A knee-friendly ski binding?

While ski release binding technology has stayed stagnant for half a century, I wonder what’s behind new ski bindings designs like Tyrolia Full Heel Release, Knee or Howell Binding. All allege protection of the ACL tear, that would show a marked improvement over traditional bindings, but are these claims backed up by some serious evidence or are they just hype? ACL protection is a complex and still misunderstood issue. 

While traditional ski bindings are primarily designed to protect against lower leg injuries, like tibia fractures, they’re useless against knee injuries, particularly ACL tears, which often occur from backwards twisting falls. 

Tyrolia claims that its “Full Heel Release” (FHR) is based on solid scientific research and development in collaboration with the University of Innsbruck. 

Its technology allows for lateral and vertical heel release, in hope to reduce the risk of knee injuries, including cruciate ligament tears (ACL). These studies are said to show that this heel piece can reduce knee stress by more than 50% during falls involving backward rotation, which today are among the most common causes of ski injuries to the knee. 

Knee (Kneebinding) claims that their own research has found that their binding with fast-release characteristics and pivot points positioned strategically can reduce strain on the ACL during falls. In one of their studies using a biomechanical knee model they claim that their bindings with dual pivot points (front and back) could sense twist loads more effectively, reducing the occurrence of ACL injuries. The company also claims KneeBindings reduced the risk of ACL injuries by 82.5% and all ski-related knee injuries by 75%. The proprietary research involved over 1600 participants across multiple ski resorts and seasons. 

Again, all of that is company controlled and difficult to believe. As for Howell, its founder that was previously involved with Knee, has presented his findings at orthopedic, biomechanical engineering, and sports science conferences over the past 20 years. Some of this research has been published in peer-reviewed journals like the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Like for new innovations in health and sport medicine, the proof is in the pudding and only one or two decades of widespread use of these designs will provide the ski public with more satisfactory and tangible results. 

To me, this “improvement” is mostly fictional, as there’s no mechanical nor electronic way to measure the stress applied to the knee as opposed to what a mechanical traditional binding senses at the level of the foot and ankle levels. Short of having a measurement tool to sense and measure that energy, all the rest is hocus-pocus! As with any new products, marketing often grossly amplifies the benefits of new ideas to attract consumer’s attention. 

I’ll be waiting a few more years to see if there is any figment of truth in these attractive claims...