Skyward 2 jacket by OR is a winner, ski touring or lifts. (I grabbed the full image off OR site, couldn’t find the blue, my favorite color.
Skyward II is a practical technical shell for touring and non-touring days alike.
Someone at OR should be humming that classic song: “When I Paint My Masterpiece“.
Having been reading about Bob Dylan and The Band of late, I’ve had that tune running through my head (and thinking about visiting Rome). It popped up yet again when I sat down to review the OR Skyward II Jacket. An earworm? Perhaps. But those guys are so good.
Backstory: Last winter I indulged in a side project involving “cross over” ski clothing that could work well for days on ski lifts or on foot. Say, if you’re packing for the European dream trip, extending from Greece to Norway with unknown weather. (No, I’m not becoming a resort skier. Though I do indulge on occasion.)
Sure, you can use your feather-weight ski touring couture for resort skiing. But problems arise. In my case, I use lightweight touring gear that sacrifices durability, waterproofness, and technical features in favor of weight. Chair splinters, coat hooks and heavy rain can be hard on the meager things.
Enter the OR Skyward II jacket. It boasts 3-layer, waterproof breathable Ascent Shell fabric, with plenty of pockets and zippers. “Technical,” in a word. You’re not going to wear this for skimo racing. On the other hand, I think it’s the perfect crossover. Check it out.
For fans of ‘open space equals venting’ we have the uber-vent.
Drop in pockets make me hot, in a good way.
A small detail, but the hood drawstring clamps work well.
More detail. Ever not used the hang loop because it doesn’t exist, or it’s microscopic? No problem here.
Hip pockets. Blah. But they’re there if you like ’em. And nice if you ever ski without a backpack.
The Napoleon pockets are adequate, opening a bit on the small side. The MP3 player pouch is perhaps anachronistic, but perfectly sized for a money clip and credit card.
All the zippers and mid-weight fabric do come at a mass penalty. My tester Skyward weighs 730 grams, while one of my favorite feather-shells comes in at 174.
It’s worth noting OR’s efforts to bring their sewing work to our shores. In April, they opened their second U.S. factory, in California. They’ll still be making things overseas as well (after all, a Korean company owns part of OR), but a few more jobs here don’t hurt. (More, I’m pretty sure they need facilities in the U.S. for making their military contract gear, which in turn helps keep OR afloat.) In my view the best thing about having more sewing machines chugging along in North America: OR’s designers can spend time prototyping instead of long-distance jet traveling. Skipping a few Korean or Mandarin language classes is probably a benefit as well. Perhaps the US based manufacturing will result in better gear along with less carbon spew? In all, good stuff happening at OR.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain. For more about Lou, please see his personal website at https://www.loudawson.com/ (Blogger stats: 5 foot 10 inches (178 cm) tall, 160 lbs (72574.8 grams).
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lou.dawson.writer
10 comments
What is the reasoning behind the full-side zips?? I can’t imagine any functional reason.
Phil, mega venting. As they say, “there is no vent like nothing but air.”
Phil, I have a similar OR jacket with those zips and have used it (and it’s warranty replacement) for 5 seasons so far. The salesman showed me that you can unzip the main zip and full-side zips then fling the two front halves of the jacket over your shoulder in the event that you wanted total venting without having to remove your pack. I’ve yet to do that nor has a friend with the same jacket. So, yeah, not very useful IMO.
“In my view the best thing about having more sewing machines chugging along in North America: OR’s designers can spend time prototyping instead of long-distance jet traveling.” Not even remotely true. I’ve got a friend who works for OR in their government product development group (the stuff that needs to be manufactured in the US). She spends about as much time traveling overseas as anyone I know. Frequent trips to Europe and Asia, as well as visits to factories in California.
Greg, your take is obviously not the information I got. Perhaps we are splitting hairs, or it’s just semantics. My understanding is that having on-shore manufacturing in many case does ease product development and eliminate some cross-world flying. That just seems logical. If your friend spends “about” as much time traveling overseas, then perhaps it is “about” because it is a bit less? Or perhaps there are folks other than your friend who do get a break from the overseas travel. Everything counts. Or, perhaps I got spun. If so, it’s not the first time (smile). Lou
Is there a jacket in ORs lineup that you’d prefer for pure touring but in heavy weather? 3 layer goretex or equivalent seems to have better wet weather protection.
regardig the vents, one point is that they are simply longer than traditional pitzips. The other thing is that, assuming you are wearing a pack or harness, you can unzip the bottom side hem, and hang the front over your waist belt. This in turn allows great airflow up your front., while still offering protection from head on wind and rain.
Check out the Hemispheres jacket and bib setup. It’s next level!
I’ve skied several years with the OR Foray jacket, which also has the full side zips. I like them. SKI describes what I often do in this jacket: zip open the sides from the bottom up and hang the front of the jacket over the pack belt. I’ve just about worn out my second Foray jacket.
What is OR’s fit like? I’m 6′ 180 lb, and till this season wore large BD jackets, their new large sizes are monstrous.
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