frequently asked questions

When we stand on top of a mountain and we start skiing, we leave a trail of microplastics and wax behind. As the seasons change, the polluted snow melts and flows into our precious lakes, rivers, and ultimately the ocean.

We are committed to protecting our powder, by leaving no trace behind. We’re all about riding the lift, the slopes, the train, our bikes, we just love to RIDE.  During any season of the year, we RIDE responsible from sunrise to sunset.

Whether you prefer racing down a slope without stopping or you are the one taking pictures of the views at the top.  At one point or another, we all gather at the BASE of the mountain to enjoy some drinks and good food to celebrate a great day on the slopes.

At BASE, we are no different, we just design skis to stop pollution and to keep riding.

We’re all about riding the lift, the slopes, the train, our bikes, we just love to RIDE.  During any season of the year, we RIDE responsible from sunrise to sunset.

Above all, we are committed to protecting our powder by leaving no trace behind. We acknowledge that we did not grew up without the amount of climate research and the resources available today. Everyone is on a personal journey and travels at their own pace towards a sustainable future. We want to GUIDE our ski friends gently by sharing knowledge and by leading the way.

Whether you prefer racing down a slope without stopping or you are the one taking pictures of the views at the top.  At one point or another, we all gather at the BASE of the mountain to enjoy some drinks and good food to celebrate a great day on the slopes. 

At BASE, we are no different, we just design skis to stop pollution and to keep riding.

Modern ski gear damages the slopes we love so much. While skiing, we leave behind chemicals from wax, plastics of the base and particles of ski clothing.

After a day on the slopes, we can often recognise damage to the plastic base of the skis. These scratches or holes are filled with new plastic during maintenance. But first, machines or mechanics clean the base with brushes to remove remaining dirt and wax with some (nasty smelling) chemicals before filling the scratches, for example by burning and dripping hot plastic into the hole.

Where did the plastic (and wax) go you might wonder?

It gets left behind on the slopes (or off piste). When the snow melts, it gets carried away into rivers and lakes, or seeps into the mountain meadows in summer.

Bon appetit, dear alpine cows.

Who wants to do extensive maintenance, if you don’t need it for a fabulous day on the mountain?

If you’re not a ski master with your own tools and workshop at home, a typical maintenance session could look like this.

“You drive to the ski shop, drop of your skis, drive home, wait around (for a few days), drive back to the rental shop, pick up your skis, freshly infused with a chemical cocktail, you pay more than you would like, and drive home again.”

Sounds familiar?

There is more.

Ski waxes aren’t all that harmless, the history of hazardous chemicals in ski waxing is long. Wax and wax removers made up of substances like teflon, aliphates, poly- and per-fluorocarbons,.. caused well documented diseases in the lungs of ski technicians. (A short list of examples of issues: kidney and testicular cancer, liver damage, cholesterol level disruption, fertility reduction, hormonal disorders, negative effects on development in children,…).

This does unfortunately not include the impact of these substances on aquatic life or climate change.

Those substances don’t only get left behind in the lungs of the people that passionately maintain our skis, we also leave tracks of wax on the mountain as we ski.

As the snow melts, this ends up on the pastures, in rivers and lakes.

Bon appetit, dear mountain goat with your heavenly horns.

Even with the recent bans (postponed due to lack of testing equipment) by the FIS on the most harmful waxes, anyone can still buy ski wax containing PFAS.

Large wax companies made public that their newly developed non fluorinated waxes are still toxic to the environment.

The wax industry is a multi million dollar industry. With the current price of wax, you can calculate for yourself how many tons we spread out in nature. Once produced, these man made substances exist on our planet, often don’t break down in nature and have an impact on our health and environment. You could go ski with your freshly waxed skis, or you can shred these tens of thousands of wax bars and throw them on the mountain meadows. It doesn’t really make a difference.

Bon appetit, dear farmer making fabulous fondue cheese.

Skiers have used ski wax for decades, originally, to make wooden skis glide (faster).

