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?