Zero.

That was the number of Women’s-specific 8k meter down suits commercially available.

In early 2018, I briefed the team on a ground-up approach to a Women’s specific down suit for 8k meter climbing. Through this process, we worked in partnership with Dawa Yangzum-Sherpa and Hilaree Nelson, and brought in Kansas State University to help with thermal testing to inform gender-specific insulation mapping.

Over 4 years, we tested 7 rounds of prototypes, reaching 10/14 8,000 meter summits during the development process.

What resulted is the lightest and most technically advanced women’s-specific down suit ever created.