Price: 280

Weight: 820 grammes (medium)

Features: Cold conditions soft shell jacket with wind and water-resistant recycled polyester double weave stretch outer, R2 Thermal Pro flece hanging liner,  stitch-free seams, reinforced polyester double-weave shoulders, elbows and forearms, helmet-compatible, three-way adjustable hood, articulated arms, two handwarmer pockets, one left chest pocket, zippers have DWR finish. Recyclable through Common Threads Recycling Program.

What’s It For?

The Speed Ascent is Patagonia’s warmest soft shell and designed for mountaineering and winter climbing in the coldest conditions. It’s intended to protect and insulate without restricting movement.

Technical Lowdown

You could argue that the Speed Ascent is a modernised, ‘Gucci’ version of a Buffalo pile / Pertex top, but there’s a whole load of technology in there to make it work.

Take the recycled Polyester stretch woven shell, one of the reasons the jacket looks so clean is that the seams are stitch-free, lap-glued affairs – spot the fine glue lines above – and reduce bulk while increasing water resistance relative to stitched ones and speeding up drying times. Shoulders and elbows are reinforced with heavier-duty fabric as well.

Then there’s the drop liner, which is made from Polartec Thermal Pro fleece which uses a textured, high loft finish to increase insulation with minimal bulk. And to prevent it from bunching up  in use, it’s been bonded to the outer shell along strategic seams.

Finally, the whole jacket is recyclable, while a fair bit is also recycled. The stretch polyester shell is 100% recycled while the reinforcements and R2 fleece are 45% and 40% recycled respectively.

How It Performed

The original Stretch Speed Ascent Jacket was one of our all-time favourite winter garments, so we were expecting good things and we weren’t disappointed.

First, the Speed Ascent is typically Patagonia-esque with a beautiful look and finish. Pull it on and you’ll find the ‘slim’ fit is a nice compromise between enough room for a lightweight fleece and a close technical cut.

It has a lovely soft feel to it and, as Patagonia promise, we didn’t have any issues with the liner bunching up. The jacket’s warm, but not insanely warm – not as hot as a Buffalo for example – making it useable for active sub-zero mountaineering – it’s a bit like wearing a shell with, say, a Power Stretch top underneath, but the fit between shell and liner give a neater feel and increase wicking and breathability, we think.

It’s also long enough – on use anyway – to give crotch protection, though the lack of a two-way main zip mean you’ll be wearing your harness over rather than under it.

In snowy, sub-zero use, we found the jacket an excellent fit and forget garment. It shrugs off snow and is pretty much windproof too. It never felt restrictive and the jacket is breathable enough that we never felt the need for pit-zips, though hand-warmer pockets do vent if you need them to.

The lined hood, used without a helmet, gives a great, protective fit and thanks to a tensioned head band moves with your head, there’s even reasonable facial side protection. It also sits over a helmet, but the combination of a BD Half Dome and the editorial neck meant that an inch of extra height would have been nice.

One thing to bear in mind is that while the jacket is great with snow, which it just shrugs off, it’s not waterproof and doesn’t dry that fast, so we’d save it for proper winter adventures and carry a lightweight waterproof if you think you might cop more than minimal amounts of rain. For stops, a belay jacket thrown over the top works well.

What sums it up for us, is that at the end of a long winter’s day in the hills, we’d barely even thought about the Speed Ascent, it simply wicked, breathed, insulated and protected us from wind and snow without in any way being restrictive for walking or climbing movements.

Verdict

A top notch winter conditions soft shell that breathes and wicks brilliantly, is warm enough to keep you comfortable, but cool enough for active sub-zero use and, as a bonus, looks lovely too. Check hood fit if you have a long neck or a high-domed helmet and save it for proper cold winter and alpine days for maximum satisfaction. In a sense that makes it a bit of a luxury, but a nice one.

Buy if you’re looking for an excellent winter and alpine conditions soft shell jacket that simply works.