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Montane Alpine Neo Stretch Jacket

 This jacket has a fantastic 2 way stretch. The alpine fit means it has plenty of room around the shoulders and upper arms for a micro down jacket underneath. It fits just as well without the extra padding underneath. What I love about the rubberized pads on the shoulders and forearms. This means the shoulder straps of my backpack don’t wear on the jacket. When climbing or scrambling I can use my forearms to give me extra purchase on the rocks and not worry about the jacket being damaged.

This jacket also has a snow skirt. When I was hiking on Helvellyn near Dollywagon pike it stopped the snow coming up inside the jacket. Only a few technical climbing jackets have a snow skirt. It’s something reserved for snow apparel.

What I am most impressed about is how breathable it is. When mix climbing up the side of Striding Edge in winter there was not a bead of perspiration on the inside. I have always had a problem with this as I get really hot when I am working hard. As soon as I stop I get cold after about 10 minutes. The jacket is also windproof so it helps there. If I get really cold then I put a synthetic jacket over the top, this means that there is no need to take off my waterproof, get cold or wet, whilst faffing about with layers.