John Harmata

Global eBook Award Silver Medal Winner August - 2014

John Harmata, a.k.a. Mr. Edge, was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Working part-time had allowed him to pay his way through college, where he earned a degree and certification as an X-ray technologist.

While serving his internship in X-ray, a friend of John's who was familiar with his background and medical training encouraged him to consider entering the skating business. This person would eventually train him in the basics of running a small business, including fitting boots, mounting blades, and blade sharpening. After that, it would be up to John to determine his own future in the industry.

As an X-ray technologist working in the emergency room,the surgery department, and in individual units using a portable machine, John learned easier, more effective ways of doing things. Applying his medical training to his business practices, John discovered an easier, more accurate way to fit boots and mount, and sharpen blades. Applying the knowledge from his skeletal anatomy courses, John quickly realized the importance of properly preparing the boots for mounting, and as a result noticed a decline in the need for remounting blades and common figure skating injuries; apparently the result of bad fittings and mountings.

In order to prove his findings were correct, John applied Newton's Third Law of Motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Using this principle, he was able to observe the effects of force from the interaction of two objects: the skate and the foot. After several months of trial and error, John finally developed an accurate system for fitting boots and mounting and sharpening blades. His newly developed techniques resulted in reduced skating injuries and overall improvement in skating performance.

While attending numerous skating competitions and trade shows, including Worlds in 1987, it became apparent to John that something more could be done to reduce the amount of injuries to which figure skaters are prone. In the years that followed, John began submitting suggestions to boot manufacturers on ways to improve the overall fit and comfort of their boots.

In the fall of 2001, a member of U.S. Figure Skating heard about John's work and asked if he would be interested in contributing an article to Skating magazine. John has been writing the Ask Mr. Edge column for the U.S. Figure Skating magazine ever since.