I spent the morning in the booth with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education last week, during the SnowSports Industries Association trade show. Tom Murphy, operations guru and AIARE founder, gave a talk at noon in an effort to get outdoor brands on board with the Project Zero initiative.
Project Zero will look to reduce avalanche fatalities to — you guessed it — zero. Murphy and the rest of the AIARE gang are still working out particulars, but hopefully industry players like K2, BCA, and others will sign on and help get the average backcountry skier/consumer ahead of the avy curve.
I also had some time to poke around for some new product and below are the pics.
The Dynafit TLT 6, upgraded liner (way closer to Intuition quality), slightly more volume over the mid-step of the foot and no increase in price–cool. Can’t wait to try on a pair next fall.
Hey, it’s not skiing, but most of us don’t just ski, so behold the new high-top and INSULATED SCARPA Rebel, with an integrated gaiter. Crazy light, same chassis as the Rebel–looking forward to checking it out for my alpine course/aspirant exam in the fall.
The ABS booth — great looking packs, but still no American distributor. I did see Stephen Barnes poking around the booth. Does he know something we don’t?! Hope to see these Stateside sometime soon.
The AIARE booth, with Dynafit athlete Donny Roth coming by to coordinate a talk with Tom Murphy.
Stay tuned for more on Project Zero and highlights from my AMGA ice-instructor course, which starts Monday.
