The smell of ski wax and cold kombucha mingled at Base Lodge Ski & Cycle on North 7th Friday evening, where a new exhibit transforms broken bindings and snapped poles into wall-mounted assemblages. Artist Mara Lindstrom collected the materials from the shop’s discard pile over six months, sorting by color and fracture pattern.

“I kept thinking about how much energy goes into a single ski day,” Lindstrom said, adjusting a sculpture titled “Powder Day Regret” made from twelve shattered pole tips. “The drive up, the layers, the lunch you packed that froze in the car. All that intention, and then one rock ends your season.”

Shop owner Dave Merkle donated the space and the materials, which would otherwise go to the landfill in Belgrade. He said the exhibit aligns with the shop’s new repair-first policy, though he admitted most customers still prefer replacement. “People want the new model,” Merkle said. “But they also want to feel good about the old one not dying in a ditch.”

Attendees sipped adaptogenic hot cacao from ceramic mugs provided by the Co-op’s new bulk herb section. The lighting was low, amber, provided by reclaimed Edison bulbs powered by a portable solar array Lindstrom’s partner built from a retired MSU research trailer.

“It feels profoundly activated to see waste hold space like this,” said Sarah Whitcomb, a physical therapist who skis eighty days a year. She touched a piece made from a delaminated topsheet, its layers fanned like sediment. “My knee surgery scar does something similar. Layers trying to remember each other.”

The exhibit runs through April. Base Lodge will host a binding-recycling workshop in March, weather permitting. Merkle said they may make it annual, or at least until the discard pile runs out.