Patagonia Upstride Jacket | Review
Why We Chose The Patagonia Upstride Jacket: Recycled materials, stretchy, breathable.
Price: £260
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Cards on the table time. Here at Mpora, we like Patagonia. We like the technical quality of their gear, we like their activist nature, we like that they’re a sound brand that would, if it could, always “get their round in.”
Ski tourers that enjoy the ascents as much / almost as much as the descents will love this, the Upstride Jacket. It’s made to be super breathable, made for rapid uphill movement, made for high-output, predictable weather, missions in the backcountry.
It’s well worth its place in our Ski 100.
Materials
What we’re looking at here is a 100% recycled polyester stretch-knit face bonded to an embossed polyester backer, with a DWR (durable water repellent) finish. Patagonia, it’s fair to say, has long been on the front foot with using recycled materials more than most. It’s easy then, with that in mind, to let such progress go almost unnoticed. But no, not here. Fair play, Patagonia. 100% is 100%. That’s the magic number, and something for all brands to aim at.
From a performance point of view, the stretchy, highly-breathable, nature of the fabric here makes it ideal for the movers and shakers on the mountain; the skiers who are up at sunset with their skins, and don’t quit until the day is well and truly done. It’s overkill for the one-lap of the blue, followed by a four hour lunch break, brigade but for serious folk it’ll be seriously good.
The weather-resistant bonded soft shell with a knit-grid backer will slide effortlessly over skin and base layers, making for a comfortable wearing experience. Ethical people, who care about ethical things, will also be glad to know this item is Fair Trade Certified sewn.
Features
We’ll continue banging the “we like pockets on our outerwear” drum until hell freezes over and the sun falls out of the sky. The two oversized chest pockets on the Upstride, which double as vents, and the additional chest pocket makes securing your essentials an absolute breeze with this thing. Big pockets = big room for those bits you’ll be wanting to keep close at hand (nobody wants to be constantly having to take their backpack on and off).
The adjustable fixed hood with laminated visor has been designed to work without a helmet for uphill comfort. Worried about your head on the descent? Worry not. The Upstride hood has room for low-profile helmets to go under it during the downhill charging.
There’s also a concealed built-in RECCO reflector here. Obviously, no substitute for a fully-functioning avalanche transceiver (an absolute essential item if you’re going into the backcountry) but worth pointing out anyway we think.
The Upstride comes in two types of blue – ‘Andes Blue’ and ‘Smolder Blue’. Good news if you like blue.
Conclusion
If you know what the weather’s got in store, don’t fancy spending four billion pounds on some outerwear, and are planning to head out for an effort-requiring ski tour – it’s got your name written all over it. It’s a thumbs up, from us, for the Patagonia Upstride.
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