Earl A. Miller, 77, a pioneering Utahn in the ski equipment industry, died Friday, June 14, 2002, in Owensville, Mo.
He was a competitive skier and a former ski coach at Brigham Young University. He had also served as the director of skiing at Timp Haven (now Sundance), as well as a ski instructor at Alta.
Born in Manti, Mr. Miller started skiing when it was done on barrel staves with galoshes for boots and rubber bands for bindings. Later on, the only ski bindings available were toe-release models, and so he invented a heel-release binding.
A capable skier, Mr. Miller also won the Western Four-Way Ski Championship (downhill, slalom, cross country and ski jumping) in 1943.
One of his first inventions, and the one he was probably most noted for, was a step-in, multidirectional release binding named after its inventor — the Miller Binding. Mr. Miller produced and sold the binding for nearly half a century.
In 1967, his binding was the No. 1 seller in the world.
Mr. Miller also invented a ski called the "Miller Soft," primarily for skiing the deep powder snow here in Utah and which is still used by skiers today.
The one invention that would eventually revolutionize the entire ski market was his ski brake, which is now used industrywide.
He also later produced ski poles, ski boots, gloves and other accessories.
One of his latest inventions, and probably his most controversial one, is a release binding for snowboards. It has never been well received by the worldwide snowboard industry. He had at least 70 patents.
His Miller Ski Co. in Orem received the President's E-award for business excellence in 1968.
He flew the P-51 Mustang during World War II. Mr. Miller transferred from UCLA to BYU after the war to help organize a ski program. He opened a small specialized ski shop for students, which eventually evolved into the Miller Ski Co. in 1946.
Mr. Miller had also worked at Snow Basin as a ski instructor and was an examiner and officer for the Professional Ski Instructors of America. In ski instructor circles, he was well-known as a great technician.
In 1994, Mr. Miller was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was given the Quinney Award, which is presented annually in Utah, for contributions to the ski industry.
Mr. Miller, who moved from Orem to Owensville, Mo., several years ago, changed the name of his company to the Miller Snowboard Corp.