"Hohenester originally tested the system for a few years with balloons before selling his new invention patent to German entrepreneur Peter Aschauer. After purchasing the patent in 1980, Aschauer founded ABS (Avalanche Balloon Secutem), and unveiled the first functional airbag at the Internationale Fachmesse für Sportartikel und Sportmode (ISPO) in Munich in 1985. The technology continued to improve throughout the decades, including ABS's 1996 state of the art twin-bag system."
"The avalanche airbag works by deploying a large balloon when triggered, using the principle of inverse segregation to make the wearer become a larger object that stays near the snow's surface, preventing deep burial and suffocation, while also providing some trauma protection. When the avalanche airbag handle is pulled , gas from a canister or an electric fan rapidly inflates the balloon in seconds, increasing your volume so smaller snow particles move beneath you as the avalanche flows, keeping you up top."
An avalanche airbag is a wearable survival device that rapidly inflates a large balloon to increase a person's volume and keep them near the snow surface, reducing deep burial, suffocation, and trauma risk. The concept originated in the 1970s with Josef Hohenester and evolved after patent purchase by Peter Aschauer, leading to ABS and the first functional airbag in 1985. Improvements included ABS's 1996 twin-bag design and later electronic, supercapacitor-powered systems with active deflation using granular segregation. Deployment uses gas canisters or electric fans to inflate within seconds. Explosive inflation poses hazards in pressurized aircraft cabins, prompting aviation restrictions.
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