10 Best Brands For Ski Jackets That Will Keep You Warm
Ski jacket brands are a dime a dozen, so what should you choose? We’ve rounded up a variety of brands from budget, sustainable, and high-end brands to help you choose.
A good ski jacket can last decades or even a lifetime for a skier. They’re a necessary investment as they are one of the primary defenses against snow, wind, and anything weather can throw at you.
For this reason, we wanted to focus on the best brands of ski jackets and break each one down to help you make a decision.
All the following ski jacket brands are the best in their categories, offering features and performance worth their price tags. Whether you’re looking for a budget option, something cute and cozy, or a hardcore no-frills premium jacket, we have them covered.
Best Budget Ski Jacket Brands
The best budget brands are those that offer impressive performance without the downside of an eye-widening price tag.
Their selection and features can be a little limited. However, for someone who is just getting into skiing or wants a sensible option without burning their purse, these are great options to consider.
1. Columbia
Positives: Excellent insulated jackets, a variety of budget options, great quality, and both sporty and fashion-focused offerings. Plus sizes available.
Negatives: Sizing and cuts can be boxy, styles can be bland or hit-or-miss for many.
Pricing: $150 to $450, often sales on their website and retailers.
Columbia was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1938 and has become one of the most well known brands in outdoor gear. They offer a wide variety of both budget and bang-for-buck jackets. Their standard insulated jackets offer great value in features that swing far higher than their price range.
Columbia’s waterproof and breathable material Omni-Tech offers the benefits of higher-end Gore-Tex, and Microtemp keeps the jacket warm with 100g/80g of insulation. Columbia also offers more premium offerings such as their Wild Card, Pursuit and Crystal Caves offerings.
Shop Columbia Ski Jackets On ASOS / On the Columbia Website
2. ASOS 4505
Positives: Surprisingly low cost for a good quality jacket, excellent features.
Negatives: Basic materials and little insulation so layers are a must.
Pricing: $70 to $100
ASOS 4505 was founded in 2018 and is ASOS’s answer to all things activewear, sportswear and comfortable at-home wear. The latest addition to the collection is their ski range, which is very fashion-focused but also delivers functionality for both men and women.
As most of their jackets are only insulated by fleece, it would be wise to layer up with an inner jacket to help retain heat. Luckily, ASOS also sells packages of affordable thermal wear that you can wear below these jackets!
Get the jackets on ASOS
Note: Did you know that ASOS also sells other affordable ski jacket brands such as Dare2b, Missguided, Topshop and Roxy all under $300? Check them out here!
Best Bang For Buck Brands
These bang-for-buck brands offer excellent performance with a far lower price tag versus some of their more expensive competitors. They are focused on making expensive features affordable and opt for simple styling and comfort.
3. Helly Hensen
Positives: Trusted by professionals, wide selection of focused ski apparel.
Negatives: A little pricey versus similar brands.
Pricing: $300 to $600
Helly Hensen started back in 1877 in Norway by Helly Hansen who designed clothing to protect against the cold weather on the Norwegian seas. Since then, they’ve established themselves as the favorite ski apparel brand by ski professionals.
For example, their $375 Motionista Jackets offer some of the best bang-for-buck jackets available. Helly Hensen designed these jackets to have great breathability and weather protection with Helly Tech fabric and excellent warmth with Lifaloft insulation. All of the Lifaloft jackets are cut to best fit a woman’s body while giving proper give and room for skiing.
While Helly Hensen rates these jackets as a ⅚ score in weight, they are very lightweight at 1kg (2.2lbs) for the warmth and protection they offer. If you’re is looking for one of the best performing jackets in this price bracket, you can’t go wrong with Helly Hensen’s selection.
Get the jackets on ASOS / Helly Hansen / Nordstrom
4. The North Face
Positives: Overall great performance from a trusted brand, many thoughtful features.
Negatives: While color and styles can be tasteful, many might see them as bland.
Pricing: $300 to $500
The North Face is one of those classic winter jacket brands that are instantly recognizable from their logo. They were founded in 1966 in California, and in the 1980’s started to focus on ski apparel. The North Face offers one of the most compelling bang-for-buck jacket selections.
The ThermoBall Eco Snow Triclimate jacket offers a great all-around package for a ski jacket at a great price. Their own DryVent breathable/waterproof material is just shy of Gore-Tex in quality, and they use recycled polyester insulation in many of their jackets.
The North Face designers put a lot of thought into their designs with attached insulated layers, sleeves in the pocket to fit goggles, and even venting in the armpits.
Get the jackets on ASOS / The North Face
5. Marmot
Positives: More fashionable jacket selection with great features and trusted quality.
Negatives: Cut and sizing can be a little boxy, very sporty styling can turn some people away.
Pricing: $200 to $450, often sales on their site or from retailers.
Marmot, the outdoors brand not the rodent, was founded in 1977 by a mountain climbing club where the founders started to make their own parkas and sleeping bags. Marmot has made many innovations like using Gore-Tex for the first time in their equipment in 1976, and they continue enforcing new technologies to this day.
They offer a great selection of women’s ski jackets, most notably the Women’s Featherless Component jacket which uses Marmot’s own MemBrain waterproof/breathable fabric and 3M’s Thinsulate Featherless insulation that is stated to have the same thermal capacity of 700-fill down.
While the color options can be limited in their lineup, the options available are stylish and functional.
Get the jackets on Marmot For Men / Marmot For Women / Also available on Moose Jaw
6. Outdoor Research
Positives: Great performance and features for their price range, wide selection and color options.
