The trash bag-like materials strips the face cloth off 3-layer GORE-TEX for optimum waterproof breathability and ultra-low weight, however there’s a catch.
I’m undecided what number of extra occasions I can flip flop on the place I stand within the hardshell/softshell jacket for ski touring debate earlier than I surrender on having a robust opinion (Aspect word: I’m firmly within the softshell pants for touring camp). Sure, softshells breathe higher. Sure, hardshells blunt icy ridgetop wind and block dumping snow higher. And sure, hybrids of the 2 land someplace within the center on each advantages and tradeoffs. Additionally additionally sure, softshells and hardshells are each getting higher as firms innovate.
Norrøna’s Lyngen Lively Jacket ($649) adorned with GORE-TEX Shakedry is the topic of my second installment of “Extremely-breathable jackets I had no downside sweating by way of.” However jokes apart, in a market pushed by marginally higher options, incremental tweaks, and enhanced advertising and marketing vernacular, Norrøna took an precise leap. Was it a leap ahead or laterally? I’ve acquired a hunch.
In ski touring circles, the Norwegian firm is thought for doing one factor very properly – making waterproof outerwear that may stand as much as absolutely the harshest, wettest situations. Its gear is high-quality, typically brightly coloured, and as jarring on the bank card as its top-end rivals (taking a look at you, Arc’teryx).
I’ve examined a bunch of Norrøna’s jackets, which combine the complete spectrum of GORE-TEX’s waterproof membranes – GORE-TEX Professional of their Lofoten line, GORE-TEX ePE of their Tamok, and GORE-TEX Lively of their Senja operating assortment to call a number of. The model was one of many first to start working with GORE-TEX again in 1977. When a brand new membrane begins rolling out, there’s a superb probability you’ll see it in considered one of Norrøna’s strains first.
GORE-TEX Shakedry isn’t new, but it surely has usually been integrated into lighter obligation clothes designed for operating and biking. The Lyngen Lively is its foray into backcountry snowboarding outerwear. If nothing else, it’s a daring experiment.
I’ve been snowboarding within the Lyngen Lively Jacket this season by way of dumping snow, sturdy ridgetop winds, and heat springlike situations alike to raised perceive the way it stacks as much as others by way of breathability and safety, and whether or not the inevitable sturdiness tradeoffs of GORE-TEX Shakedry make sense for backcountry skiers.
The creator ascending within the Norrona lyngen jacket
Jacket Options
At 6’1” and 185lbs, I discovered myself proper on the cusp between medium and enormous. Whereas I absolutely would have been proud of the massive, I went with the medium since I usually solely put on a base layer and a solar hoody beneath a hardshell for mid-winter Colorado backcountry snowboarding and layer insulation on high when wanted.
The entire jacket is constructed on Norrøna’s technical match structure, and that may very well be my favourite half about it – I’m a stickler for good match. Like many Norrøna merchandise, it’s comparatively slim and lengthy in comparison with different shell jackets, and that meant it match properly underneath backpacks and harnesses. The arms are additionally generously lengthy with articulated elbows and cuffs that don’t creep down after I attain upwards.
The Norrona lyngen jacket in it’s compressed type for transport
The Lyngen GORE-TEX Lively jacket stands out on two fronts – It’s tremendous mild at a verified 297g (dimension medium) and packs down exceptionally small – concerning the dimension of a big potato when compressed. For reference, my Norrona Lofoten GORE-TEX Professional jacket weighs 601g and packs to the scale of a small cantaloupe. My non-breathable Patagonia Alpine Houdini weighs 207g and packs into its personal pocket to about three quarters the scale of the Lyngen Lively. I really like issues that stuff into their very own pockets, so I used to be psyched to find that the Lyngen Lively additionally stuffs into its personal chest pocket because of a zipper with inside/outdoors zippability.
Talking of pockets, Norrøna nailed it with two large Napoleon pockets and nothing on the hips. It’s a easy, useful structure for ski touring that’s simple to handle with gloves on.
