Pep fujas biography of christopher kennedy

This is a bit of a rhetorical question posed to myself to provide some framework. Why would you drop K2 skis, a powerful brand in the industry, that has great skis, marketing power, branding power and of course, kids skis (I have 2 growing daughters)???  And what would motivate you to leave K2 to move on to WNDR Alpine, who recently launched its first ski model in June, ?

The Answer:  Purpose, Imagination, Intention and Alignment (philosophically and materially).

When Matt told me he was starting a new brand, I thought, oh great, just what the industry needs, another ski brand.  But I knew Matt was working for Checkerspot, a materials innovation company who derived their material components from microalgae.  My mind envisioned a company who grew ocean algae, dredged it from the ocean and then squeezed out the oils.

Pep fujas biography of christopher columbus A co-founding member (alongside Eric Pollard, Pep Fujas, and Andy Mahre) of the film company Nimbus Independent, Benchetler has also starred in ski movies from companies like Warren Miller Entertainment, Flagship Independent, GoPro, Teton Gravity Research, MSP Films, Poor Boyz Productions, and Sweetgrass Productions.

Furthermore, how is that eco-conscious?  Luckily, that couldn’t be farther from the truth, as Matt enlightened my primitive brain to the process of growing and fermenting algae. The concept immediately grabbed my environmentalist side, sparking my imagination to what was possible. I caught myself saying, there are so many other industries that could use this technology, why skis?  Think plastics, toys, molds, coatings, paints, tires, shoes… the list goes on.

On a few backcountry outings with Matt, I picked his brain about the company, what they were doing and how they were doing it.  The short answer is, micro-algae produces unique molecular structures that have the capability to outperform traditional oil based compounds.

Pep fujas biography of christopher I grew up a farm boy, but not your orthodox farm boy roping cattle and buckin' hay, even though I did help the neighbor boys from time to time well at least all the help a 9 or 10 year old boy could give.

Wait, what? I had been conditioned to think that petroleum products work best, perform better and last longer.  Turns out, that’s not the case. It’s just what our current industrial complex has been working with and therefore has figured out the many ways in which to transform petroleum into a myriad of uses.

When I went to Checkerspot and spoke with their scientists, who broke down the fundamental principle structures, I was hooked.  If you’re interested, you can learn for yourself by going toCheckerspot orWNDR Alpine or listen to the Blister Gear Podcast or if you have an hour and need inspiration check out, Biotech Hits The Backcountry featuring Matt Sterbenz and CEO of Checkerspot, Charles Dimmler.