--- title: Wndr Alpine Shepherd: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024 description: Find out why Wndr Alpine Shepherd is one of the best inventions of 2024 canonical: https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094753/wndr-alpine-shepherd/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-10-30T11:52:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T11:54:30.728Z article:section: Business og:title: Wndr Alpine Shepherd: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024 og:description: Find out why Wndr Alpine Shepherd made this year's list og:url: https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094753/wndr-alpine-shepherd/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26895adc9cbea917/698a8a46457a528269d6f7d1/wndr-alpine-snowboard-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Wndr Alpine Shepherd: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Wndr Alpine Shepherd: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024 twitter:description: Find out why Wndr Alpine Shepherd made this year's list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26895adc9cbea917/698a8a46457a528269d6f7d1/wndr-alpine-snowboard-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2024 # Shredding Sustainably by [Jeff Wilser](/author/jeff-wilser/) ## Jeff Wilser  Background Source Image: fotograzia—Getty Images Most snowboards are made, in part, from a plastic called polyethylene, which comes from petroleum. So to demonstrate that they could be made more sustainably, Wndr designed the first snowboard made from microalgae—an oil produced through fermentation. On top of being eco-friendly, the microalgae was engineered to improve the Alpine Shepherd’s “damping,” meaning its ability to reduce vibrations. The larger unlock is that if biomaterials can be used in extreme outdoors—where safety is critical—then it could be scaled across other industries. “What’s really cool about winter sports is that it’s an amazing proof-point for materials innovation,” says Xan Marshland, co-founder of Wndr Alpine. “In the mountains, materials matter. **Buy Now:** Shepherd on [Wonder Alpine](https://wndr-alpine.com/products/shepherd-24-25?variant=47901428220215 "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094753/wndr-alpine-shepherd/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094753/wndr-alpine-shepherd/"},"headline":"Wndr Alpine Shepherd: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024","datePublished":"2024-10-30T11:52:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:30.728Z","description":"Find out why Wndr Alpine Shepherd is one of the best inventions of 2024","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094753/wndr-alpine-shepherd/","keywords":["Tech","E-Commerce","list","franchise","Magazine","best inventions"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26895adc9cbea917/698a8a46457a528269d6f7d1/wndr-alpine-snowboard-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeff Wilser","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jeff-wilser/"}],"creator":"Jeff Wilser","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt26895adc9cbea917/698a8a46457a528269d6f7d1/wndr-alpine-snowboard-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094753/wndr-alpine-shepherd/","name":"Wndr Alpine Shepherd: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024"}}]}] ```