The International Ski Federation (FIS) announced Tuesday that its new air bag safety system will debut January 10 at the World Cup women鈥檚 downhill in Austria, the . Italian manufacturer 聽designed the air bags to inflate when a racer has irredeemably lost control, padding the skier鈥檚 neck, shoulders, arms, and backbone.
The FIS had originally planned the debut for December, but its聽postponed its approval in late October. The original design made skiers鈥 back protectors thicker than 45 millimeters, which violated equipment rules.
Now corrected and approved, the air bag may be used in World Cup training sessions until its official introduction in January. The system can deploy in 100 milliseconds and absorbs 61 percent of the impact, Vittorio Cafaggi of Dainese聽 last winter. The FIS stopped short of making the air bags mandatory.