Peter Arlein is a self-described ski bum.
He worked for a few years as a ski patroller at Aspen Snowmass and as a ski tech, spending his days waxing skis and boards for riders.
The more he worked with the wax, the more he began to explore what exactly was going onto the bottom of these skis. What he found was that the majority of the wax in the world is made from petroleum and has a distinctly negative impact on the environment.
From the bottom of your board or skis, this wax goes into the snowpack, which then melts and becomes the drinking water for many Coloradans.
He saw a hole in the market and thought there must be a better way.
“We wanted to come up with a formula that was nontoxic, biodegradable and made with plants instead of petroleum,” he said.
Carbondale-based mountainFLOW eco-wax started making wax in 2016, largely focused on the backcountry, and launched its new line of nontoxic products last fall.
That’s when interest grew, Arlein said, and a big name in the industry came calling.
Last year, Arlein received an email that appeared to be from ABC’s "Shark Tank" inviting him to try out for the show. While he thought it was spam at first, he followed up and began corresponding with the show’s producers.
Fast forward a few months and Arlein and mountainFLOW were filming their episode, pitching to the sharks on the world-famous show.
When asked about his preparation for the show, Arlein said he practiced his pitch “endless times” and was excited about the opportunity.
“It’s something I know forward and back,” he said. “Once I got out there and started talking, all the stress went away.”
And as he demoed and pitched his wax product in full ski attire, the sharks were swarming and Arlein had multiple offers on the table.
On one side, he had Daymond John pitching a deal that could involve ski legend Lindsey Vonn and, on the other, he had a combined deal with Barbara Corcoran and Kevin “Mr. Wonderful” O’Leary.
After much negotiation, Arlein went with the two sharks, landing a $300,000 deal in exchange for 20% equity in mountainFLOW.
“Once Barbara and Kevin decided to work together, that was really hard to pass up,” he said. “You’re getting two sharks and twice the networking power and they both have amazing teams.”
In advance of the episode’s Feb. 5 airing, Arlein said mountainFLOW was loading up on products to keep up with an anticipated "Shark Tank" rush.
“We’re hoping we’ll see a lot of sales and have enough inventory to fill them,” he said.
As the company continues growing, Arlein said they will continue to fill out the product lineup, starting with a new eco-friendly race wax and a line of bike lubes.
He’s hopeful this "Shark Tank" appearance and the buzz generated from it will encourage people to give mountainFLOW a try.
“Sometimes eco-friendly products get a bad name, kind of like diet food back in the 90s,” he said. “Our product is just as good as anything else out there.”
