Grade Jacket

alpine jacket of choice, speed saves trouble and sometimes lives...less weight = more speed folks. You do not need these $500 jackets and pants, they are heavy and unnecessary and not practical for layering. They are a facade created by some outdoor clothing merchants to take advantage of gullible folks who are led to believe the more money they spend on equipment andn clothing, the better climber they might become.

This jacket is a lot more awesome than even Mammut gives it credit for. One of the least advertised jacket in the Mammut 2011 line up is also by far one of their best jackets I've worn this year.
I'm not a fan of Gore-Tex PacLite because it usually cost as much as regular Gore-Tex ProShell but it is not as durable and not really all that much lighter in real world conditions. In order to shed the grams for the advertising sticker usually PacLite jackets are cut slim with small hood and neck pockets that offer little protection and have narrow torso and hemline areas that requires the awkward sizing up for a better fit to get layers underneath.
The Grade Jacket is the complete opposite of everything I hate about PacLites. The Grade offers great protection, has great durability and is the cheapest Gore-Tex PacLite jacket you can buy at the time I'm writing this.

PROS: As always the Mammut cut and design is perfect. Get your size in this and you will find plenty of space to layer without too much bulk or extra fabric. At 13 oz. it is very light and very packable. My favorite positive about this jacket is the fact that is has no gimmicks or marketing fad. It is as simple an alpine ascent jacket you will find today. Everything is simple and old school about it from the cinch system to the belay zip to the pockets. For the spring 2011 season you also get great color (Red, Blue, Black) choices and the colors are nice and bright. On a 70 F degree night hike I found this jacket to be very breathable with a t-shirt underneath. The Grade Jacket makes the grade and it is one hell of a sleeper gear that you shouldn't sleep on. It will give you everything you need and nothing you don't want.

CONS: None really. Pockets could be higher up so as to not be blocked with the backpack hip belt system. For the winter 2011/2012 season Mammut seems to have dropped the nice red, blue black color choices for what looks like Turquoise (Dolphin, Neon Orange and a Neon Green. And these new colors come with contrasting neon colored accented zippers.