Georges Salomon passed away peacefully last week at the age of 85. He is best remembered in the ski industry as the inventor of release bindings, but built the Salomon brand from a small workshop producing ski edges to a major world-leading ski and binding company.

Survived by his wife, Perry, and two sons, Salomon died in his sleep, Oct 6, at his Lake Annecy, France home, near the workshop where he started producing ski edges with his father in 1947.

The full release binding was widely copied by other manufacturers and became the industry standard saving thousands of skiers from breaking bones or twisting knees. Salomon also innovated the rear-entry ski boot and eventually added skis, ski clothing and bags into its product line.