This shell is very well designed with great range of motion and a high performance athletic fit. The Schoeller softshell fabric has superior durability and water repellent properties than all others I have used.
I have had this piece on multiple ski tours now and have been overall impressed with it's warmth to breathability ratio (very important to me when moving at high output in cold temps). I have been able to comfortably start skinning with nothing but a base layer and the softshell in temps below 10 degrees Fahrenheit with no issues. It sheds water and snow VERY well (although it will get saturated in time like any softshell) allowing the hardshell layer to stay in my pack most of the time.
The cut is very tight which took me a little getting used to. Once I realized how comfortably it fits under a hardshell or puffy I quickly got over it. One thing worth noting is that I was particularly disappointed with the fit of the hood when I first got the jacket. It did not fit well over my helmet when zippered up and was very tight. My faith in Black Diamond design prevailed and I gave it a fair amount of use while skiing. Normally I would use the hood on my hardshell which is very high volume, this fits well but when I turn my head I would be looking at the inside of my hood. After giving the Black Diamond hood a fair shake I realized that the stretch fabric really does STRETCH and the hood would naturally turn with my head and give me much better vision and comfortable freedom of motion while skiing with the hood on. I now like it so much that I use this hood even when I have my hardshell on over top of the BD jacket. There have been many negative comments about the fit of the hood and I was a skeptic at first but this thing really is comfortable if you give it a chance.
Last but not least, this jacket just looks sharp. I highly recommend this jacket to anyone who does a lot of ski touring/mountaineering/climbing as a highly versatile and well designed technical layer. When paired with a light and packable hardshell it makes the most comfortable alpine layering system I've used yet.
Favorite Brands: Arcteryx, Black Dia