Finally, one step forward in ski boots!

Attempts to create a cable closure system in ski boots are not really new. Raichle had it in the late 60s, improved it a bit on its plastic boots and later, Ed Chalmers’ Osprey boot based its lower shell closure on it, but never reach market. 

As the rear-entry boot design was sent to ski industry’s hell, most cable closure systems pretty much disappeared from ski boots and it was the return to the antique four-buckle closure system. 

In 2001, Gary Hammerslag, a snowboarder and surfer entrepreneur who had moved to Steamboat, Colorado, envisioned to dramatically improve the snowboard boot lacing systems by creating BOA, a micro-adjustable, precision fit that would ultimately equip K2 and Vans in 2001. 

The two brand partners that took a chance have now become over 300 snowboarding brand partners using BOA. The system was later applied to trail running, bike shoes, randonnée boots and next season it will be transferred to alpine ski boots made by Atomic, Fischer, K2 et Salomon.

Will the system be strong enough for stiffer, lower shells? How hard will they be to tighten manually? Will it last as least as long as the venerable buckles harking back to the 60s? 

Many questions that remain to be answered, but for once, a tiny bit of innovation in a product that has seen no major breakthrough in more than half a century!

A better way to wash windows?

Yesterday was outside window cleaning day at our home. In the past, I struggled to do it, perched on my high ladder, stretching myself, worrying about falling (my wife was even more concerned that I could be) and doing a less than stellar job.

I only did the interior part, which was relatively easy and more at my level (skill and heights included). This time, we finally turned to professionals for most of the exterior, and since our high plate windows have always been a huge challenge, I videotaped the action.

I discovered that the window washer was using a water-fed pole and water-fed brushes to clean my most hard-to-reach windows, while using pure (distilled) water for rinsing and spot-free drying.

I watched, a tiny bit skeptical, but was totally sold on the concept when everything was spotlessly dry. Impressive indeed!

When will progress stop?

Skis too long? Fold' em!

Ever since skis have existed, they've had their advantages and their downsides. One of their key advantage was to allow a skier to stand over soft snow without sinking in.

The downside of this was their length that made them hard to steer and clumsy to carry. We stay with the last idea: Ease of transportation.

For years, inventors have been toying with a folding ski that could be thrown inside a rucksack and allow someone to climb steep mountains without having one long pair of boards hindering their progression and destabilizing them in some precarious sections of the climb.

I know of the Swiss makers Attenhoffer in 1925 and Shraner in 1934 that proposed designs that didn't pass muster with the market. More recently MTN Approach was another execution of the stubborn idea that received limited attention.

This was until Elan, the father of modern carving skis, came up with yet another version of the ski that literally folds in half from the middle. Sounds good to me, but I like to see things before I quite believe them, so I've looked everywhere for a video of this folding contraption, but they still must be filming it!

Short of this kind of video-proof, I heard that Elan sponsored Davo Karničar, a famous mountaineer, to ski down Everest on its new two-piece, Ibex model. Apparently, he made it to the base camp without folding!

Nest? No quite there yet!

I'm a sucker for everything cool, high-tech and avant-garde (except for Apple products, that should tell you something, right?), so it's no surprise that I jump all over the Nest thermostats when we built our new home, just two years ago. It looked sleek and sci-fi alright and would be going to enhance my already spoiled life.

That was until last night when the main floor unit went on the fritz which lead me to panic, almost get a heart attack, plug the wrong terminal into the recharging port of the unit, and all this because the folks at Nest just performed a software update that screwed-up everything.

After much angst and trepidation, all is back to work this morning, but I have now deep second thoughts (call it buyer's remorse) about that sleek, magical device. Early adopters of all stripes, beware!

To be continued...

Single world currency?

This concept isn't quite new. In fact, it's been floated since the 16th century, and came close to being instituted after World War II. A universal currency would be much more efficient and mean an end to chronic currency crises around the world; it wouldn't be subject to exchange rate fluctuations because there would be no competing currencies to exchange against.

