Patagonia Stormstride Jacket and Pants

Backcountry skiing isn’t easy. Fun, yes, of course, but damn it can be hard work. Especially for your outerwear. First and foremost—because your life literally depends on it; because hypothermia kills; because out on the Main Range or Feathertop or wherever, when conditions turn south, you are a long way from help—you want something that can keep you dry. Something that will keep alpine storms at bay; something that will keep Australia’s snotty, wet snow out. Meanwhile, your outerwear’s gotta breathe. And breathe well; all that skinning up hills and climbing can get you warm and sweaty, and you need that vapour to escape. You also need outerwear tough enough to withstand the punishment of skis being slung over shoulders, of being scraped against rocks, of being brushed against vegetation, and of dealing with heavy packs. And as if that’s not enough, while it has to be tough, it can’t be heavy either. And you want it to offer great motion as well, not just for the skiing and the skinning, but for clambering up steep slopes or for crossing creeks. It seems like an almost impossible set of criteria.

Enter Patagonia’s Stormstride jacket and pants. It didn’t take me long once I’d begun testing them in some truly—well, I’m going to be blunt here—shitty conditions (high winds, sleet, rain) to realise that this backcountry-specific combo treads a Goldilocks, just-right balance to meet all the aforementioned criteria. It’s waterproof, thanks to its 3-layer H2No fabric. Breathable for the same reason.

I want to sidetrack here to talk about the fact that the H2No fabric, membrane and DWR finish are made without intentionally added PFAS. Regular readers of Wild will know already about these ‘forever chemicals’ (Dan Slater, for starters, has written several recent columns about them) and how they accumulate in air, water, and even our bodies. Well, from 2025, Patagonia will not intentionally add PFAS (or PFCs, PFOS and PFOAs) to any new membranes and water-repellent finishes company-wide.

But back to the Stormstride specifically—the combo is aimed squarely at backcountry users: Pit zips and thigh vents enhance body-heat regulation; at 545g and 552g for the medium jacket and pants respectively, it’s lighter than most skiwear, but not so light that it feels flimsy; all external zips are waterproof; and the pants incorporate stretch fabric, which is absolutely awesome for ease of motion when touring or grappling with steep bootpack climbs.

And then there are the pockets, which I’m going to delve into in detail because they’re really well thought out for touring. The roomy thigh pockets are slightly lower on your legs than those on most ski pants, but I reckon the placement is spot on. Even with a load of snacks and other small, ski-related items, I found my movement was barely impinged. The chest pockets, meanwhile, are a little unorthodox; they open away from the centre, with the zips—which are big, BTW; 25cm long on the medium—are parallel and close to the main jacket zip. Sure, it means you can’t put your hands in them to keep them warm (that’s what ski gloves are for, anyway); it does, however, allow the pockets to be big. Huge, in fact. You can stuff a lot of goodies in here, or a map, spare gloves, etc. Despite their size, however, the chest pockets don’t sit so low that they get in the way of your pack’s hip belt. There are two internal chest pockets as well: A zippered one for a phone or wallet; and a mesh pouch for stashing skins in. Now, given how wet the inside becomes, I don’t often put skins inside my jacket. But it’s not like I never do, and it’s a handy option to have. Just be aware this pouch isn’t huge; my 108mm skins barely squeezed in, and I wish there was actually a pouch on each side, rather than just on one.

A few other features to mention: The hood fits over a helmet well; there’s not huge amounts of room, but it’s far from overly snug. It’s adjustable too. I actually rarely ski with my hood up, but on a particularly wet and horrible day, I did so and found it pleasantly good. There’s a powder skirt, probably not needed in Oz, but Japan is another story. The cut is slim and athletic.

In sum, I loved Patagonia’s Stormstride jacket and pants. They keep you dry, vent well, are moderately light, offer superb motion, and are well thought out. As demanding as backcountry skiing is, it’s hard to ask for more than that.

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