for more sustainable practices within the industry.
Equipment manufacturers are adopting renewable materials to replace synthetics in boots, waxes, and skis.
Yet the question remains: can materials have a lighter impact while hitting heavy-duty specs?
Biomaterials on the slopes
Extreme sports demand high-performance materials. Strength, comfort, and durability are must-haves and plant-based options are no exception.
A wave of industry stalwarts and startups are stepping up to the challenge of incorporating renewable inputs into ski gear.
Industry interest in bio-based ski equipment spiked in the 2020s, as investment into renewables skyrocketed.
One of the first to bring bio-based ski materials to prominence at this time was biotech firm Checkerspot. Checkerspot’s subsidiary WNDR Alpine began manufacturing skis, snowboards, and splitboards using its patented microalgae oil in 2019.
Though the company is not a ski producer, it did prove unconventional materials could be used in ways that meet both performance and sustainability requirements in high-spec sportsgear.
Prototyping performance
The bio-based boom of the early 2020s has now filtered through from biotech into the ski industry itself.
Earlier this year, French ski manufacturer ZAG Skis became a key example of the trend by launching a pre-production ski prototype with 80% bio-based content.
Immense physical forces bear down on skis on the slopes. To withstand repeated impact and flexing, skis are made from multiple layers, often made with different materials, giving the overall gear the right mix of flexibility and strength.
ZAG’s bio-based ski is no different. The topsheet contains 50% bio‑based content, the base incorporates 50-80% recycled production offcuts, ABS sidewalls include 50% recycled material, and the core remains wood. Its biomaterial supplier is resin and composite producer Sicomin.
The company expects its bio-based ski prototype to be commercially available by 2030.
The lengthy R&D process reflects the complexity involved in introducing new materials into such a high performance sport. Introducing new materials into any part of the ski changes how the overall product functions. Repeated testing and tweaking is a fundamental part of the R&D process.
The companies also had to figure out how to make their renewable skis as cost-effective as possible. This entailed devising a production process compatible with ZAG’s existing factory equipment.
“Our objective is not to produce a laboratory demonstrator but a ski that can realistically be manufactured at scale,” said ZAG Skis R&D director Bastien Saillard.
Zag is a well-regarded brand among skiers. The capital outlay that the company has made to biomaterial innovation proves the industry is keenly aware of consumer appetite for eco-friendly products.
The company’s belief in bio-based alternatives also suggests that plant-based alternatives do not mean a drop in safety or performance standards as long as products are backed by rigorous testing.
A return to renewable skis
The entry of bio-based materials into skiing is in one sense a return to the early days of the sport.
Once upon a time, skis were made entirely from wood. When oil plastics and fibreglass entered the game, it changed the sport forever with faster, lighter, and more durable gear.
The synthetic turn has come with a sustainability cost. Today, the surface of skis contain polyethylene – a UV and abrasion resistant and water repellent material.
Despite its friction-defying properties, non-biodegradable polyethylene owes its high carbon footprint to its petroleum feedstock. Polyethylene ski surfaces also release microplastics as they chip and wear on the slope, threatening the fragile alpine environments the sport is so entwined with.
Now, re-engineered natural materials are pushing the sport forward once more by offering companies the opportunity to meld sustainability with technical performance.
The microplastics problem
By using bioplastics, ski manufactures can lower the carbon footprint of their products.
However, the jury is still out on whether bio-based skis necessarily solve the problem of microplastics released out on the slopes.
Companies like ZAG and Checkspot claim their algae-based plastics are biodegradable and that any particles they release will quickly break down into benign components that do not harm the environment.
Yet researchers have been finding that bio-based plastics –like all plastics– shed equally harmful types of microplastic that linger in nature.
Industry and consumers still need rigorous, independent testing on whether bioplastic ski surfaces really are less harmful in terms of microplastics shedding than ordinary ones.
Until we know exactly how bioplastic particles interact with the environment, the most sustainable bio-based choice for skiers remains wood.
