Bob and Cheryl Zider, the parents of 15-year-old snowboarder who died from snow suffocation while snowboarding at Tahoe (Chris picture right), have created a $20,000 award “inspire the design of a positive-release snowboard to save lives” according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Zider, a Peninsula resident, was provoked to action after reading a series of stories in The Chronicle that described how more than 15 snowboarders have died since the Christmas holidays, most in the same manner as his son. . . “It’s time to build a better snowboard binding,” Zider said. “The device I’m looking forward to has to be positively activated on demand by the boarder. . . . While snowboarding is generally seen as no more risky or dangerous than skiing, the risk of death goes up exponentially in avalanche or tree well accidents due to the fact that the board is rigidly attached to the boots, and the boarder is often unable to reach his boots to release in these conditions. Most die of suffocation as a result.”
Most of the pull-release designs we’ve seen over the years have been pretty terrible. Maybe this award will help. For more information on the Award and where to submit plans visit Chrisziderscholarship.org.
[Link: San Francisco Chronicle]
where do we submit
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