Summit brothers invent new twist on the snowboard

Investors needed for the Kneeboard Binding

Click to Enlarge Browse and Buy Summit Daily Photos Co-inventor of the Kneeboard Binding Corey Smith is pictured riding a rail on his new invention. Special to the Daily Get Arts and Entertainment Feeds

By LESLIE BREFELD
summit daily news
Summit County, CO Colorado
March 25, 2008

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SUMMIT COUNTY — In 1998, brothers David and Corey Smith were working the lifts at Winter Park when David stumbled upon an invention. Transporting down a beginner lift with his knees on the board, he realized he caught an edge, and some fun.

From there, he said, “We just kept working on it until we could ride it around the mountain.”

The Kneeboard Binding includes knee shells for the knees to sit in, along with straps for the calves, knees and over the heels at a toe piece.

David described the ride more as a ski motion, “riding linkwise with the snowboard.”
He said they realized there could be a demand for the product because of all the attention they received while using it.

“Heads were turning,” David said. “People were asking us where they could get this.”
The brothers have had a prototype for a few years and are looking for investors.

They plan to bring it to the upcoming Snowsports Industry of America trade shows in Las Vegas and Denver.

“We’d be on the shelves if it wasn’t for that stuff called money,” the brothers relate in a press release.

“It will never overtake snowboarding,” David said. “We just want to grab two percent of the market.”

Leslie Brefeld can be reached at (970) 668-4626 or lbrefeld@summitdaily.com.