Rush Jacket is my overall top pick.
#Note: My full Arc'teryx review list is at the bottom.
If you're unaware, Arc'teryx uses a specific logo for skiing & snowboarding specific collections (as you can see on their own naming scheme page here). There are 7 jackets supported with this logo.
- 24-Jul-2020 Update: In July 2020, Arc'teryx discontinued the following models:
- Men's Sidewinder,
- Women's Tiya,
- Women's Shashka;
- And introduced the following models:
- 12-Oct-2020 Update: Arc'teryx published a guide to their ski jackets, and I'd recommend you to check that out too.
By the way, if you're unaware:
- Resort: Skiing / snowboarding close to the piste or right at the resort,
- Freeride: A little bit far from that,
- Touring (a.k.a Backcountry skiing): The farthest. Requires the most experience.
- This post goes deeper into how these 3 types differ from each other.
Design intention | RESORT | RESORT | FREERIDE | TOURING | FREERIDE | FREERIDE | TOURING |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
MSRP | 999 USD | 799 USD | 599 USD | 749 USD | 699 USD | 675 USD | 799 USD |
Cell | Warmest (both down & synthetic insulation - reason for staggering price tag) and overall very well balanced for resort skiing in frigid weather. | Trim fit, very comfortable and durable but is shorter in length and difficult to pack due to stiff surface. Mostly for resort. | Trimmest fitting, and the most comfortable and stretchy pick. Brushed flannel backer adds to its warmth. | Internal stash pocket and overall design make it a great option and my number one pick for back-country skiers. | Most portable (advantage if you'll mostly travel to ski) and offers smoothest inner surface (advantage if you'll be wearing nothing but a t-shirt under) | A baggier alternative to Sabre LT. | It seems to me that you must have a good reason to get this as the lowest temp it'll keep you warm would only be around 30 deg F (0 deg C). So, instead of getting this, I'd consider under layering the Rush (not IS!) with one of these. |
Cell | Macai | Cassiar | Cassiar LT | Rush | Sabre LT | Sabre AR | Rush IS |
Breathability Packability Weather Resistance Durability Length Bagginess | |||||||
Macai | Cassiar | Cassiar LT | Rush | Sabre LT | Sabre AR | Rush IS | |
Weight | 1 kg / 2 lb 4 oz | 820 g / 1 lb 12.9 oz | 605 g / 1 lb 5.3 oz | 590 g / 1 lb 4.8 oz | 630 g / 1 lb 6.2 oz | 700 g / 1 lb 8.7 oz | 720 g / 1 lb 9.4 oz |
Materials | N40p-X GORE-TEX fabric with 3L tricot technology Coreloft 100 (100 g/m²), Coreloft Compact (60 g/m²), 65 g (M Size) 750 FP down | N70s-4 3L GORE-TEX fabric with lo-loft soft shell construction | N70p 3L GORE-TEX fabric with brushed flannel backer | N100p-X 3L Most Rugged GORE-TEX PRO - yoke N80p-X 3L Most Rugged GORE-TEX PRO | N80p 3L GORE-TEX fabric with GORE C-KNIT™ backer technology | N70p 3L GORE-TEX fabric with lo-loft softshell construction | N70p-X 2L GORE-TEX Octa® Loft breathable insulation - 100% polyester |
Women's counterpart | |||||||
Cell | #Note: All face fabrics are DWR (durable water repellent) applied. DWR is a coating. It's basically sprayed on to the surface of these jackets as a finish. It stands for Durable Water Repellent - which means that water will be repelled under wet conditions instead of soaking into the fabric. DWR also decreases dry time. It's a good thing these jackets are coated in DWR, but pay attention to the fact that DWR is a coating - meaning that it will wear off over time. Which is why you might want to invest in a DWR spray such as this one for after treatment. As you see, there's a strong correlation between FP x FW and temperature ratings, but not more than, say, 80%. I explained why this happens here in this post of mine. | ||||||
Except Rush IS, they all offer a fair amount of breathability. You probably won't notice big differences.
Colors indicate design intentions:
- Red: All-round, general purpose;
- Green: Hiking, backpacking, trekking;
- Blue: Snow sports,
- Grey: Climbing & alpine activities.