The scary news is that it would require the creation of a central body formed to oversee the monetary policy for a single world currency. Think of another U.N. or a branch thereof with all the dysfunction knows to that kind of agency. In fact, a private initiative would be highly preferable; an alternative like Bitcoin that would take the world by storm and make everyone leave the state controlled monetary systems in drove.

Something based not on the value of gold but on a vital human need we use today and will use forever, let's say a unit of energy, like the Watt. I like this later incarnation...

Elon Musk's bridge strategy

Recently the founder of Tesla unveiled its Powerwall energy system which sounds so simple that you and I might think: “Why didn't I think about this!”

The product will be built in a $5 billion, 50GWh factory in Nevada, which isn't even fully completed yet, but that didn't prevent our prolific investor to begin taking reservations for it.

Just a few days following the announcement, Musk said that his company already received 38,000 reservations for the home system that will start shipping this summer and 2,500 reservations for the much bigger, commercial-scale battery systems.

Wow, that's close to a billion dollar in prepayment! This means that the Powerwall storage system is sold out until mid-2016. What a way to think of a great idea, present it to the the public, get everyone excited, take reservations, and then worry about building with the hefty advance fee!

When “tunnel vision” beats no vision!

History of mankind has been changed for the better by individuals who had a strong vision. For every visionary though, there's always a crowd that harkens to the past and strongly believes that no change is better than trying anything new, even if venturing into something original and different mean addressing a major concern or solving a serious problem.

This seems to be what is happening with the Utah Front Range's Mountain Accord process. Transportation problems, huge carbon footprint and pollution have emerged as crucial issues and demand some bold and innovative solutions.

Along with interconnecting our six resorts, mass transit is one of them, as far as accessing our delicate canyons is concerned. This is why the creation of rail and tunnel is being suggested as part of a possible solution. If that's what it takes, this kind of “tunnel vision” is better than no vision at all! In thinking about what the Wasatch Front region ought to do, I had come to the same realization a few years ago.

As shocking as they may be to some, these proposals still must be fairly evaluated within the whole Mountain Accord thought process. These may appear as daring concepts, but I always thought that of all places, America was the one where progressive thinking was embraced? Am I missing something?

When I hear naysayers so bitter about what is supposed to be a civil and constructive dialogue, I'm reminded that retrograde folks fear change the most and that game-changing evolution always demands faith, courage and entrepreneurship.

Where's innovation in the ski biz?

If there's an industry in which innovation isn't exactly the modus operandi, it's the ski industry. Marketing 101 teaches us that the art of that skill is to address problems and make everything easier, when possible.

True, skis have undergone some positive evolution, but what about ski boots, the elephant in the room. Is getting in and out of ski boots easy? Is walking in them easy? Absolutely not.

Has someone attempted to do anything about it? Partially, but with little if no success. Hanson invented the rear-entry boot and Salomon kept on improving it until it was voted down by a small but vociferous clique of industry insiders.

Look bindings, through a tenuous alliance with Nordica designed the Integral boot-binding system that was chocked by the Look's bankruptcy and Nordica's lack of interest. Bottom line, there's plenty of room for improvement, so where are the innovators hiding?

Another ski contraption...

Yesterday, as I was talking to my brother in France, he mentioned that his 2 year old grand daughter would soon hit the slopes using a device I never heard of, called the Babysnow, a modified monoski equipped with a handlebar for a toddler to hang on, while the whole is guided by a parent or an instructor holding handles similar to that of a baby-carriage.

The individual who controls the toddler can then bank the board to the right or the left and make it carve a turn while the baby enjoys the ride and gets use to a motion similar to that of sliding on snow. On the way uphill, adult and toddler can either use a magic carpet or a Poma-lift, but riding a chairlift isn't an option. In addition to alpine skiing, this device could be used while cross-country skiing and walking on snow either by foot or with snow-shoes.

