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Steamboat Magazine

Seeing Green

09/17/2024 02:24PM ● By Casey Hopkins
Photo courtesy of Zirkel Optics.

While it can’t claim to have the highest peaks in Northwest Colorado, the rugged terrain and pristine landscape of the Zirkel Wilderness has provided its visitors with solitude, adventure and profound inspiration long before its dedication as a protected area in 1964. After spending countless days and nights in the Zirkel backcountry, three entrepreneurs decided to harness that inspiration and create Zirkel Optics, a local eyewear company that would not only produce an exceptional product for its users, but also one that wouldn’t compromise on environmental sustainability.

Co-founders Jason Aronson, Dominik Spuller and Justin Reiter were fed up with the unoriginality and unsustainability of corporate sports eyewear production. “I've seen a lot of these companies that produce a lot of waste and have no respect for the environment,” Jason begins. “We saw an opportunity as people that love being outdoors, love sharing those experiences, love the community of it, to actually be industry leaders in thought and change the way things are done.” 

After graduating high school in Summit County, Justin moved to Steamboat with a dream of competing in the Olympics and began training with the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club while attending Colorado Mountain College and working as a golf pro at Catamount Ranch & Club. As a professional slalom snowboarder, Justin worked his way from the U.S. National team to the Olympic team, before retiring and becoming a coach for Red Bull athletes.

Dominik, originally from Austria, got his start in the eyewear business while working for ROLF Spectacles, a company that pioneered sustainable eyewear by creating frames out of wood, beans and stone, eventually becoming the chief operating officer of the company's North American branch.

Jason has spent a majority of the last 20-plus years working for giant companies like Oakley and Luxottica, as well as a few lesser known brands both in Japan and the United States. “I always had this dream to create something very special in sports eyewear, because everyone else is doing the same thing,” Jason continues. “We're going to be the first sports eyewear company in the world to do 3-D printing with our own 100% plant based material called Zirtek™. We're going to be the first North American company to do a bio-based goggle that is 40% made out of cornstarch. Our straps are going to be made out of 70% post-consumer polyester and then our lenses will be 60% recycled post-consumer polycarbonate.”

At their first official team trip to Japan in early 2024, Justin asked his co-founders to list out all the things the company should stand for. After combining and narrowing down their lists, they all agreed on three major points: “what we really want the brand to embody is innovation, sustainability and community,” Justin says. “We are a tech company and a tech company is designed to innovate. However, if we innovate something that is not sustainable, in our opinion, that's truly not an innovation.”

Zirkel opened its Steamboat office in May and plans to expand to Hokkaido, Japan and Innsbruk, Austria. Its first lineup of snow goggles will be released just in time for the 2024-25 ski season, followed by framed glasses in 2025. “We believe in what we're doing,” Justin says. “We're going to be focused and we're going to create the best product on the market with the best materials for the planet.”