Breathability
The jacket isn’t wrapped in a black trash bag – that’s the GORE-TEX Shakedry. The material eliminates the protecting face cloth of a typical three layer GORE-TEX sandwich (face cloth, porous membrane, and backer) for enhanced breathability, decrease weight, and higher water resistance. The material wraps across the physique of the jacket and beneath the arms the place you’d usually discover pit zips.
The pink arms, shoulders, hood, and hem are all GORE-TEX Lively, a breathable 30-denier 3-Layer hardshell cloth – the lightest and most breathable three layer cloth that GORE-TEX makes. Each materials boast 28,000mm waterproof rankings, which after all is a lot for backcountry snowboarding in nearly any climate and probably even underwater.
Right here’s how Norrøna advertises the Shakedry cloth: “The brand new GORE-TEX® Shake Dry cloth durably defend towards the climate and scale back sweat accumulation in excessive cardio actions. Uniquely designed, the know-how eliminates the face cloth, stopping absorption of water to be able to keep consolation in excessive cardio actions. Clothes will retain these attributes throughout use, wearers won’t expertise the chilling impact that may end result from a wetted out face cloth, and the garment drys out quick. The wonderful steadiness of safety and luxury permits the wearer to depart the garment on – rain or shine.”
Resistance to Evaporative Warmth Loss (RET) is a standardized measure of breathability. RET’s between 0 and 6 are thought of excellent for cardio actions, and the decrease the quantity, the higher the breathability. GORE-TEX claims that Shakedry has an RET <3, making it “extraordinarily breathable.” For reference, GORE-TEX Lively claims RET <4, and GORE-TEX Professional will get an RET 6.
I don’t know many backcountry skiers that placed on a hardshell on the trailhead and depart it on for everything of a tour. I actually don’t. I hold my hardshell stuffed away till I’m transitioning, after which I throw it on and depart it on so long as I can. However over the previous few months, after I’ve donned the shell, I’ve been in a position to hold it on longer in typical informal backcountry snowboarding eventualities.
Like most shells, the lyngen is finest saved for the descent.
On Vail Go, for instance, a mellow mid-winter backcountry zone characterised by comparatively quick 1k – 1.5k vertical runs, I’ve been in a position to put it on on the high of the primary transition and proceed carrying it for the next laps each up and down in temperatures beneath about 30 levels. Identical goes for good softshells, however I can’t say the identical for GORE-TEX Professional.
From my expertise touring on this jacket, the Shakedry cloth offers a really small breathability benefit over GORE-TEX Lively, however you’d want laboratory-like situations to flesh out the magnitude. I examined it again to again with one other Norrøna shell I’ve been utilizing for path operating and ski touring, the Senja GORE-TEX Lively, and it was actually powerful to inform the distinction in breathability on the pores and skin monitor. At a robust tempo close to my cardio threshold, I had no downside sweating by way of each of them even on chilly days. However on average uphills at a average cardio tempo (similar to an on a regular basis jogging tempo), I might hold each of them on for much longer than GORE-TEX Professional shells, however shorter than softshells like my North Face Torre Egger and particularly Black Diamond Alpine Begin. In comparison with my GORE-TEX Lively jacket, the Lyngen felt only a smidge much less clammy, however once more, it was onerous to quantify.
One of many claimed advantages of Shakedry, apart from being lighter, extra compact, and breathable, is that it doesn’t have a face cloth to moist out and clog the pores that facilitate airflow and evaporation from the within of the jacket outwards (therefore “Shake dry” – the water simply beads off once you shake it).
That profit may very well be what units this jacket aside from different GORE-TEX Lively shells, however solely these customers in exceptionally moist locations like Norway or the Pacific Northwest are going to learn from it. It’s exceedingly uncommon that I can discover climate to completely moist out the face cloth of GORE-TEX right here in Colorado. However I did get completely soaked on a dripping ice climb – water bounced and beaded off the Shakedry as marketed.
However right here’s the rub – Norrona skipped venting pit zips on the Lyngen GORE-TEX Lively Jacket and I’m not thrilled about it. I assumed perhaps the aim was to cut back bulk, or foster some type of temperature or moisture differential between the within and out of doors of the jacket to encourage airflow by way of the membrane, however up to now I’m not satisfied. I feel pit zips would develop the breathability even additional.
