Snowboarding / mountain jacket: Recommendations?

[audacium]

Hello all,


now my old jacket starts to look really old and so I need a new jacket.

Thus, I wanted to ask you what you are using and whether you can spell out any recommendations. First, I am asking myself whether to invest this time in a really expensive jacket with Gore-Tex etc. or whether such an expensive jacket will be fast torn and worn anyway, so it would be a waste of money. And second, I am wondering whether one prefers a "lined up" (gefuettert) jacket (with down feathers) or not lined up. Until now I had the "lined up" version but now I would rather choose a plain jacket (without down feathers) and if necessary simply use a fleece below. Such a jacket should be more versatile. Also, I would like to use the jacket sometimes for other things than snowboarding, e.g. wandering in the mountains. And it should have a feature to keep off the snow when you fall (especially in powder). (I do not know the word in English, in German it is called Schneefang.)
Concerning "expensive" jackets with Gore-Tex I already have two in mind:
* The Northface "Mountain" Jacket
* Mammut "Lhotse"
Both are really nice (and really expensive ) but for the Northface I could receive a special price while the Mammut seems somewhat more robust (as it has Cordura), but probably the difference will not be felt with a somewhat normal use.
Perhaps some of you own own of these jackets and can share their experiences with us.

What about "EC capability" of snowboard jackets in general??? (Jacques, Patrice and Nils?)

Thanks in advance for your help!


Blue skies and ride on,

Eduard.

[rilliet]

Hi Eduard,

In EC, any jacket will wear out quickly. In my opinion, it's not worth to buy an expensive one.
What is important too in EC, is that the jacket material slides well on the snow. During laid out turns, the jacket is touching the snow and should glide the better as possible.

Jacques

[mattdodge]

since noone makes carve specific attire, i go through a couple pair of gloves a season, and i duct tape soccer shin guards to the underside of my jacket forearms, fyi

[nils]

would love to see a pic of that

[pete]

i was myself thinking about fixing by some way (velcro) a piece of some king of plasitc on my glove... But also in a way i can remove it...
will keep you up

[jason_watkins]

I'm in the NW USA, where it's very wet. Sometimes it rains while we snowboard . I have a nylon with gore-tex jacket, but just water-resistant nylon pants. Both have kept me dry, so I wouldn't worry about having the Gore-tex waterpoof breathable membrane.

I have a North Face Guide jacket of some sort. It has cordura under backpack straps and on the forearms. I've not had it long, but it seems to be doing well. It's a little bulky for a skinny guy like me though. I like it, and you can often find North Face very cheap.

I would get something that uses heavy nylon and cordura if you want it to last.

Or, get something very cheap like Marmot PreCip, and just buy a new one every year or 2.

There's also Schoeller. It's not as water-proof, but is supposed to be very strong. It's usually expensive though. Mammut makes some garmets with it.

[audacium]

Thanks for all your answers, for the moment I keep my old not-water-resistant, not-wind-proof and not-cool jacket the forearms begin to look quite used now but I think I will simply ask someone to stitch a layer of Cordura onto it, then I will see whether Cordura resists. If it does I can still buy a Northface jacket or Mammut Jacket with Cordury layers.
These jackets are quite stable, yes, but they are not meant originally to hold permanent scratching on a possibly hard or icy piste, as it happens in EC. So it would be a pity to waste several hundred euros on that...
I'll keep you informed...

Eduard.