Then, not too long ago, came the plastic base as we know it today. Marketed as “the base that doesn’t need waxing anymore”.

Fast forward to 2022, and somehow people still wax their skis. Of course, you glide a tiny bit faster for a day, or two. But did you know that depending on the snow conditions, the wax you chose might even slow you down?

All in all, if you’re in it for the speed and you’re not about to win the Olympics by one hundredth of a second, a lesson with a qualified instructor can help you ski faster safely.

Epoxy resin is, simply put, a type of glue.

It binds the different layers of a ski together. These glues are often toxic to humans and the environment, some even cause cancer.

A handful of conscious companies try to make ski production more sustainable. Unfortunately, most of these “bio based” glues, still contain 70% standard fossil fuel based epoxy. It doesn’t mean they are organic, that they break down in nature, that they are recyclable and even that they are harmless to the environment.

Next to the serious health hazard in production, ski companies produce a considerable amount of waste to protect the workers (or not, in some countries and companies).

The waste consists of plastic full body suits, inhalators, disposable gloves,… contaminated with this quickly hardening stickiness.

The biggest issue with using epoxy and making composites lies in recycling. Not even high tech recycling facilities can recycle modern skis as they are hazardous waste.

Recycling facilities need to burn or dump the skis due to the design and material choices made by ski companies.

At BASE, we started with the goal to design a 100% recyclable ski and quickly realized that we had to go epoxy free or wait years until some mastermind invented compostable ski epoxy.

Our unique and patent pending design makes the skis fully circular, upcyclable, reusable, repairable, non toxic and recyclable at home. The majority of your ski can even be composted! The steel parts can easily be recycled by your local recycling facility.

You could also use them to heat your home, make a bench, cutting board, coat hanger, a tiny house, anything your imagination can come up with. (If you ask us gently, we will gladly upcycle your old BASE skis in 5, or 20, years). The raw materials are only at the beginning of their next of many lives. As it should be.

BASE skis are currently made in the small university town of Leuven, Belgium. BELGIUM?! YES!

Within 3 hours by train, we can reach the majority of our customers. (UK, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxemburg and even Germany).

These people enjoy the wonderful sport and social past time that skiing is in the Alps, but don’t live in Zell am See, Verbier or Bourg Saint Maurice. This allows us to save on transport emissions when shipping our products.

“But I live in Austria, Slovenia, Italy or Switzerland. What about me?

We opted for an online store concept to minimize waste, heating, building emissions and inefficient land use for a storefront that’s only used a few months per year. To accomodate customers from alpine countries, we plan on setting up pick up points at train stations near you to minimize emissions from transportation. Contact us for more details.

If the stars align, we might even be able to personally deliver your skis during a ski test trip to the Alps.

Of course we need to test our skis. The majority of the development is done with advanced engineering software. This reduces wasted resources, goes faster and eliminates the need to travel.

When we do test our skis in the Alps, great high speed railway connections allow us to travel within a few hours, sustainably and with little to no changes depending on the ski resort. We consciously choose our destinations based on the available train connections.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you want to know which ski resorts you can reach by train. Or if you live in the Alps and you wonder if your skis can be delivered by train to a station near you. We’re happy to guide you.

Please enjoy your current pair of skis!

Chances are high that your ski manufacturer sold you a ski with a plastic base that needs a wax treatment to keep the base alive. If you choose to wax your skis, we can guide you to an organic wax supplier near you. You might have to apply it yourself or ask your local technician to use organic wax. (Cross contamination from harmful waxes in their machines can of course still occur)

The question we like to ask ourselves is: “Do we need to spread coca-cola and peanut butter all over the slopes, just because humans won’t die from it?” We prefer respecting the mountains, the rural communities and leaving no trace behind :).

When you think you’re skis are “ready to be burned or hidden forever in an underground storage” (This happens to skis today), you might want to keep on reading.

• We offer life time repairability. All of the parts we use can be reused, repurposed, repaired or exchanged.
• We provide tutorials on how to maintain, repair, reuse, upcycle or recycle the ski.