Katal Innovations Launches Landing Pad Products Worldwide

Vancouver action sports safety company announces newly engineered airbag technology and international market expansion for the coming year.

2013-02-05

VANCOUVER, BC, February 05, 2013 (Press-News.org) Katal Innovations Inc. is excited to announce their partnership with Austrian distributor Chris Haslwanter making their Landing Pad (LP) safety products available to the European market. With both their new products the Mega Landing Pad (Mega LP) and the Mini Landing Pad (Mini LP) currently in operation across Europe and North America, the Canadian startup is ramping up for big things in 2013.

The Mega LP was unveiled in Austria this past winter kicking off the Chiemsee Progression Tour making the Mega LP available for public trials at a variety of European host resorts. Outside of this tour, Haslwanter and his crew of skiers and snowboarders "da Airpatrol" also use the Landing Pad in their aerial shows, both of which will be featured daily at Europe's leading international sports business trade show, ISPO Munich, running from February 3 to 6, 2013. Nominated among the top 20 finalists for the "ISPO Brand New Award" Katal will also be represented at a tradeshow booth in a special finalist area.

Katal Innovation founders and snowboard enthusiasts Stephen Slen and Aaron Coret have had a whirlwind past few years since designing their first airbag prototype in 2006. Katal was awarded its first contract in 2009 with David Atkins Enterprises to deliver a custom airbag for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games opening ceremony. In 2011 Slen and Coret's safety innovation garnered them accolades from Popular Science Magazine, naming the Landing Pad to their "Invention of the Year" list and they were chosen to speak at TEDx Vancouver on the topic of "Finding Your Passion". This past January the pair were included on ESPN's "Top 50 Most Influential People in Action Sports" list.

The event that inspired their innovation was a missed landing on a snowboarding trick in 2005 that left Coret paralyzed from the neck down. Both engineering students at the University of British Columbia at the time, Slen and Coret decided to dedicate their final Integrated Engineering project to creating a next generation airbag that would allow skiers and snowboarders to progress riding in a safe environment. Katal's unique design differs from current flat airbags on the market by the signature sloped landing surface. By including a downward slope in the shape of the inflated structure, the LP technology allows users to maintain their forward momentum while most of their vertical motion is absorbed by air displacement out of the airbag upon impact.

With their Mini LP currently installed at Cypress Mountain Resort in British Columbia, the Mega LP touring through Europe with Haslwanter and the recent addition of Slope Style competition in the Winter Olympics, Katal Innovations is hoping to ride their current momentum through 2013.

"This is what you get when you put in 6 years of airbag engineering and R&D with an obsession to deliver the nest product possible." says Aaron Coret.

From day one, Katal has been committed to engineering a product from the ground up that provides skiers and snowboarders the safest and most realistic freestyle training experience possible. Now a reality, the Landing Pad, allows riders to try that trick they've been dreaming of for years without fear of injury. To learn more visit www.katalinnovations.com.

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