Everyone and their cousin is pressing skis these days but ski bindings are just complicated enough to prevent garage brands from starting up in mountain towns across the country. That was until Stowe, Vermont based KneeBindings ($300-$400) came along.
The Burlington Freepress spoke with John Springer-Miller, chairman and majority owner of the Stowe-based company, about his product’s claim to prevent ACL injuries. Springer-Miller admittedly doesn’t have scientific studies to back up his claim, but he does empirical evidence in the form of  eight years of sales of the bindings without a single reported case of a rear-weighted ACL injury (rear-weighted = “back seat” on skis with hips and knees bent).
He claims if the bindings didn’t work as advertised, there would have been “hundreds” of this type of ACL injury among skiers using KneeBindings, according to the accepted rate of injuries per skier days.
What’s the secret sauce you ask…..the bindings include both a lateral toe release and a lateral heel release. KneeBinding adds a second point of rotation to help skis release when traditional bindings would not.
Currently his invention is available in about 500 retail shops in 12 countries and has been adopted by several ski resorts as mandatory equipment for on the snow employees resulting in a decline of ACL injuries among the workforce. To purchase a pair of your own go HERE.
