Anonymous

This is a "jacket" not a "parka". The difference - try a hanging belay on water ice with a parka that comes down over your harness. Is it warm? HECK YEAH, it IS 800 fill after all!!!! Who needs pit zips when you can unzip the front of the jacket??? Ok, here is the real deal on this "jacket". It is _very_ light and _very_ warm. I have used it in many extreme weather conditions (Smokey Mtns 18deg to Mt Washington -18deg) and it will do exactly what you want it to do. Great as a belay jacket as it repels spin drift and softens falling ice chunks. Easy to stuff into your climbing pack and pull on over a shell at belay stations. Extremly wind proof. Sits above harness when you are climbing so you can get to your pro. Pockets are fleece on the back on the hand with little insulation on the palm...I was skeptical of this at first but then realized that your body is much warmer than fleece and your hands quickly warm once against your stomach. What it isn't - waterproof but what down jacket that weighs 16oz is? Plus, no down is waterproof...that is what Primaloft is for. Durable, I have a few small tears from ice axes but they don't run and sew up very easily. It is not a "parka". If you are going to Denali, Everest, etc...this is not your parka. If you are backcountry hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, climbing in the Whites or Cascades, or kicking it Apres @ Vail this is the jacket for you.

Used these for 5 days in the White Mtns. on a Snow climb, two gulley climbs in Huntington's Ravine, and two days of ice and they performed much better than expected. I have the 57cm in Adze and Hammer and they were great on vertical NEI3/4 grade climbs, in the piolet-canne position they plunged very well, performed self-arrest flawlessly. I have the tech picks on both and self arrest was fast and not a problem. They stuck well, hammered well, and chopped well....what more do you need from a technical mountain tool? If you are heading to the hills and know you are going to be doing some technical climbing as well as snow climbing (think Liberty Ridge, Mt Washington, N. Face of Mt Baker) this is the tool for you. Not as sweet as some of the other vertical ice tools I used but then again, they are not as good on snow.