This is a serious jacket designed for serious mountaineering ladies: it’s strong and durable with plenty of room for mid layers and it really looks the business. There’s nothing flimsy about the Beryllium: it looks technical and performs impeccably.
The techy stuff: Mountain Hardwear have bonded Gore-tex’s top of the range Pro shell fabric with a durable micro-grid backer to wick away moisture. The jacket is tough, windproof, completely waterproof and it’s as soft and breathable as hard shells get.
The jacket is shaped for tough trips: it’s cut long to keep your core really warm, even if you’re reaching up – and has no chance of untucking from your harness. There is plenty of articulation and room around the shoulders and sleeves, too, so you have a full range of movement. It’s still a nice curved shape, though – not at all boxy.
The Beryllium’s seams are either welded (glued) or finely microtaped. It’s really tidy on the inside – the mark of a really good quality jacket. The seams will bend and are fine enough not to compromise the breathability of the fabric.
The hood has plenty of room for a helmet under it and there’s a well-thought out hood system – you can snug it tight round your head and down towards your jacket with one hand. There’s a laminate peak that won’t bend out of shape, too. Double velcro flaps cover the zip to keep the cold out, and there are Velcro cuffs and a drawstring to the hem, as well.
Other nice features are a very fine fleece to the chin area, long pit zips, an inner mesh water bottle pocket, an inner valuables pocket (welded in) and a little pocket to the sleeve.
****
Verdict: Excellent, hard core winter hard shell
Review by Sarah Stirling: www.sarahstirling.com
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Belay and Control Devices
Monday 19th January 2009
