Review: Buying Right

Jackets to Bridge the Slope-Sports Divide
By Rob Story

But now it seems ski fashion is the one doing the nudging. This winter's snowboard gear has kissed lumberjack couture good-bye and embraced technical skiwear fabrics as well as features like underarm zippers and storm flaps. (Thankfully, the designers are still loathe to adopt such sartorial mountaineering clich‰s as black shoulder patches.) The result is outerwear that doesn't look the part, but that stands up to the elements almost as well as clothes Reinhold Messner might wear — which means, at least in the case of the six jackets we tested, that you can expect both skiers and snowboarders to wear them. To be sure, the XXL flannel shirt is a beloved icon of snowboard culture, but better to ride in a stormproof jacket and save the fuzzy cotton for next decade's inevitable Grunge Revival parties.

Shells may be the more versatile outerwear, but there will always remain a need for the insulated jacket. Boulder Gear's McTwist Parka ($180; 800-342-8088) is one of the warmest. A silky, waterproof-breathable coated fabric called Gravitex 2000 cloaks a svelte polyester insulation, and the McTwist boasts a velvety fleece lining. Other hedges against foul weather include a storm skirt, a detachable hood, and a brilliant built-in goggle chamois. The McTwist's only head-scratcher is the size of its front pockets: They're small and resist the burrowing of bulky gloves.

At the other extreme, Fila's Full Medal Jacket ($219; 800-717-5757) is a nod to the reality that a preponderance of boarders ride in the moderate climes of the Sierra and the Cascades — and that everyone else can always layer. Fabric geeks will chalk this up to the sweat-hoovering polyhydrophobic mesh liner and water-resistant nylon shell. But the rest of us will simply appreciate touches like multiple hook-and-loop patches on the cuffs, which matter a great deal since most winter gloves fit over the sleeve while spring gloves go underneath.

Founded in 1989 by two buddies who whipped up some funky cotton tubes and called them headwear, Mambosok has gotten much more serious, now offering its own waterproof-breathables. The Cruz jacket ($185; 206-232-8222), for instance, addresses situations that the fashion-obsessed boarder may not have time to anticipate. On-and-off storms? Generous armpit zippers allow customized ventilation. Shepherding the car keys for your crew? Two of the five pockets snap down as well as zip shut. Neck irritated from a recent buzz cut? A soft fleece band runs around the interior collar.

The shrewd brains at Sessions were early in noticing that skiers would buy snowboard duds if the graphics were subtle and the function top-notch. Their latest consensus builder is the Tri-Star Jacket ($349; 408-461-5080), a supple Gore-Tex shell that adapts like a chameleon to its surroundings. Remove the hood and open the pit-zips for spring in Tahoe; attach and close for January in Michigan. The jacket's cosmetics go anywhere, too. To underscore that point, Sessions offers the Tri-Star in mock J. Crew colors such as celery, fog, and orbit. (We're guessing the last is some shade of blue.)

Should mountaineers ever embrace hipster style, the Special Blend Vertex ($380; 949-369-8730) could easily wind up atop K2. A supremely technical snowboard shell, it fuses a waterproof-breathable laminate between a nylon skin and a moisture-wicking micromesh. Every last seam is taped, meaning it'll fend off the worst the Rockies can dish out. The dizzying array of features includes vents galore (armpits, chest, and back), side adjusters on the hood to enhance peripheral vision, and a clear plastic envelope for a lift pass.

At first Gore-Tex was found in relatively few snowboard jackets, probably because manufacturers doubted that teenagers could afford it. Well, the grommets grew older, their parents took up their sport, and Wave Rave adopted the stuff. The Storm Peak Parka ($399; 303-744-7015) is the happy result: a brutal-conditions piece made of the toughest of Gore's laminates. Since the folks at Wave Rave seem to live by the credo "tight is not right," the Storm Peak positively exudes bigness: roomy pockets, loose fit, a long cut, and heavy construction that laughs at the puny ministrations of trees and rocks.

Photographs by Clay Ellis