I think the price tag of this jacket is a complete disgrace especially in todays economy. Give me a break. Says alot about a company putting this out there. I dont care how water proof their zippers are. Stupid.

Ski Bum Ironic statement, considering you bought a 650 buck coat with far less features and rave about it: http://www.backcountry.com/store/review/200022754/Review-Title.html So which is it, high priced and worth the money, over priced and stupid

You'd be surprised what people are still buying in "this economy." The people in the financial position to buy Arc'teryx haven't all been hit as hard as the general population. The store I work in sold more Fission SV jackets this year than we ever have in the past and it's been a pretty mild winter. Now, on to the jacket... I'm sure Brandon Carlile can tell you a lot more about it than I can but the Ventii is a step above the rest of Arc's ski line (in the right conditions). Start with a Mako jacket (which is already $750) and make the hood and powder skirt removable. Next replace the standard Gore Pro Shell exterior with Gore Pro Shell Stretch - and that stuff isn't cheap. Would I pay nearly $1000 for it? No - but it doesn't fit my needs. However, there are people looking for a jacket that does everything the Ventii does and they are willing to pay for it. Don't pretend you're better than everyone else by shaming a company for selling an expensive product.

this is not fancy or high end! it just costs a sh** ton of cash. To be high end, a jacket must be high performance.

Guys do not get so excited, this is high end ski fancy stuff…there are other brands out there that have stuff like this. Arc’teryx is trying to get in this game too…I will never buy this jacket, but nothing wrong about going after this market from the business point of view. Check out Descente bellow, Ski World Circuit supplier…$1,200 for a ski jacket. http://descente.com/en/shop/mens/jackets/woodward

I agree that it's a disgrace because there are perfectly comparable jackets out there for far less. Brandon Carlile talked below about how it's designed for resort skiers, but even then, there are jackets with just as high quality from companies like First Ascent for less than half the price. I have some products from Arc, and yes, they are nice (excluding my chalk bag, which leaks chalk like crazy), but I think very few of the products they make are worth the price. While it doesn't have a dead bird skeleton on it, the Rab Latok jacket offers the same build quality as the Alpha SV for a lesser price, and a company like Rab isn't so confident in their logo that they'll put out a jacket like this. I would also posit that for $600, the Patagonia Super Alpine jacket is a better mountain shell. Arc' lovers, attack me.