Best Arcteryx Jacket for Skiing

As most of you already know, I've been publishing informational guides to all kinds of Arc'teryx pieces (see full post list at the bottom) for the last 3 years. 

I thought a post around Best Arc'teryx Ski Jackets would be helpful for most of you since I've recently published a lot of in-depth information about them.

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:
  • Men's Cassiar LT,
  • Women's Ravenna LT,
  • Women's Incendia,
  • Women's Incendia One Piece,
  • Women's Sentinel IS.
• 12-Oct-2020 Update: Arc'teryx recently 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. 

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.