KneeBinding now sold in 500 retail stores

John Springer-Miller, principal owner of KneeBinding, says his company’s gear is being sold in roughly 500 retail locations, including places such as REI. And, with some ski companies prepared to shell out money to incorporate KneeBinding technology into their own brands, the 2015 ski season could be the local manufacturer’s best year yet.

If that’s the case, the only people who might lose money on this are the orthopedic surgeons of the world; KneeBinding figures 70,000 skiers suffer knee injuries each year.

“That’s been the case for well over 20 years now,” Springer-Miller said. “And none of the other binding companies have done anything about it, and that’s frustrating.”

As far as product names go, KneeBinding is pretty self-evident. Even if the anatomic, therapeutic name gives off a whiff of the doctor’s office, it could be the binding of the future.

All ski bindings are meant to release the downhiller when too much sudden force is applied to the boot, to stave off serious leg injuries that could come from having two legs on two skis operating independently in a tumble down a slick slope.

The problem, Springer-Miller says, is traditional bindings release in only two different dimensions: the toe side of the binding releases sideways when there’s too much twisting torque on the boot, and the heel releases upward when there’s too much forward force.

KneeBinding adds a third dimension, allowing the heel to slide sideways.

That is key. While the toe-release mechanism is helpful when the skier’s twisting motion applies force toward the front side of the binding, most knee injuries occur when the skier’s weight is distributed toward the rear.

Think of it like a lever and a fulcrum; when you get too far on one side of the fulcrum, the lever won’t work.

“If you catch an inside edge, your knee is at risk. Your knee suddenly becomes the weakened link, before the binding,” Springer-Miller said.

KneeBindings are designed so that it’s virtually impossible to be in a position where, if there’s trouble, either the toe or the heel won’t eject the skier’s boot sideways; in the case of equally distributed twisting force, both ends of the binding will slide sideways.

“There’s no dead zone,” Springer-Miller said.

Company evolution

For a product designed to minimize injuries, KneeBinding had some pretty painful beginnings.

The design was invented by Rick Howell, a well-known designer of sports gear technology. Among other things, he invented the clipless pedals that millions of cyclists use on their bikes. He also is credited with coming up with the first metal-framed snowshoe while working for Tubbs Snowshoes when it was based in Stowe.

But Howell is not allowed to claim KneeBinding as his own; he was ousted from the company in 2008 after disagreements about how the company was being run.

Howell was paid an $80,000 severance package, and in return he agreed to return all of the company’s intellectual property — the ideas and concepts related to his own invention — and promised not to disparage or compete with the company.

That didn’t happen, and mud was slung. But in a 2009 settlement in Lamoille County Superior Court, Howell agreed to a permanent ban on criticizing KneeBinding, its products, or Springer-Miller and his wife. In other words, in Howell’s case, the first rule about KneeBinding is he can’t talk about KneeBinding.

Today, with the dust over that fight settled, the company is about to launch its fifth model. Springer-Miller said the company has three patents in its design and another one pending, so other manufacturers might start incorporating the technology.

One group of people KneeBinding is not going after? Pro and Olympic-caliber skiers. Those athletes actively shun safety measures when it comes to their gear.

They exert tremendous torque and they want to stay in their skis.

Said Springer-Miller, “Those guys’ll disable every safety feature as soon as they get it.”