Negatives: Color options and styles might not be everyone’s favorite, cuts can be boxy.
Pricing: $300 to $700, retailers can offer sales.
Outdoor Research is a lesser-known brand that offers some surprising performance at their price range, with features and materials that punch above their price range. Founded in Seattle, their jackets are designed to take on the harsh weather of Denali and the Pacific Northwest.
Their introductory Carbide Jacket offers Pertex breathable and waterproof material nearly comparable to Gore-Tex at a lower cost. This is matched with a helmet-compatible hood and waterproof YKK zippers for great protection and versatility.
Their higher-end selection in the Archangel series offer Gore-Tex and more conforming fit.
Get the jackets on Nordstrom / on Outdoor Research
Best Sustainable Ski Jacket Brands
Outdoor companies are always trying to stay environmentally friendly to protect our great plant. However, there are a few brands in particular that are solely focused on sustainable efforts in both labor and environmental impact.
7. Save The Duck – Cruelty Free
Positives: Best sustainable and cruelty-free efforts, great quality, and very well trusted.
Negatives: The focus is more on fashionable, everyday wear fit for tough conditions, rather than ski-specific jackets.
Pricing: $300 to $1,000
Save The Duck, as the name suggests, is well known for its cruelty-free approach to clothing, the quality of their apparel and their sustainable efforts.
A big focus of their brand is based on sustainability, and they are transparent about their goals, awards and values on their website. Many competitors have changed their efforts to get even close to what Save The Duck has become known for.
Compared to their competitors, their prices can be a little higher for the features, but their sustainability efforts of Fair Trade labor and animal protection are very appealing to anyone who cares about sustainability. This is definitely a brand to watch!
Get the jackets on Nordstrom / Bloomingdale’s / Farfetch
8. Picture Organic
Positives: More inexpensive sustainable offering, flashy styling.
Negatives: They state they are ski focused, but some cuts and varieties don’t reflect that in reviews.
Pricing: $200 to $500, retailers can have great sales
Picture Organic prides itself on creating winter apparel that is made from recycled and bio-sourced materials, crafted by workers under the Fair Wear Foundation. The company was founded in 2008 in France and focused on creating ski apparel.
Their selection of ski jackets are flashy and colorful with a tasteful twist, with cuts fit for both a woman’s and a man’s figure. They use a proprietary DRYPLAY breathable/waterproof shell made from recycled materials and can be recycled itself. Their insulated jackets use Dupont Sorona polyester insulation.
Get the jackets on Backcountry / On Moosejaw
Best High End Ski Jacket Brands
If money isn’t an issue and you want the best ski jackets money can buy, you can’t do better than the following brands. They offer the best performance with some of the best design features available.
While many people might shy away from the price tag, ski jackets can last years and are worthy investments for a jacket that can last a lifetime.
9. Strafe Outerwear
Positives: Ski focused brand with unique styling.
Negatives: Limited selection and variety compared to other brands.
Pricing: $430 to $680
Strafe Outerwear is a newer company founded in Colorado in 2010 that focuses on hiking and skiing. Their apparel offers some of the highest quality and fashionable styling that many other brands. They focus more on comfort and styling over-engineering the more durable or weatherproof jackets.
Their women’s jackets offer their Recon breathable/waterproof material that many reviewers find more comfortable than Gore-Tex, and the jackets are insulated with PrimaLoft which is the premier polyester insulation around.
Get the jackets on Moosejaw / on Backcountry
10. Arc’teryx
Positives: Some of the best quality and performance money can buy, great fit and styles available.
Negatives: Very pricey, no budget offerings.
Pricing: $675 to $949
Arc’teryx was founded in the 1980s out of British Columbia focused on leading the charge in climbing gear, and have since focused on ski apparel. They offer some of the highest standards in material quality, construction, durability, and overall fit and styling.
Their Sentinel AR jacket offers some of the best features and materials money can buy without cutting corners or forgetting a single detail.
They use Gore-Tex for the breathable/waterproof layer, a seam allowance of 1.6mm to reduce weight, and a specific skiing cut to fit the best to a woman’s figure while going down the slopes.
Their insulated jacket, Andessa, uses the same materials and cuts with high quality down to provide excellent warmth performance. One possible downside to Arc’teryx is that their styles and color selection can seem a little bland. They’re sleek and bold, yet might not appear sporty or premium from looking at them.
Get the jackets on Arc’teryx / on Nordstrom / on Moosejaw / on Backcountry
Bonus: Norrona
Positives: Exceptional quality the likes of Arc’teryx, wider variety of fashionable designs.
Negatives: Not many jackets are ski focused.
Pricing: $400 to $1200
Started in 1929, Norrona was founded in Norway as an outdoor apparel company focused on taking on the harsh Norwegian weather. They pride themselves on making some of the highest quality winter weather apparel without compromise.
As one of the few competitors to Arc’teryx, they offer a great comparison for people looking for one of the best winter jackets. Their Lofoten lineup is offered in both shell and insulated varieties.
They are made with premium Gore-Tex like Arc’teryx, but offer more unique styling and color options. They use the premier polyester insulation PrimaLoft in the insulated Lofoten jacket.
Get the jackets on Backcountry / on Moosejaw
Wrapping Up
With the dazzling selection of both men’s and women’s ski jackets out on the market, we hope this list has given you a good outlook into the brands that are out on the market. From budget brands, sustainable brands, and high-end brands, there are so many different options to fit your needs.
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