Gems Jaeger is one of the few companies manufacturing the entire surface of their skis with wood. The surface, made from ash, is treatable with biodegradable natural hard wax oil to prevent moisture penetration.
Gems Jaeger says its wooden skis are designed to be fully recyclable. Biodegradable plastics do play a role in the product, but they sit in the very core rather than on its running surfaces. This inner core of plastic can be broken down in a controlled manner at the end of its life, safely locked away from the environment while still in use.
Olympics ban synthetics
Whether bio-based ski surfaces can address the problem of microplastic release is still an open research question.
Yet there is one piece of ski kit where bio-based materials can address plastic pollution: waxes.
Ski waxes are applied to minimise friction between the ski surface and the snow. Traditionally, they’ve been made from the fossil chemical fluorine – a PFAS, or forever chemical, that has been linked to cancer, birth defects, and hormone disruption in wildlife and humans.
Disturbing studies show ski technicians, responsible for re-waxing equipment, hold higher levels of PFAS blood concentration than any other occupation.
Because of their toxicity, the International Ski Federation banned ski wax containing PFAS in 2023 – a decision supported by many athletes. In the 2026 winter Olympics, three skiers were disqualified for using PFAS-containing waxes.
These decisions show momentum towards sustainable materials coming from within the sport itself. Alternative waxes now abound, with companies like WhiteRoot and Mountain Flow making ranges that are 100% plant-based and biodegradable.
Plant-based ski boots
Bio-based materials are emerging in another hard-wearing piece of skiing equipment: the ski boot.
In addition to durability under extreme conditions, ski boot materials must offer both lightness and flexibility. To strike the balance, ski boot manufacturer SCARPA worked with the material Desmopan, a heat-mouldable polymer produced by bio-based heavyweight Covestro.
This bio-based material is made from a mix of renewable and waste-based or recycled materials, which Covestro says can achieve a carbon footprint up to 30% lower than 100% fossil-based equivalents.
SCARPA has also been sourcing its bio-based boot materials from another European biomanufacturing major, Arkema. Its 4-Quattro Pro boots incorporate Arkema’s Pebax Renew, a polymer made from castor beans.
Metamaterials on the horizon
Fundamental breakthroughs in materials science are making it likelier that we see more bio-based content filtering into ski equipment over the coming years.
The most important of these is research into metamaterials: a new kind of artificial material that investors are just starting to clock onto. These are still on the road to commercialisation, yet early research is getting a glimpse of exciting possibilities.
Metamaterials could make it easier to incorporate biomaterials into sports equipment, including skis. This is because their properties (for example, strength or impact resistance) derive not from the type of chemicals they are composed of but their arrangement of structures at a microscopic level.
Auxetic metamaterials, in particular, are being eyed as a game-changer for the sports industry, particularly for protective gear like helmets. These expand laterally when stretched, unlike conventional materials, which contract when stretched. This may sound inconsequential but it gives the substance better overall shock absorption – regardless of what it is actually made from.
The EU’s Natural nEUROactive Mechanical mETAmaterials – A EU research project in progress since 2021 – is investigating how to use natural plant fibres and spider silk strands to build new metamaterials. It’s also investigating whether meta-materials could be “programmed” with memory that enables them to adapt to whatever physical context they are in.
Skiing versus a changing climate
As a sport on the front lines of the climate crisis, skiers are facing up to the reality that conserving the planet is fundamental to preserving their sport.
The climate crisis is also front of mind on the commercial side of the sport. Already, at least French 186 resorts have shut as rising temperatures push them out of business. In the US, the industry has lost billions already due to climate change.
It is still an open question whether bioplastics can combat the microplastics crisis. Yet by turning to plant-based materials, the ski industry can reduce its contribution to global warming by lowering its emissions footprint.
As with any material innovation, products may have to be adjusted to account for physical differences between conventional and bio-based plastics. This is particularly the case for precisely fine-tuned pieces of gear, like skis themselves.
Yet manufacturers are finding that bioplastics offer lightness, strength, and flexibility just as their oil-based equivalents. As in other industries, biomass is proving they are more than capable of replacing synthetics without a loss in performance.
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