There's no doubt that The North Face produces premium-quality gear, and the The North Face Summit Verbier Gore-tex exemplifies that!

This jacket is tough; in fact, I'd almost question whether many skiers actually need one like this, especially when just skiing the piste.

If that's all you do, you might consider The North Face Chakal jacket, which ticks many of the boxes a piste skier needs.

However, I don't tend to do more normal piste skiing and need a jacket that can take all the mountain (and forests) can throw at you, and not just skiing down but climbing up in the foulest of weathers.

 

This jacket is bomb-proof

And The North Face design team have done a great job of thinking the functionality of this jacket through, and I can't think of anything that I'd change, though why oh why can't they put a substantial loop like some cord to securely hang the jacket up on a hook, and yes, maybe the mesh pockets could be a wee bit bigger to accomodate climbing skins after transitioning (see video below), but I'm being very fussy.

From top to bottom, the jacket has great functionality, the hood stays put over the helmet and googles, and the collar is substantial, keeping out snow when getting those all-important face shots :)

 

 

For me at 178 and 79kgs, a size large was a little roomy, but there again, when the weather really turns for the worse, and you need to put a down jacket on underneath, then the sizing is nigh on perfect. 

There are so many pockets, in fact, in the video, I missed the two main side chest pockets, which can be used for additional ventilation alongside the more conventional under-the-arm vents. I also really like the two side pockets at the bottom of the jacket, all highly practical, and great for dog biscuits :)

And if you do ski on the piste, which let's face it, many will do, as this is such a good all-round jacket that would be wasted on the Shoreditch Hipster bars, then there's also a great wrist pocket with a goggle wipe-cloth and internal ski-pass holder.

And special mention to the thumb loops at the end of the arms, which help stretch the arms out before using the velcro cuffs, which is often a personal choice, on whether the cuffs go over or under the gloves/mitts, etc.

Ski-touring with the The North Face Summit Verbier jacket

Gear selection when ski-touring is critical, especially when doing a hut-to-hut ski tour over the course of a week, when you're touring from refuge to refuge carrying all the kit you need for the week, and that means carrying both a hard shell like the North Face Summit Verbier and a down jacket for all weather eventualities, and to a certain extent the terrain you might actually be skiing in, such as forrests which can have a tendency to rip your lovely down jacket.

In the image below, you can see the weather was excellent, and since it was only a short day tour, I had the luxury of knowing what to wear and what to expect in terms of conditions on both the ascent and descent.

Shortly after the photo was taken, even with all the ventilation open, I still found myself having to take it off, and it's here that a jacket's weight and packability is important, and The North Face is marginally on the heavy side and subsequently does not pack down as well as you'd hope, that said it was perfectly acceptable, especially as my pack (28lt) was not rammed full.

At the transition (taking the skins off to prepare for the descent) I tested whether the mesh pockets of the jacket could take the skins, as in the case of multi transitioing, which is when you may do a number of smaller climbs in a day, which was the case in Siberia, then it's good to keep the skins close to your body for warmth and not in your pack.

 

When it's snowing or worse (sleet/rain), especially in Europe as temperartures more often than not will be around zero, then ventialtion when climbing is very important, and trying to not to sweat is nigh on impossible even with all the available ventilation, all you can do us try to adapt to the weather, so do not wear a helmet and goggles, and just have one layer which you should probably expect to change to a dry layer when transitioning, which is always a lovely feeling.

 

So this is a great bit of gear if you like skiing in the grimmest of conditions and want to stay dry, the fabric is tough, and as you'll hear and see in the video, it survives what the forest can throw at it :) 

And I was beating myself up to try and write the conclusion, and in the end opted to simply copy and paste The North Face marketing blurb, as that pretty well encapsulates what the jacket is and who it is for, all I'll add is it's a great piece of kit that looks cool.

The Summit Verbier GORE-TEX® Jacket delivers freeride style with big mountain performance.

Further details here.