RIP John Howe, Ski Industry Legend

[Jack M]

I missed this last year, but it just came to my attention:

https://www.conwaydailysun.com/community/obituaries/obituary-john-g-howe/article_0adef3cc-7637-11e8-ab23-5706810e71c1.html

I met him once at his home on a farm in Bethel in the winter of '97 when I was working with a fellow from Bates College who was starting a snowboard factory in the Bates Mill.  He had a relationship with Howe I think through a college internship.  We had a meeting with Howe to discuss snowboard design.  Howe's book "Skiing Mechanics" was considered a bible of ski design, as it explained the physics of a carved turn, among other things.  I really enjoyed meeting him.  He was enthusiastic about our little snowboard factory and about snowboarding in general.  His wife made us liverwurst sandwiches, which I surprisingly didn't hate.  It was about 58 degrees inside their house.

A couple years later I wrote an interpretation of Skiing Mechanics, relating it to snowboarders, for BOL.  You can see it here: http://alpinesnowboarder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Physics-of-a-Snowboard-Carved-Turn.pdf

My friend from Bates made a snowboard version of "The Claw" ski and it worked very well.  It was basically an isolation plate, laminated to the board with a thick (1/4"?) layer of rubber in between.  The bindings only mounted to the plate, no screws or other metal mechanical linkages touched the board - a design I haven't seen since.  I tried it and it was eye opening.  I think it would be worth trying today (hint hint @Donek).  He didn't pursue it for long however.  He exited the snowboard industry after a few years and went back to medical school.

Cheers to John Howe, a life well lived.  We here have all benefited from him.