The trash bag-like materials strips the face material 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 hand over on having a powerful opinion (Facet 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.” However jokes apart, in a market pushed by marginally higher options, incremental tweaks, and enhanced advertising vernacular, Norrøna took an precise leap. Was it a leap ahead or laterally? I’ve received a hunch.
In ski touring circles, the Norwegian firm is understood for doing one factor very effectively – making waterproof outerwear that may stand as much as absolutely the harshest, wettest circumstances. Its gear is high-quality, typically brightly coloured, and as jarring on the bank card as its top-end rivals ( 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 working 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 great probability you’ll see it in considered one of Norrøna’s strains first.
GORE-TEX Shakedry isn’t new, however it has sometimes been integrated into lighter obligation clothes designed for working 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 dumping snow, robust ridgetop winds, and heat springlike circumstances 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 huge. Whereas I certainly would have been proud of the big, I went with the medium since I sometimes 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 could possibly be my favourite half about it – I’m a stickler for good match. Like many Norrøna merchandise, it’s comparatively slender and lengthy in comparison with different shell jackets, and that meant it match effectively beneath backpacks and harnesses. The arms are additionally generously lengthy with articulated elbows and cuffs that don’t creep down once I attain upwards.
The Norrona lyngen jacket in it’s compressed kind for transport
The Lyngen GORE-TEX Lively jacket stands out on two fronts – It’s tremendous gentle at a verified 297g (dimension medium) and packs down exceptionally small – concerning the dimension of a giant 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 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 due to a zipper with inside/outdoors zippability.
Talking of pockets, Norrøna nailed it with two massive 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 material of a typical three layer GORE-TEX sandwich (face material, 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 sometimes discover pit zips.
The pink arms, shoulders, hood, and hem are all GORE-TEX Lively, a breathable 30-denier 3-Layer hardshell material – the lightest and most breathable three layer material that GORE-TEX makes. Each materials boast 28,000mm waterproof scores, which in fact is a lot for backcountry snowboarding in nearly any climate and presumably even underwater.
Right here’s how Norrøna advertises the Shakedry material: “The brand new GORE-TEX® Shake Dry material durably shield towards the climate and cut back sweat accumulation in excessive cardio actions. Uniquely designed, the know-how eliminates the face material, stopping absorption of water with a view to keep consolation in excessive cardio actions. Clothes will retain these attributes throughout use, wearers won’t expertise the chilling impact that may outcome from a wetted out face material, and the garment drys out quick. The wonderful steadiness of safety and luxury permits the wearer to go away 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 superb 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 the whole thing of a tour. I definitely 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 couple of months, after I’ve donned the shell, I’ve been capable of hold it on longer in typical informal backcountry snowboarding situations.
Like most shells, the lyngen is greatest saved for the descent.
On Vail Move, for instance, a mellow mid-winter backcountry zone characterised by comparatively quick 1k – 1.5k vertical runs, I’ve been capable of 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 material gives a really small breathability benefit over GORE-TEX Lively, however you’d want laboratory-like circumstances to flesh out the magnitude. I examined it again to again with one other Norrøna shell I’ve been utilizing for path working and ski touring, the Senja GORE-TEX Lively, and it was actually robust to inform the distinction in breathability on the pores and skin monitor. At a powerful tempo close to my cardio threshold, I had no downside sweating by each of them even on chilly days. However on reasonable uphills at a reasonable cardio tempo (akin 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&subId2=wildsnow 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 laborious to quantify.
One of many claimed advantages of Shakedry, aside from being lighter, extra compact, and breathable, is that it doesn’t have a face material 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 whenever you shake it).
That profit could possibly 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 totally moist out the face material 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 believed 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 the membrane, however thus far I’m not satisfied. I feel pit zips would increase the breathability even additional.
The Lyngen Lively employs a novel however not new entrance zipper vent that’s vital for airflow in lieu of pit zips. The principle zipper basically has two choices – a traditional zipper monitor that closes the jacket up, or a second zipper monitor, which additionally goes all the way in which to the chin, that exposes about an inch of mesh for about ¾’s of the zipper’s size. I’ve used a virtually an identical system with the Black Diamond Daybreak Patrol Hybrid Jacket. It’s a pleasant, low profile vent that doesn’t get in the way in which and provides some further venting.
Sturdiness Testing
Rightfully so, I used to be suspicious of the ultralight jacket’s sturdiness. To resolve it, I wore this jacket all over – ski touring in fact, but additionally path working, resort snowboarding, and mountain climbing. It didn’t take lengthy to note the distinction in sturdiness between the GORE-TEX Lively and GORE-TEX Shakedry.
The pink Lively material 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 bushes, fiddled round with ice screws and crampons, and didn’t handle to trigger any seen injury aside from a number of gentle scuffs right here and there.
The black Shakedry material, alternatively, is far much less sturdy. I seen scuffs shortly on the entrance of the chest across the pockets after the identical remedy. Ice screws and my mountain climbing harness have taken a toll on the underside fringe of the Shakedry – small holes have developed within the materials that go right through 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 comfortable the fabric is, I might make a small gap with a number of very agency pinches with my fingernails – it’s that comfortable.
So I received the outcome I anticipated – the Shakedry is susceptible and it’s getting beat up from repeated backcountry use in abrasive circumstances (e.g. tree snowboarding, mountain climbing, rock scrambling). I can now respect why most GORE-TEX materials sport a tightly woven sturdy and tenacious face material. The porous membrane isn’t designed to fend off assaults from gear and the setting aside 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 come back throughout a cloth, particularly a water and windproof hardshell, that heat individuals like me can put on right through 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 pondering that’s going to get us there finally.
Moderately than a paradigm-shifting breakthrough, the addition of Shakedry to a touring jacket is an incremental step in breathability evolution in a subject of hard-earned marginal positive factors. Like most improvements within the ultralight outerwear realm, it comes with tradeoffs. On this case, it’s sturdiness.
The Shakedry material and the Lyngen GORE-TEX Lively Jacket aren’t for backcountry skiers on the lookout for a workhorse of a hardshell. It’s not a jacket that transitions effectively to ski mountaineering, bushwhacking, or hectic freeriding. As an alternative, it’s an awesome possibility for skiers on the lookout for one of the elegantly crafted breathable waterproof hardshells available on the market who’re keen to deal with it with care, or those that will primarily profit from its excellent packability and lightweight weight (and who may 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 primarily based 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’s not sufficient to struggle for the land; It’s much more vital to take pleasure in it.” So when he’s not working his day job, you’ll discover Bergen ski touring earlier than daybreak, mountain climbing at the hours of darkness, working trails till his legs fall off, snowboarding 13er’s along with his mates, or making the world’s greatest pizza along with his spouse, Rachel. You could find him on Instagram.