Invented by Eric Arnold, a French ski instructor, this unique product seems to lack the necessary funding, might have remained too close to its creator and doesn't have the marketing support it needs to optimize its distribution and its development. While the concept has some definite potential, it still seems overly complicated, and in addition to some clever marketing, it could also use a substantial amount R&D to make it more user-friendly and much more universal.

Innovating isn't for sissies!

In life, there's always the true and tested method to consider before jumping into the new and unknown. The later requires much more research, significant risk-taking and always comes with an uncertain outcome.

Further, even if the end result works, it may not be stunning at all and not worth the extra effort and resources spent. Yet, there are folks who are never content with replicating yesterday's experience and want to turn any opportunity into a stage for some innovation.

It's harder, more expensive and has the potential of yielding something great. These folks are game-changers and need our support, even when their efforts go sour!

When architects re-invent the wheel

The contemporary look is back in Park City's new homes and the alpine design on the way out. As always, architects,who seem to hit the creative block, have this inbred need to re-invent the wheel and throw the baby and the hot-water out of the window.

Gone are sloped roofs that drain well and overhang that protect from the summer sun. In are flat roofs that puddle up before they leak, and huge windows that work wonders to fry-up their occupants and rev up the air-conditioning system.

This doesn't prevent the same architects of torturing their new-found designs into being “environmentally sound”, even though I have my doubt about that quality, and to churn out designs that have nothing timeless about them and will age as quickly as their previous incarnations concocted in the 70s. The more (bad) things change, the more they stay the same!

We need more people like Elon Musk!

That's right, we need more people who think big and dare to go where conventional wisdom doesn't feel at home. I've been a Musk admirer for quite some time and, for example, can't wait to buy one of his future electric car that fits my need better than his two current models.

For a long time, now, I have always thought that pushing passengers through air tubes had validity and this is pretty much what his new project, the Hyperloop, calls for .

I hope this variation on high-speed trains sees the light of day in a near future and casts a new paradigm in inter-city transportation. Go for it, Elon, I'm a fan of yours!

How can I be so... gullible!

Yesterday, as I was browsing Facebook (I only indulge in this once a week) my eyes were grabbed by that electric socket mounted on a disc equipped with suction cup and micro-solar panel. A seemingly magic way to harness solar energy and use it as a “plug socket”.

Even though the presence of a European-style socket arose some initial suspicion in me, my first reaction was: “where can I get THAT and how much does it cost?” It took me a few clicks and a rapid summary search to realize this was a hoax.

 To console myself, I remembered that someone once said (was it Napoleon Hill in his best-seller book “Think and Grow Rich”?) that “anything the human mind can conceive, it can achieve...” Engineers of all stripes, please get off your duff and develop that magic gizmo for me; I could use it!

Jobs is gone

This morning we woke up hearing the sad news that Steve Jobs had passed away. Even though I only own an Apple iTunes, I thought of him of a product genius and a living example of someone who was able to get destroyed and bounced back. I know that he wasn't an easy man to work with, but he was who he was, someone in many ways exceptional. A modern Leonardo. He'll be terribly missed!
Oct 6

Innovation-obsessed

The bright spotlight recently focused on Steve Jobs is totally well-deserved and honors the few human beings that have stuck their neck out, creating products and concepts out of almost nothing, taking huge risks for the sake of churning up innovation we can all use and enjoy.

These bright individuals have been doing more than just managing or exceeding expectations: They've anticipated them, which isn't an easy task and requires an imagination, an inquisitive mind plus a careful observation and understanding of what's around us. They break tired paradigms by inventing new ones and like no others, they stand constantly into other people shoes! This type of folks whether they're Steve Jobs or Georges Salomon in the teeny-weeny ski industry, are constantly searching for what's hiding behind the future's blind corner and are creating the never-seen-before.

They are the antithesis of the mediocre people that surround us, starting with politicians and other “greedy,” exploitative and unimaginative business people that are in full reaction mode, all the time. Makes me say that the “creative” vanguard is the strict opposite of the “extractive” old-boys-club that rapes the earth. We all know too many of these forgettable human beings and for the good of humanity and a better tomorrow, we need a lot more of the visionary kind!

