Mountain Hardwear Hooded Insulated Compressor PL Jacket - Women's - 2009 BCS

They are all very similar in warmth. The Compressor PL Jacket uses 120grams of Primaloft as it's insulation. The thickness or overall weight (60 vs. 80 vs. 120 vs 200grams) of this insulation is what makes the r-value (insulative value) increase or decrease not what it is made of or its contents. So, put another way, I don't think that you will be able to tell the difference in warmth between Primaloft ECO, Primaloft One, and the Primaloft Sport in a 120gram thickness. I hope this info helps!

I think you'll want to size up for this, so most likely you will want a medium. I'm near the upper end of the size range for medium in Mountain Hardwear jackets and I definitely had to buy a large to go over my hardshell.

These are all PrimaloftEco. The price difference in most cases is due to the fact that we are running out of a certain size or color, sometimes its older product but thats not the case here.

So go green and snatch up a toasty Eco jacket!

First, I own the Compressor Hooded jacket and I've never seen the Montbell Thermawrap parka, so take my opinion with that in mind.  The men's Compressor hooded jacket weighs in at 19 oz while the men's Thermawrap parka weighs in at 12.3 oz- that's a pretty significant difference that has to be mostly due to fill since the outer shell of the Compressor jacket already feels pretty wispy.   Based on this I'd expect the Compressor jacket to be warmer but also to take up more space in a pack.  As far as durability, I can only speak to the Compressor, which will be fine for it's intended use (which is what you describe yourself to be looking for) but it certainly wouldn't take the place of a hardshell or a softshell.

The Compressor jacket is definitely not a ski jacket - it's designed to be used either as a mid-layer or as an extra outer layer that you can throw on when you've stopped moving and don't want to freeze. I have one and I while I think it is great for its intended use I would never recommend it as a shell for skiing.

While down is nice, it really could be completely overkill for what you need - I looked at the Cloudveil Koven Plus Down Parka earlier this year and it was clear that I could never use this for skiing in the part of the country where I live.

One synthetic jacket that really looks like it could meet your need is the Cloudveil Madison jacket. The Madison jacket is definitely more expensive, but you are paying for a durable, waterproof shell, and I really like Cloudveil for ski-related gear. Backcountry.com doesn't appear to carry the full jacket right now, only the quilted Madison jacket - it's not the same thing, look at Mountain Hardwear's website.

If you do start thinking about a down jacket, I personally think that the Mountain Hardwear Synchronicity Jacket looks very promising - it's significantly lighter than the Koven Plus Down Jacket that I tried on, so I'm thinking it would likely be more appropriate for skiing in conditions above 0* F.

Yes.

Johanna. Not sure which 'cheaper one' you are referring to but the difference in cost may be because the less expensive on is from last year. The Eco Primaloft is used in the F'09 jackets. Last year regular primaloft was used. Hope this helps...