The Lyngen Lively employs a novel however not new entrance zipper vent that’s essential for airflow in lieu of pit zips. The primary zipper primarily has two choices – a traditional zipper monitor that closes the jacket up, or a second zipper monitor, which additionally goes all the best way to the chin, that exposes about an inch of mesh for about ¾’s of the zipper’s size. I’ve used an almost equivalent system with the Black Diamond Daybreak Patrol Hybrid Jacket. It’s a pleasant, low profile vent that doesn’t get in the best way and provides some extra venting.
Sturdiness Testing
Rightfully so, I used to be suspicious of the ultralight jacket’s sturdiness. To resolve it, I wore this jacket far and wide – ski touring after all, but additionally path operating, resort snowboarding, and mountaineering. It didn’t take lengthy to note the distinction in sturdiness between the GORE-TEX Lively and GORE-TEX Shakedry.
The pink Lively cloth is a light-weight model of GORE-TEX that I’ve loved in a number of different jackets. For being so skinny, it’s resilient. I dragged it over rocks, rubbed a number of timber, fiddled round with ice screws and crampons, and didn’t handle to trigger any seen harm apart from a number of mild scuffs right here and there.
The black Shakedry cloth, then again, is far much less sturdy. I seen scuffs shortly on the entrance of the chest across the pockets after the identical therapy. Ice screws and my mountaineering harness have taken a toll on the underside fringe of the Shakedry – small holes have developed within the materials that go during to the clear backer on the within of the jacket.
Thicker branches have scratched it deeply, and one punctured it close to the hip. To get a way of how smooth the fabric is, I might make a small gap with a number of very agency pinches with my fingernails – it’s that smooth.
So I acquired the end result I anticipated – the Shakedry is susceptible and it’s getting beat up from repeated backcountry use in abrasive situations (e.g. tree snowboarding, mountaineering, rock scrambling). I can now respect why most GORE-TEX materials sport a tightly woven sturdy and tenacious face cloth. The porous membrane isn’t designed to fend off assaults from gear and the setting apart from what falls from the sky with out it.
The Norrona lyngen jacket doesn’t have peak sturdiness for abrasion-heavy actions. PC: Quinn Snowdon
Conclusion
Outerwear supplies are getting higher, however there’s nonetheless a niche – I’ve but to return throughout a cloth, particularly a water and windproof hardshell, that heat folks like me can put on during a tour, whatever the climate, the pitch, or the tempo. Softshells nonetheless get nearer on this regard. However I respect Norrøna’s innovation within the Lyngen GORE-TEX Lively Jacket. It’s the kind of out-of-the-box considering that’s going to get us there ultimately.
Reasonably than a paradigm-shifting breakthrough, the addition of Shakedry to a touring jacket is an incremental step in breathability evolution in a discipline of hard-earned marginal good points. Like most improvements within the ultralight outerwear realm, it comes with tradeoffs. On this case, it’s sturdiness.
The Shakedry cloth and the Lyngen GORE-TEX Lively Jacket aren’t for backcountry skiers searching for a workhorse of a hardshell. It’s not a jacket that transitions properly to ski mountaineering, bushwhacking, or hectic freeriding. As a substitute, it’s a terrific choice for skiers searching for one of the elegantly crafted breathable waterproof hardshells available on the market who’re prepared to deal with it with care, or those that will primarily profit from its excellent packability and light-weight weight (and who will even deal with it with care).
After patching a number of small holes within the Shakedry, the Lyngen Lively will proceed holding down a spot in my jacket quiver for fast-and-light days above treeline when packability, wind safety, and breathability actually matter.
Bergen Tjossem is a ski fanatic, conservation skilled, and nature nerd based mostly in Vail, Colorado. His life and profession have centered round defending the pure setting and public lands that raised him, however as Ed Abbey put it, “It isn’t sufficient to combat for the land; It’s much more necessary to get pleasure from it.” So when he’s not working his day job, you’ll discover Bergen ski touring earlier than daybreak, mountaineering at midnight, operating trails till his legs fall off, snowboarding 13er’s together with his associates, or making the world’s finest pizza together with his spouse, Rachel. You could find him on Instagram.
