Columbia Sportswear Women's Whirlibird Parka

This rock-solid 3-in-1 parka is legendarily hardworking and now updated with Omni-Heat for even more powder-blasting warmth. The shell is fully loaded for a long day on the mountain, featuring our highest level of waterproof breathability along with critical seam sealing. The extended collar is lined with plush high pile for supreme against-the-skin softness. The taffeta liner sports flattering angular seam lines and doubles as a sleek lightweight jacket when worn alone. With an Omni-Heat thermal reflective lining and 60 grams of Omni-Heat insulation, it provides insane warmth in a lightweight package.

The snap-back powder skirt on the shell blocks unwanted snow and then tucks out of the way when not in use. Other thoughtful details include a media pocket with internal routing for headphones and stealth glove loops at the cuffs. Stash goggles in roomy interior pockets, get toasty with two external handwarmer zip pockets, and store valuables in a zip pocket at the chest for easy access.

Omni-Heat Thermal Comfort

This thermal technology helps maintain warmth and prevent heat loss, keeping you comfortable in cold weather. Omni-Heat is the ultimate body heat management system for the outdoors. From technical base layer garments to advanced electronics, Omni-Heat ensures you stay warm and comfortable in cold conditions. Omni-Heat products help you counter the cold anywhere and everywhere.

It helps maintain warmth and prevent heat loss with the highest heat retention per gram in the industry. And it helps regulate your temperature by reflecting and retaining the warmth your body generates, while dissipating moisture and excess heat to keep you comfortable.

Omni-Tech Waterproof Breathability

Columbia Sportswear's Omni-Tech products provide premium waterproof and breathable protection by keeping outside elements from getting in, while still allowing moisture vapors to move away from the skin. Microporous membranes keep water from penetrating the fabric yet allow perspiration to escape, so you stay dry.

Omni-Tech's first layer of defense is Omni-Shield, which prevents most water from ever making contact with the inner layers. Next, a microporous membrane provides the primary and most impervious layer of defense by completely blocking the passage of water molecules into the fabric. Omni-Tech membranes are 100% air permeable, which allows moisture vapors to escape. This superior breathability keeps you dry from the inside out. Lastly, lining materials protect the Omni-Tech membrane from underneath, while adding additional wicking properties.

About Columbia Sportswear

Founded in 1938, Columbia Sportswear Company has grown from a small family-owned hat distributor to one of the world's largest outerwear brands and the leading seller of skiwear in the United States. Columbia's extensive product line includes a wide variety of outerwear, sportswear, rugged footwear and accessories. Columbia specializes in developing innovative products that are functional yet stylish and offer great value. Eighty-year-old matriarch Gert Boyle, Chairman of the Board, and her son, Tim Boyle, President and CEO, lead the company.

Columbia's history starts with Gert's parents, Paul and Marie Lamfrom, when they fled Germany in 1937. They bought a small hat distributorship in Portland, Oregon, and named it Columbia Hat Company, after the river bordering the city. Soon frustrated by poor deliveries from suppliers, the Lamfroms decided to start manufacturing products themselves. In 1948, Gert married college sweetheart Neal Boyle, who joined the family business and later took the helm of the growing company. When Neal suddenly died of a heart attack in 1970, Gert enlisted help from Tim, then a college senior. After that it wasn't long before business really started to take off. Columbia was one of the first companies to make jackets from waterproof/breathable fabric. They introduced the breakthrough technology called the Columbia Interchange System, in which a shell and liner combine for multiple wearing options. In the early 1980s, then 60 year-old Gert began her role as "Mother Boyle" in Columbia's successful and popular advertising campaign.

The company went public in 1998 and moved into a new era as a world leader in the active outdoor apparel industry. Today, Columbia Sportswear employs more than 1,800 people around the world and distributes and sells products in more than 50 countries and to more than 12,000 retailers internationally.