Shell Game

I learned to ski as a kid at a little hill in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia called Wintergreen. It’s a classic East Coast ski resort where the lodge is on the top of the mountain and they hand out trash bags at the base of the lifts so you don’t get soaked by the snow makers on the way up.

In 1985, the height of ski fashion at Wintergreen was a CB Sports jacket, jeans and gaiters. And you better believe it, that’s the outfit I was rockin’ along with my prized chicken-heart Dynastars.

At about the same time, GORE-TEX hit the scene and and was quickly adopted by the ski industry with its unique claim of “waterproof” AND “breathable.” I especially remember coveting one of those sweet yellow and black TNF Steep Tech getups that Scott Schmidtt always wore. Of course, who could afford it?

Years later, after college, I landed a job turning screws on rental bindings at a ski shop. It wasn’t glamorous but I could ski every day and I got to buy gear ridiculously cheap on the legendary shop form (typically 20% below wholesale). I promptly blew my first paycheck on a real GORE-TEX jacket from Marmot.

Up until last year, I was still a believer in GORE-TEX ski jackets. Sure, I often got a little clammy on the inside, especially after a long bump run, but I figured that was part of the bargain. I knew about soft shells, but I never owned one and I always assumed I would get cold wearing one.

Then, I started working on the Polartec account at Backbone and it became immediately obvious that I had a lot to learn about technical fabrics. I studied semi-permeable membranes, MVTR and CFM’s. Rather than try to explain it here, I’ll point you to a terrific article about the pros and cons of GORE-TEX on The Cleanest Line, a great blog from the good folks at Patagonia. Read the GORE-TEX post here here.

Last winter, I started wearing both the Arc’Teryx Griffon and the Millet Super Touring jackets at the resort and in the backcountry. They’re both soft shells featuring Polartec Power Shield fabric. Simply put, Polartec soft shells are my new favorite jackets: they’re warm, they allow some wind and air to move through, thus effectively wicking moisture away, and they’ve kept me dry on even the snowiest days. My GORE-TEX shell is collecting dust in the back of my closet.