August 2026

Ashton Black is the co-founder of Pow Paddle, a propulsion tool built for snowboarders. The idea started when his dad brought stand up paddle boards to Wolf Creek and found the same paddling mechanics worked in deep snow. Through Aggie I-Corps, Ashton conducted dozens of customer discovery interviews across the snowboard community and pivoted his target audience from beginners to older, experienced riders looking to conserve energy and get more runs in on the mountain. Pow Paddle holds a patent on its reinforced stainless steel tip and is moving into its first production run, with a launch planned for the 2026-27 winter season at Purgatory Resort.