New La Sportiva Apparel Wins Outside and Backpacker Editorial Awards

Oct 1, 2012 (Boulder, Colo.) – The La Sportiva Storm Fighter GTX jacket and pants have each earned major editorial awards in their debut season. Outside presented a “Gear of the Year” award to the Storm Fighter GTX jacket while the GTX Pants were honored with a Backpacker 2012 Editors’ Choice Snow Award.

“We designed the Storm Fighter system to meet the demands of ski mountaineering, which requires protection from the harshest elements, in the lightest weight package possible,” states Jonathan Lantz, president of La Sportiva North America. “Our friends at GORE helped us deliver on that promise with incredible fabric, making the Storm Fighter combo the pinnacle of our new winter apparel.”

To develop its new apparel collection, La Sportiva continued its long-running partnership with W.L. Gore and Associates. The La Sportiva Storm Fighter jacket features GORE-TEX® Active Shell fabric and the pants are incredibly lightweight and breathable. Weighing in at 11.14 ounces for the jacket and 18.13 ounces for the pants, the combination is one of the lightest, fully waterproof-breathable jacket and pants combinations on the market.
All winners of Backpacker 2012 Editor’s Choice Snow Awards exceled under extensive field-testing conducted by Backpacker’s team of editors, who took hundreds of new products into the backcountry to put them to the test. This rigorous process ensures that the performance of the winners is truly worthy of distinction. The complete list of Backpacker 2012 Editors’ Choice Snow Award winners is included in the magazine’s Fall Gear Guide issue that is on newsstands now.

The testing process for Outside began with over 30 jackets that were tested in the harshest of elements all over the country. From hiking in brutal conditions along the coast of Northern California, to ski mountaineering races in the mountains of Colorado, to winter camping and biking trips, Outside’s lead tester was impressed. When asked why he chose the La Sportiva Storm Fighter GTX jacket as Gear of the Year, he responded, “The Storm Fighter outpaced expectations. Its simple but effective design simply works—it’s light, fits well, and has the features to keep the weather out. It’s comfortable, stylish, and performs well—what more can you ask for in a shell?”

Both pieces are available at specialty retailers for the 2012-2013 winter season in the La Sportiva ski mountaineering apparel collection.