Contributions by Skinney911 (3)

I am gonna bail on all the synthetics from here on out. Good-bye Patagonia Capilene... Good-bye Under Armour Cold Gear... Hello Lamb Chops I am here to stay! Absolutely the best base layer I have ever owned. I don't care about the special washing requirements. The itch wasn't even noticeable and I have sensitive skin. I was amazed at how little body odored was trapped by this material. As with most things now-a-days, you pay for performance when it comes to winter gear. Arc'teryx never ceases to amaze me. I am buying the matching bottoms.

I went to the Backcountry.Com warehouse and showroom in West Valley, Utah. I was looking for a Jacket to replace my North Face Mtn. Guide Jacket. I did my homework and researched several different jackets all of which had one thing in common... the new GORE-TEX PRO. I tried on the Following jackets: Arc'teryx Sidewinders SV & AR, Mountain Hardwear Beryllium, & North Face Free Thinker. I wanted it to be roomy because I am not your average skinny runt snowboarder. I am 6"2 with 54" Chest 36' waist. This jacket fit the best for my XXL build. These last 2 days 1/29-1/30 2008 have been epic at Snowbird Utah 48" fell in 2 days. (They are saying the best in 20 years) This jacket was bomb proof and it kept me dry. It was waist to chest deep power. I dropped in off of Great Scott and the Cirques with this jacket keeping me completely dry even while cart-wheeling and eating it due to the poor visibility. I ski patrolled on board at The Canyons and got to demo a lot of jackets. This by far is the best jacket I have ever worn.

The collar is high but it is awesome in deep powder...nothing gets in. You don't have to wear one of those stupid ninja hoods that causes your goggles to fog with the higher collar. Obviously those who complain about the high collar have never been in deep powder. The powder skirt was also flawless. My helmet did not rub on my coat. The hood that is zipped up in the collar is a storm hood. I compared the other Arc'teryx jackets with the storm hood outside the collar while trying on several coats in their showroom in Utah. If your a free skier or a boarder and you want free range of motion this is the best Arc'teryx model that I tried on.