Fit and Features

Fit-wise, its got your classic backcountry freeride look about it: baggy enough to get some extra layers underneath when the temps drop, but articulated in key areas to remove the excess ‘bumf’.

Keeping with the Jones sustainability ethos, the colours favour more natural, earthy tones. The men have three options to choose from: ‘Ash blue’ (featured here), ‘Obsidian red’ or good ol’ fashioned black. The women can choose from the latter two colourways, as well as ‘herb green’. Starting to see a pattern emerging here?

As with any technical garment, the jacket and pants come decked out with some really useful features. Waterproof zips are par for the course with the central zipper and two chest pockets. The same goes for the two leg pockets on the pants. A lightweight minimalist powder skirt will keep most of the snow out from underneath, but the high-bodied bib pants will all-but guarantee nothing’s slipping through the cracks (so to speak).

On the subject of the bib pants, our test team were especially impressed with the comfort of that lightweight, stretchy back panel. It’s designed to prevent any rubbing of straps, or bunching up when you’re wearing a back pack. It did it’s job flawlessly.

All other fixtures and features come exactly as you’d expect for a jacket of this caliber: ventilation zips, helmet compatible hood, adjustable cuffs, boot gaiters, lift pass pockets. You name it, Jones have equipped it on The Shralpinist Stretch jacket and bib pants.

“Asides from the most Jeremey-esque of backcountry missions, these things feel up to the task”

Roundup

In a world of Patagonias and North Faces, it seems hard to fathom how another brand (a snowboard specific one, no less) could muscle its way into the ‘sustainable, performance driven, technical outerwear’ corner of the market. As Jeremy himself said when we interviewed him last year, “there’s virtually no hardgoods company that has had success in outerwear”.

And yet, somehow, Jones haven’t just caused a ripple in these waters, they’ve created a wave. Their line of outerwear is genuinely impressive, not only in terms of it’s technical performance and functionality, but in the way they’ve done it with virtually 100% recycled materials. The OG Shralpinist may still be the flagship offering when it comes to top-of-the-line durability and weather protection, but the all-new stretch version won our vote in every other round.

Pros:

• A huge amount of technical performance, with a comfortable, stretchy and quiet fabric.
• A lot of sustainability boxes are ticked here – the key one being durability.

Cons:

• If Gore-tex is a non-negotiable when you’re spending north of £500 on a jacket or pants, you’ll need to look elsewhere – most likely the original Shralpinist outerwear set.

SHOP ALL OUTERWEAR ON