Staff review - Berghaus Women's Mirgin La II Jacket

when I was asked to test the Women’s Mirgin La ll GORE-TEX Pro Jacket I was eager to see how it shaped up.

Scotland this winter has been a real full on season, but as my photos show we were also blessed with some perfect alpine “parts” of the day. So other than the super bright colour of this jacket which I thought was fantastic especially for pictures, the true strength of this jacket really does lie in when you need to baton down the hatches and zip everything up!

Berghaus Women’s Mirgin La II GORE-TEX® Pro Jacket

Berghaus is a brand that I have to say I have sometimes overlooked, this goes back to a long time ago when the jackets didn’t fit me, so when I was asked to test the Women’s Mirgin La ll GORE-TEX Pro Jacket I was eager to see how it shaped up.

Berghaus say that “The Women’s Mirgin La II GORE-TEX® Pro Jacket is a highly adaptable mountaineering jacket that comes into its own when wind, rain and snow are at their worst.”  To me that sounded like a tick list for winter climbing in Scotland, where you are usually guaranteed four seasons in one day, so that is where my test for this jacket begins.

My name is Carrie and I work for Adventure peaks. My time is spent on high altitude expeditions where I think the jacket will work well as it is fairly light weight and l look forward to testing it there and also on my next skiing/ski touring trip. I spent most of the week with a combination of a base layer the Berghaus Women’s Mount Asgard Hybrid II Down and this jacket.

Scotland this winter has been a real full on season, but as my photos show we were also blessed with some perfect alpine “parts” of the day. So other than the super bright colour of this jacket which I thought was fantastic especially for pictures (thanks to Zac Poulton for the pictures), the true strength of this jacket really does lie in when you need to baton down the hatches and zip everything up!

Once fully zipped up I certainly felt protected from the elements, I was able to snuggle my face well into the jacket and the chin guard was nice and soft.  As the hailstones were sandblasting my face I loved that I could retreat into my shell like a wee tortoise. The hood fitted really well over my helmet, the cords to adjust the hood sit just next to the front zip so you’re not having to footer with a toggle at the back of the hood. The adjuster is actually inside the jacket and the draw cords only poke out a little bit so nothing is flapping about. The wire brim was flexible and could be moulded to any shape I needed.   The hood could be adjusted right down to basically only leave the space for your goggle to peep out which was necessary for part of the week.

Around the inside collar is a primaloft strip, which felt nice against your skin and just added to the comfort level of this jacket.

I remained completely dry throughout the week, I used the side vents during the walk in’s and the climbs, these worked well and I found them easier to catch with gloves on than the conventional pit zips.  I also found it much easier to remember I had the vents open, although you do have to keep remembering not to load them up as pockets then leave them open in case you lose something important.  There are 3 external pockets that are easy to access.

I managed to test the durability and scuffability if that is a word fairly well as many of my climbing moves involved elbows and the odd belly flop, and usually over rocky surfaces. The jackets construction stood up to the abuse I gave it, unfortunately the colour was so light that it did show the dirt up.

I really liked the fit of the jacket which had in the past been why I had moved away from this brand.  The size 8 fits as a proper size 8 and the jacket didn’t look like it was drowning me.  The sleeves have an asymmetric cut which was great for movement, and the jacket did not ride up at all when stretching.   The cuffs have a Velcro fastening which means that you can adjust it right in tight, which I found really useful to stop the water dripping up my sleeves when I was climbing. It is also easy to adjust with your gloves/mitts on and can go over the top of the gloves.

Inside the jacket there are two mesh pockets one with a security zip that would easily fit a phone or something similar.

I have been very impressed with this jacket and I will continue to put it through it’s paces.