So since I started talking about hard/soft shells a lot, I also started to notice quite a bit of you guys base your questions around skiing/snowboarding. So I've decided to put together a post around this.
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.
16-Jan-2020 Important 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.
Design intention | RESORT | FREERIDE | RESORT | TOURING | FREERIDE | FREERIDE | TOURING |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
MSRP | 949 USD | 749 USD | 725 USD | 699 USD | 649 USD | 625 USD | 699 USD |
Current list prices | |||||||
Cell | Warmest (both down & synthetic insulation - reason for staggering price tag) and overall very well balanced for resort skiing in frigid weather. | Incredibly durable AND light. If you don't need warmth, then this is definitely a superior option to Macai. | Trimmest fitting, very comfortable and very durable but is shorter in length and difficult to pack due to stiff surface. Mostly for resort. | 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 | Sidewinder | Cassiar | Rush | Sabre LT | Sabre AR | Rush IS |
Breathability Packability Weather Resistance Durability Length Bagginess | |||||||
Macai | Sidewinder | Cassiar | Rush | Sabre LT | Sabre AR | Rush IS | |
Weight | 1 kg / 2 lb 4 oz | 590 g / 1 lb 4.8 oz | 820 g / 1 lb 12.9 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) | N80p-X GORE-TEX Pro 3L | N70s-4 3L GORE-TEX fabric with lo-loft soft shell construction | N80p-X GORE-TEX Pro 3L | N80p 3L GORE-TEX fabric with GORE C-KNIT™ backer technology | N70p 3L GORE-TEX fabric with lo-loft softshell construction | N40p-X 2L GORE-TEX |
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. | ||||||
Except Rush IS, they all offer a fair amount of breathability. You probably won't notice big differences.
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.
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:
Thank you for reading!
