The North Face has a few new ABS products coming out for Fall 2012, specifically the Powder Guides ABS Vest and the Patrol 24 ABS Pack. We Caught up with the crew from The North Face at Fernie Wilderness Adventures for some cat skiing and to check out the new products. Fernie Wilderness Adventures or 'FWA' as they are otherwise known as, served up 20cm of fresh POW for a late Valentines Day treat. We got to ski some great snow under blue bird skies and also gave the new pack and vest a run through.
The Powder Guides ABS Vest is based on the Powder Guides Vest (obviously) but has an integrated avalanche airbag system courtesy of the folks at ABS. The Patrol 24 ABS Pack is based upon their successful Partol Packs and again has an integrated ABS system.
These two new products are welcome entries in the avalanche airbag realm. The latest independant study stated that you are eight times safer wearing an avalanche airbag system as you are more likely to stay on top of the slide rather than under it. A whopping 97% of riders in the study stayed on top of the avalanche and lowered their chance of burial by fourteen times. Something to consider!
This was not the cat we used at Fernie Wilderness Adventures, but they do still operate it for small groups with a single guide:
The Powder Guide Vest with ABS:
The Patrol 24 ABS Pack:
