. >> reporter: hertel manufactured hertel max. he's a one man operation.ricks a day and 14,000 a year at the controls of a contraption he designs himself. >> everybody blows their mind when they see this. oh, he's a candle company. >> reporter: instead, his kind of wax with names like hot sauce and white gold helps athletes burn down the slopes that's been used by olympians in games going back to the '80s. >> my product helped win five medals in canada in 1988. >> reporter: back in the '70s, hertel sold computers. >> that's my background in computer science. i didn't want that anymore. >> reporter: he applied his scientific mind to a different sort of race. >> you see this. watch this. see it dispersing. this allows your ski to float and now they got way more control less accidents and injuries. >> reporter: like a downhill skier, hertel's mind is always in motion. >> this is called a hot waxer and i have a line of ladies -- i invented this for the industry. >> reporter: he even designs a travel pillow. >> i have been inventing since i was a little kid. >>