SKI PIONEER DIES IN PLANE CRASH

16th January 2020 | Jane Peel, Chief Reporter

Last modified on May 16th, 2021

Dave Goode was the first to develop pure carbon fibre skis and ski poles. He was killed when his light aircraft crashed in Utah.

Goode was piloting his Cessna when it came down in a residential area on Wednesday afternoon.

No one else was hurt.

Local police say the plane was due to land shortly after it crashed.

Witnesses saw the wing of the aircraft hit the top of a town house before it came down in the parking lot and burst into flames.

Dave Goode was the founder of GOODE Ski Technologies which makes both snow and water skis.

He also competed in both sports.

GOODE led the industry by introducing the first pure carbon fibre ‘pencil’ ski pole and pure carbon snow ski in the 1990s.

The company’s alpine and backcountry skis are designed and hand-made at its production base at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains at Ogden in Utah.

They are tested nearby at Snowbasin.

“It is with a heavy heart that GOODE Skis announces the passing of its founder and president, Dave Goode,” the company said in a statement.

“Dave, 64, died Wednesday while taking part in one of his many passions, piloting his airplane.

“Through his numerous technological advancements in both water skiing and snow skiing, and financial support of countless events and athletes in both sports, Dave touched the lives of thousands of people by helping them, and the sports they love, push the limits of performance.

“A 2014 USA Water Ski Hall of Fame Award of Distinction recipient and member of the Michigan Water Ski Hall of Fame, Dave was an accomplished international competitor in both sports, recently winning the downhill event at the US Ski & Snowboard Alpine Masters National Speed Series and earning a bronze medal in trick skiing at the Pan American Senior Water Ski Championships.”

While GOODE snow skis may not be widely known outside the USA, the same cannot be said for GOODE water skis.

Some of the world’s greatest slalom water skiers, among them the women’s world record holder, Regina Jaquess of the USA, use them.

One of the hundreds of tributes posted on social media is from GB water skier Freddie Winter, who is currently top of the world elite men’s slalom rankings and who won silver at the World Championships last summer.

“RIP to the man who gave me my first ever sponsorship and whose fantastic skis I used for many, many years,” he said.

“I will always be grateful to Dave for what he’s done for me and the sport of water skiing.

“He will be greatly missed but remembered for ever.”

Competitors on GOODE water skis regularly make the podium at elite events across the globe.

Lesser skiers use them too.

I had a GOODE 9100 – the first model of pure carbon water ski developed by Dave Goode – for several years.