Robert Smith, created anti-fog ski goggles

KETCHUM, Idaho -- Robert Earl "Bob" Smith, an orthodontist whose passion for skiing deep powder snow helped turn him into a goggle and sunglasses pioneer, has died of complications related to heart surgery. He was 78 and died April 18 in California.

Smith served as a dentist in the Army in Germany in the late 1950s. While there, he traveled to Kitzbuehel ski area every weekend, stoking his passion for the sport.

After enduring frustrating goggle-fogging experiences, Smith in the 1960s began developing prototypes for goggles to solve the problem. He sat at the kitchen table with his wife, Jean, using dental tools and foam to create a double-lensed, vented ski goggle that had an inner lens protected from the cold.

He patented his invention, which is now considered the industry standard. Smith Sport Optics Inc., which he founded in 1965 and sold in 1991, sells its products in 50 countries and reports having a 45 percent share of the ski and snowboard goggle market in North America. -- AP