WARI LLC was founded in 2004 by partners Will Paden, Tom Waclo and John Weinel to develop an avalanche flotation device.

In their 26 years of combined experience on the job, Squaw Valley ski patrollers and Points North Heli Adventures guides Will Paden and Tom Waclo noticed that backcountry skiers in North America never wore avalanche airbags, even though the lifesaving technology had been available in Europe since the early 80’s.

When Waclo was approached by John Weinel, inventor of an emergency flotation device for snowmobilers, about making a similar apparatus for backcountry skiers, Waclo jumped at the chance. He brought Paden on board, and in 2004 the three men founded WARI LLC.

The product of their collaboration is the Avi Vest, the first air bag built into a vest rather than a backpack. The product uses compressed air to inflate an airbag and “float” the avalanche victim to the surface of the snow slide where they can be easily found and rescued by companions or ski-patrollers.