Bold are my top picks for each category. Also see my Best Arc'teryx Jackets article to read more about this.
| Breath-ability | Pack-ability | Weather Resistance | Durability | Length | Bagginess |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7/10 | 7/10 | 5/10 | 4/10 | 6/10 | 7/10 | |
8/10 | 5/10 | 8/10 | 9/10 | 7/10 | 8/10 | |
8/10 | 3/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 | |
10/10 | 8/10 | 2/10 | 3/10 | 6/10 | 5/10 | |
10/10 | 5/10 | 3/10 | 7/10 | 7/10 | 6/10 | |
8/10 | 4/10 | 4/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 | 6/10 | |
3/10 | 8/10 | 5/10 | 3/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 | |
8/10 | 5/10 | 8/10 | 9/10 | 6/10 | 7/10 | |
8/10 | 3/10 | 7/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 | 3/10 | |
6/10 | 5/10 | 6/10 | 6/10 | 7/10 | 3/10 | |
8/10 | 3/10 | 9/10 | 9/10 | 10/10 | 6/10 | |
7/10 | 8/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 | 10/10 | 7/10 | |
7/10 | 7/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 | 9/10 | 8/10 | |
5/10 | 3/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 | 10/10 | 6/10 | |
9/10 | 5/10 | 8/10 | 8/10 | 7/10 | 8/10 | |
8/10 | 3/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 9/10 | 10/10 |
I've also just put together an Arc'teryx spreadsheet recently. Might help you out: https://outdoorcrunch.com/arcteryx-wiki/
You can check out their comparisons on Arc'teryx's own site here and here. If you're an instructor, make sure to take a look at Arc'teryx's Pro Program. There might be more options/discounts for you.
Cassiar vs Cassiar LT
I contacted Arc'teryx about this and here's their response:
"They will be similar in terms of breathability and weather resistance (wind and waterproofness), however the Cassiar is much more durable than the Cassiar LT, due to a difference in face fabrics.
- The Cassiar LT fabric is N70p 3L GORE-TEX fabric with brushed flannel backer, which means it is a 3 layer Gore-Tex construction with 70denier, plain weave face fabric.
- The Cassiar fabric is N70s-4 3L GORE-TEX fabric with lo-loft soft shell construction, which means it is a 3 layer Gore-Tex construction with 70denier, stretch face fabric.
The additional -4 also denotes that this face fabric has an exceptional weight to durability ratio.
The stretch fabric of the Cassiar would also mean it's a bit more moveable.
If you ride close to trees at all, I'd highly suggest the Cassiar over the Cassiar LT for that extra durability.
The Cassiar series of product is designed with resort type activities in mind for the principle usage."
What difference does the backcountry vs resort skiing make?
Backcountry Skiing (a.k.a Touring)
Hiking your way up to the peak and carrying relatively more items with you gives breathability a larger factor when skiing in the backcountry - so shells are usually preferred more than the insulated jackets.
There are also some small design details here and there.
Rush is a perfect example for this - its internal stash pocket is designed to be shallower in order to store items such as goggles or gloves, to make transitioning in the backcountry as seamless as possible.
Resort Skiing
Resort skiers, on the other hand, are divided into two groups. Generally speaking, those who prefer non-insulated shells usually either;
- don't ski when it's below 30 deg F (0 deg C),
- tend to overheat a lot they can sacrifice warmth to maximize breathability in return,
- or more leaned towards comfort and flexibility side of the balance rather than the warmth.
If these don't apply to you, then I'd recommend most of you to forget about getting one of these shell jackets laid out in the table above. You'd probably do better getting yourself a breathable, insulated jacket instead.
Freeride
This is somewhere between Resort and Backcountry Skiing settings.
An important caveat here
Apart from RECCO Reflectors and powder skirts, these jackets mostly don't offer anything else you can benefit specifically when skiing and/or snowboarding.
So if you think you wouldn't make much use of these two features for any reason, and would actually prefer something that's great at a lot of things (but not perfect at anything - including skiing and snowboarding) then I'd also recommend you to consider getting an all-round jacket such as Beta AR or Beta SV.
Since they aren't biased towards any specific outdoor activity, they'll be more versatility focused and can be better choices for you. I'd strongly recommend everyone to prefer skiing or snowboarding with Beta AR from time to time rather than prefer climbing/hiking/fat biking with any Rush or Sabre models from time to time!
Lastly, if you're torn between Rush and Sabre, then you can check out my related post about it.
I hope this post was helpful for you to learn more about the jacket(s) in your mind.
Feel free to ask me any questions or provide feedback and I'll be happy to respond in the comment section below.
Guide: Insulated & Shell Jackets
Start here:
Complete list:
Also see:
Thank you for reading!
I need your advice on what Arcteryx jacket would be best suited for what i really need and also a good investment. I am looking for an skiing jacket such as the Sabre LT, SAbre, Cassiar and Rush but i do know that i will not be doing alot of skiing (like every winter) but rather it will be most likely seasonal and whenever me and family can splurge on for an ski trip.
I’ve never ski’d before so i am giving skiing a try this time. however i’ve done snowboarding before and the jackets and pants i had are way too baggy for skiing.
I just want to hear your advice as i just dont want to invest on skiing jacket that i won’t be using alot. Other activities me and family does is camping, hiking, walking, traveling , do you think i should be able to find a jacket that can fill this as well?
I’m 5’5″ /149 lbs. – i’ve included this so that you can tell me which jacket will fit me well.
I have a Atom LT (Small) and i love it.
Regards,
John
jhtalusan@gmail.com