Columbia Sportswear’s Latest Technology Adds Warmth To Your Winter Base Layers

Late last spring, I flew to Alaska for a top-secret preview and gear test of Columbia Sportswear’s latest thermal technology innovation. Called Omni-Heat Helix, soft pods constructed from closed-cell foam were positioned on the inside of a garment help to keep you warm, dry and comfortable in the cold. Debuting in a collection of base layers and mid layers this autumn, Omni-Heat Helix is just the latest evolution in decades of thermal technology innovation from the Oregon brand.

The Omni-Heat R-evolution

Over a decade ago now, Columbia introduced their first generation of Omni-Heat thermal technology. The original thermal reflective tech was based on the space blanket concept from NASA that relied upon an aluminized material lining inside a jacket to direct your body heat back at you, thus keeping you warm. The challenge for Columbia, however, came when figuring out how to retain the garment’s breathability.

According to Dr. Haskell Beckham, Columbia’s Senior Director of Innovation, “A [solid] film of aluminum on the inside of your jacket wouldn't let any of your moisture get out and you’d eventually start baking and sweating like crazy,” he said. “What the Columbia innovation team figured out how to do 10 years ago was to take the foil and apply it on a fabric in the form of little dots. The dots themselves reflect the heat and the spaces between the dots have the same properties as the normal fabric, which allows it to breathe.”

Even after the big success of the original Omni-Heat collection, Columbia continued to improve the technology. Following the mantra of the brand’s late founder and One Tough Mother, Gert Boyle, “It’s perfect. Now make it better.”

Since the release of the first Omni-Heat jacket 10 years ago, newer and better iterations of the thermal technology have since hit the shelves. For example, Omni-Heat 3D added pods of vertical fibers next-to-skin to create a layer of warm, trapped air; Omni-Heat Black Dot placed heat absorbing dots on the outside of jacket; And last year, the launch of Omni-Heat Infinity relied upon a mix of small and large gold reflective dots which enabled a greater coverage area for heat reflexion without compromising breathability. One of the biggest benefits of Omni-Heat Infinity is that it makes it possible to produce a lightweight jacket that’s still warm. The Platinum Peak Hooded Jacket is the latest addition to incorporate such technology.

For the coming 2022 fall and winter season, Columbia focused their attention on base- and mid-layer innovation. With the new Omni-Heat Helix technology, closed cell foam pods are applied to the interior of knits and fleeces. While closed cell foam is known to be a great insulator—you can find it in insulated sleeping pads, for example—it wouldn’t help to completely cover yourself in the material as it’s not breathable. To get around that, the pods are applied in a discontinuous pattern to the inside of the garment, allowing the underlying fabric to breathe.

The pods work by holding on to heat longer than the underlying base layer material, and they also add a three-dimensional texture to the construction of the garment which helps trap air for increased warmth retention and breathability. The layers are great for cold weather sports such as skiing, hiking or climbing when you’re highly active with periods of rest—they hold on to heat when you need it and release it when you don’t, without leaving you wet and cold.

How Did Omni-Heat Helix Perform In The Alaskan Wilderness?

Our destination was Spencer Glacier, a short, scenic rail journey south from the state’s largest city, Anchorage. Rising 3,500 feet in an imposing ramp from a glacial lake peppered with royal-blue icebergs in the Chugach National Forest, the glacier served as the proving ground for a collection of Columbia’s new gear, including apparel and footwear.

The assignment for the next few days was to hike across brushy flats to the glacial moraine, kayak across (and swim in!) the lake, weaving in and out of floating icebergs, throw on our helmets and crampons and venture up the glacier toward the upper ice field and sleep out under the stars each night while enjoying wild salmon and a swig or two of whisky.

My outfit consisted of the Bliss Ascent Long Sleeve Shirt and Titan Pass Helix Leggings along with the OutDry Ex Mesh Shell and Platinum Peak Hooded Jacket. With temperatures hovering in the 40s and 50s during the day, I stayed toasty warm in just my base layers and shell. Once it was time for dinner, I threw on my puffy jacket as the sun began to set and the temperature dipped below freezing.

As your next-to-skin article of clothing, base layers play a key role in pulling moisture away from your body and trapping air to keep you warm. What I noticed is that, unlike Merino wool which tends to absorb moisture, the Omni-Heat Helix base layers didn’t hold on to sweat. This meant that when I stopped moving and stood around in the cold, my core stayed warm because I wasn’t damp.

The soft foam pods felt soft against my bare skin, almost like a fleece layer. This is a big improvement over the original Omni-Heat base layers from 10 years ago that felt a bit clammy whenever you stopped moving because of the silver dot lining.

Polyester base layers are infamous for getting stinky quickly, but Columbia added something to their fabric to help capture and neutralize odors, and while perhaps not as good as fighting stink as Merino wool, you can get away with wearing the layers multiple times before washing.

Columbia’s new Omni-Heat Helix thermal technology can be found in a variety of base layer and mid layer styles for both men and women, ranging in price from $55 to $90. I anticipate wearing mine for many cold seasons to come.

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