On Thursday, October 9, 2025, the game of snowboarding will floor within the broader cultural consciousness when the inventors of the PL1, a transportable rope tow system, seem on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.Just like the present Shark Tank, Dragons’ Den presents aspiring entrepreneurs the possibility to pitch their product to a panel of Canadian enterprise moguls, who resolve whether or not or not they wish to make investments. “This look is just not solely about showcasing the PL1, but in addition about securing funding and strategic companions to gasoline the corporate’s subsequent part of development,” Zoa Engineering, the corporate behind the PL1, mentioned in a press launch. The corporate’s co-founders and brothers, Eric and Robert Button, traveled to Toronto to pitch the Dragons on the present. What Zoa Engineering didn’t say, nonetheless, is that if the Dragons backed the PL1—you’ll have to observe the upcoming Dragons’ Den episode to seek out out. It’ll be obtainable on CBC TV and the CBC Gem app.On Instagram, Dragons’ Den shared a tease of the episode, exhibiting one of many Dragons sliding throughout the stage with the PL1. Faucet or click on beneath to observe.Wish to sustain with the very best tales and pictures in snowboarding? Subscribe to the brand new Powder To The Folks publication for weekly updates.
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What Is the ZOA PL1 Transportable Ski Raise?
The PL1 package at the moment on the market features a motor, 1,000 toes of paracord, and some different equipment. To make use of it, a skier finds a slope they wish to lap and drops and anchors the paracord. With the PL1, they’ll then make laps so long as the battery lasts. Zoa Engineering describes it as a “backpack ski carry.”
Photograph: Ian Greenwood/POWDER Journal
Virtually two years in the past, POWDERtested the PL1 within the Montana backcountry. Our verdict? It’s a bit of heavy—the motor itself weighs 10.5 kilos—and had one main hang-up on the time. With the setup we tried, you needed to function the motor whereas it pulled you up the paracord line. Then, on the prime, the motor goes into your backpack, making for a weighted, barely cumbersome journey again down the mountain.“Personally, having the system in my pack would dissuade me from going the wrong way up, launching a big cliff, or pursuing a distant alpine goal,” we wrote.
Photograph: Ian Greenwood/POWDER Journal
Nonetheless, the basics of the PL1 had been spectacular. It labored flawlessly towing our tester uphill, and the power to deliver a battery-powered rope tow properly, anyplace, had loads of attraction. And Zoa Engineering has a plan to sidestep the difficulty of snowboarding with the motor in your bag. This winter, the corporate will host a Kickstarter for what it calls the Loop System. The system, in line with Zoa Engineering, permits the PL1 to function extra like a standard rope tow, making for unencumbered laps. You’ll be able to comply with alongside on the corporate’s Instagram web page.
Associated: May a Transportable Raise Change Backcountry Snowboarding?