At last, the mood-o-meter!

In time for Christmas Eve, and for those procrastinators, I'm suggesting a terrific gift idea. It can be worn like a wrist-watch, placed on your desk-top or your car dash-board and remind you all-day long about your state of mind, let's say mood if your prefer, and this way, we can call the product a mood-o-meter for lack of a better name. It's true that we always have a vague feeling about how things are inside our heads, but sometimes we forget and quickly get in trouble as we're not able to adjust our behaviors in relation to our moods.

In other words, a lousy, current state of mind takes over and ruin the day or bring havoc into a situation that could be pleasant, or into an event that should be merry, and what better time to use that device, during the always highly stressed, Holiday Season. So if you're interested – and I see no reason why you wouldn’t – in this all important mood-monitoring device, place your order today, I'll manage to find investors and get a production line going. The faster you order, the sooner you'll get your tool. For those of you that are iPhone users, yes; there will be an app!

Georges Salomon, 1925-2010

The man who succeeded his father at the helm of Salomon and had to be credited for the firm's meteoric rise just passed away this past Tuesday in Annecy, France; he was 85. Georges Salomon was a passionate visionary who constantly reinvented himself and his company. To me he was the Steve Jobs of the ski business and had no competition. Most essentially, he know before anyone how to step into his customers' boots; he was the quintessential product marketeer and what never fails to impress me is that, during his lifetime, he optimized his outcome to the max with the cards he'd been dealt with. All through my ski industry career he always was my number one competitor and I had a lot of respect for everything he did.

Over the years, I remember applying three times to get a job with the Annecy based company and got three rejections. I probably wasn't good enough for the brand and I've learned to respect that too. Of all the ski industry “giants” Mr. Salomon made the best out of his life-long efforts when he sold his company in 1997 to Adidas. Too bad, the new owners didn't keep up with his genius and when the sport shoe company sold Salomon to Amer Sports in 2004, what was once the number one company in the snow business went from bad to worst. Salomon had sold his company, but not his creative leadership.

Searching...

Yesterday, we went to the high Uintas to look for mushrooms. In Utah, these delicacies hide between 9,000 and 10,000 feet, and this year being another dry year, they can be hard to find.

So at first, discouragement runs high as we doubt we'll ever find one single boletus and will have to return home empty-handed. Then, as time goes on, Evelyne finds a huge one, then it's my turn to spot a few tiny ones and so on. The morale of that story is that we should never despair and only remain patient.

Finding mushrooms isn't like a Google search. It takes faith, time and perseverance and it's not unlike the rest of life's endeavors. In this era of instant results and lightning-fast answers, we need to retrain our patience as we search for objects, ideas and inspiration and forget about miracle and other short-cuts. Bad concepts, books and movies are generally the result of rushed inspiration and impatience. Creativity is a bottomless well that just takes time and wise planning to explore and exploit. Every time I'll be hunting for some great inspiration, I remember my mushroom-picking adventures...

Apple's good choices

I'm a marginal Apple customer as only own an iPod. Yet, I admire the company and Steve Jobs, its founder and cheer for them.

The high-tech firm embodies most everything that is right with business and in particular a relentless search for innovation. It stands heads and shoulder over its competition and one can bet that the only ones that will come after it are going to be some Chinese companies.

Apple shows that a culture of constantly obsoleting your own products, a generous commitment to research and development and a strict discipline are key to survival, success and leadership in today's developed society. What's amazing is that all other companies in our so-called developed countries are watching that story develop, affirm itself and are still seemingly sitting on their hands...

Christmas wish

Since it's the season to do so, I'm trying to formulate a wish for the future that is lofty and that is finally going to do some good. Here it is: I'm hoping that some creative, innovative girl or guy in their garage or office come up with a great idea that will stop global population growth by 2020 and bring it down gradually from 7 to 2 billion, which is the posted, legal occupancy for that place that no one seems to have read. When that is done, we the earthlings will be in fine shape. Merry Christmas to all!