Joseph Vargas

 We take to the slopes and town in Burton’s military inspired Breach jacket. Written by: Mike Walker Last Updated: 21 Oct 2018 Price£200QualityComfortValuePerformanceOverall Score+Great styling‐Massively heavyA big, heavy beast of a jacket, Burton’s Breach is not one you’ll ever want to be carrying in a pack. What it does have going for it though…

Price£550QualityComfortValuePerformanceOverall Score+Great cut and freedom of movement‐As always with Gore Pro, it’s crinkly.This jacket is designed to be the absolute last word in backcountry performance with no corners cut or seams left untapped. Arc’teryx have employed the best in fabric technology to achieve this in the form of Gore Tex Pro which provides extreme protection…

Price£170QualityComfortValuePerformanceOverall Score+Warmth and impressive water-proofing – while the DWR lasts‐Restrictive, bulky feel, lack of vents and short armsThe Slalom is Dare 2b’s mid-range insulated ski jacket that’s designed to appeal for both the slopes and the street. Made with a supple, non-plasticy feeling polyester Oxford fabric, the first impressions of the Slalom are of a…

Despite its powder hound sounding name, the insulated Powder Keg II will appeal equally to those looking to carve the front-side groomers in understated all-mountain style.From the outside this jacket’s looks are street-friendly – the muted green with orange detailing of the model we tested only standing out from the crowd with subtle style rather…

Highly functional with a no-compromise approach to practical back-country weather and mountain protection, the 2019 Ventus 3L Jacket attempts to improve on an already highly acclaimed design – in only the second year since Black Crows started making ski touring apparel.At first glance the Ventus looks and feels like a minimalist mountain top layer -…

On the face of it the Salomon Icefrost jacket is a fairly simplistic ski jacket; warm, waterproof and colourful, it’s almost retro in that sense! But as you’d expect, Salomon’s quality and attention to detail elevates the jacket in almost every regard. The membrane is Salomon’s proprietary 20k/20k waterproof/breathable AdvancedSkin Dry and the insulation is…

The Edge jacket by Quiksilver is a beefy insulator, giving the impression of an expedition suit, but with a little more freeride style! And, as far as we’re aware, nothing to do with U2’s guitarist. The insulation is the major factor here; Primaloft Silver ThermoPlume and Black Eco are liberally applied to the torso -…

Ever popular with Seasonaires, Protest are well known for producing ski gear that’s both friendly on the wallet and good looking.The Clavin is definitely affordable, at £160 but the looks really let it down. The usually young, stylish approach of Protest seems to have passed the designers by this time around leaving a pretty uninspiring…

Sitting in Picture’s Expedition range of apparel is the Zephir on test which utilises high end tech to make a jacket that works as well in the backcountry as it does on piste. Key to this is a high performing 20k/20k Dryplay fabric. We’re fans of this fabric/membrane combo as it offers not only great…

The Sabre AR from Arc’teryx is an iteration of what used to be called the Sabre (the AR stands for All Round and indicates a level of versatility that may not be present in their more targeted pieces) and it is aimed squarely at backcountry skiing and snowboarding – or as Arc’teryx put it, ‘big…

Price£815QualityComfortValuePerformanceOverall Score+The price is matched by quality and comfort‐Almost a point not worth making, but could be too warm…As the name suggests, Spyder’s Hokkaido jacket is aimed at powder hunters and one thing that is immediately apparent is a slightly more progressive fit than some of their smarter resort-focussed offerings. That said, whilst the look…

Price£719QualityComfortValuePerformanceOverall Score+2-in-1 format offers versatility and good use of the tech‐Pricey, fussy and less than the sum of its many partsLess is more. Unless you work in Dainese’s product development department. The AWA Tech RC jacket contains more industry-standard, third-party materials than it does acronyms; Gore Tex waterproof membrane, Primaloft Cross Core synthetic insulation and…