Avi Vest
by Melissa Siig
Published in Backcountry Magazine October 2008

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 something peculiar about backcountry skiers in North America – nobody ever wore avalanche airbags, even though the lifesaving technology had been around in Europe since the early 80’s.

“We’ve seen a lot of avalanches, and thought there needed to be more widely-used airbags on the market,” Paden said.

So 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 to develop an avalanche flotation device.

What WARI came up with was the Avi Vest, the first air bag built into a vest, rather than a backpack. Its creators hope that the vest, which is designed to keep skiers from getting buried in an avalanche, will become as essential a backcountry tool as a probe, beacon and shovel.

The Avi Vest’s flotation device is activated by pulling the rip cord located on top of the left shoulder with either hand. Within 3 seconds, the airbag inflates to 3 cubic feet, doubling a skier’s mass and preventing him from being pulled to the bottom of an avalanche. This is a phenomenon called Inverse Grading, which is the tendency of small particles to fall to the bottom and large particles to rise to the surface in a granular flow.

The bright red airbag can also be seen from a half mile away, quickening companion rescue.

The vest comes with a zippered pouch where the rip cord can be stored to prevent accidental deployment.

Unlike the German ABS Backpack System, which uses nitrogen to fill up the air bag, the Avi Vest works off compressed air, which is breathable. WARI also went with a vest because it’s less top heavy and distributes weight more evenly than a backpack. The vest comes with seven pockets that can hold a shovel, probe, water and extra layer of clothing.

“It’s a pack but it wears like a vest,” said Paden.

WARI spent five years testing the Avi Vest in the mountains of British Columbia and Nevada. The partners dropped a 175 lb. dummy equipped with the vest onto a slope from a helicopter, then triggered an avalanche. Nine times out of 10 the airbag ended up on the surface with the dummy partially buried. (Video of the tests are available on YouTube and avivest.com.) The vest was also tested for its ability to withstand G-forces at the company’s Minnesota factory. Even at 50 G’s, the dummy floated to the top.

The factory meets the requirements of European certification, although the Avi Vest has not yet been certified.

While Paden envisions that the pack will be used mainly by heli-skiers and ski patrollers, it’s intended for all backcountry winter enthusiasts.

“It’s designed for all people who put themselves in avalanche terrain and want a bit of added safety,” he said. The vest will be available mid-winter, and will come in three sizes: small, medium/large and extra large. It will only be sold at avivest.com.