Coming your way later this year, we take a scoop look at the new clothing that's in the pipeline from Berghaus including 'Bergnomics', the return of the Trango and a heated gilet too...
We popped up to the frozen North East last week for a sneak
preview of the Berghaus Autumn/Winter 2004 range - that's
stuff that'll be in the shops around September time - and we were
impressed.
The company reckons it's their best ever range and there's
definitely some interesting stuff there. One item we couldn't fail to
miss was the new Heatcell Gilet, it's an electrically heated
fleece vest at a more affordable price than the TNF Met 5 jacket and
uses different technology too.
There are a raft of improvements to the top-end Extrem
technical clothing range too, the most significant of which, we
reckon, is the most subtle. Berghaus's top end jackets have always
been cut far too loose for our tastes, this year though, the
designers have come up with a new, more technical cut. Despite the
silly name, 'Bergnomics' no less, we reckon it's a big step in
the right direction.
Elsewhere Extrem kicks Gore's Windstopper Softshell into touch in
favour of Schoeller, fleece goes furry and it's the return of an old
favourite with a brand new, updated Trango jacket appearing in
XCT Gore-Tex. Don't remember the Trango? Where were you in the early
90s?
Anyway, here, in more detail, are some of the highlights.
Extrem Range - Alpine Paclite
Quite a few brands are turning to Gore-Tex Paclite for super
lightweight technical alpine shells and many have butched things up
by using XCR reinforcement panels in vulnerable
areas.
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Full alpine hood helps make the
new
Alpine Pro a practical all weather
jacket
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Berghaus has taken a slightly different approach by developing a
tougher face fabric called 'Cassis' in conjunction with DuPont
Cordura and Gore. The result is a much more abrasion resistant face,
that's also more breathable than thicker face fabrics.
The new Paclite Alpine Pro is a 495 gramme, full spec
alpine jacket using the Cassis face with its Cordura yarn. It gets a
full helmet hood plus high-cut pockets for full harness
compatibility.
It also gets the new Bergnomic ergonomic cut. The designers
have tweaked the design for a closer, but unrestrictive fit with a
front panel that promises to lie flat, giving a clear view of 'what's
down below' - your feet that is... It's something Berghaus has needed
to do for some time and a real step forward. The jacket retails for
£180 and the matching pants with full-length zips and braces will
be £120.
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New Paclite Alpine Pro gets
tougher Cassis face fabric and 'Bergnomic' cut so Chris can
spot his toes
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Looks like it should be a decent balance between weight and
protection. The Cassis fabric also gets used with three-ply XCR for
the Suilivan and Siula mountain jackets and the Trango
ski-mountaineering jacket as well as for the updated Mera Peak in
two-ply XCR.
New Extrem Soft Shell
It's goodbye to Windstopper Soft Shell for the Extrem winter range
with new jackets and pants coming in both using Schoeller fabrics
and, in the case of the jackets, the closer Bergnomic cut - we prefer
Bergonomic, or maybe Burger King, but you can't have everything.
Anyway, the men's Baltoro and women's Lhotse jackets
use original Schoeller Soft Shell fabric - 'It feels so good, so
stretchy' says Chris Lines of Berghaus - with a fleecy backing for
added warmth, plus the latest exclusive Schoeller DWR finish
'Nanosphere' which promises to repel pretty much any fluid. It feels
smoother than previous Schoeller fabrics we've seen and should offer
a killer combination of breathability and high wind and water
resistance.
Who is that ugly bruiser?
Meanwhile the Baltoro's 'Nanosphere' DWR is ideal for those
who have trouble
locating their mouth and a bottle of water at the same
time.
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No hood though, which we think is missing a trick. The jackets retail
for £150 with matching pants complete with side vents coming in
at £120 and looking like a near ideal winter trouser. We're
looking forward to those.
Heated Gilet Time
The Heatcell Gilet isn't the first heated outdoor garment
out there, that was the award-winning The North Face Met 5 jacket,
but it uses different technology and is, at £150, a bit more
affordable.
Inspired by a freezing alpine belay stance, the gilet is made from
200-weight Polartec fleece and has a flexible Polymer cell heating
element panel sitting right over the kidney area. A small 98-gramme
rechargeable battery sits in a pocket and there's an on/off switch
to, erm, switch it on and off.
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Battery is housed in inside
pocket and weighs in at just under 100
grammes
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It gives up to three hours of warmth - set at 38 degrees C - and can
be recharged in around two and a half hours using the battery charger
supplied. Remove the battery and switch and you can chuck the whole
caboodle in the washing machine as well.
Okay, we're not entirely convinced that the small heating element
in the gilet will make a significant difference to overall heat lose
rates, but it should make you feel warmer and that's half the battle.
The Trango Is Back
If you were out on the hills in the 90s, or if you've been to see
Touching The Void, then the classic Berghaus Trango Extrem will
strike a sensitive tooth root of recognition. It was the hill
jacket to be seen in and instantly recognisable thanks to the little
yellow rectangle on the back. It was also the jacket worn by Joe
Simpson and Simon Yates in the Andes.
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New Trango (left) versus 90s icon
Trango Extrem (right)
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And now, it's back. Well, the name is anyway. The new
Trango XCR
Jacket isn't Extrem anymore, instead it's the top jacket in
Berghaus's all round mountain range. Made using XCR fabric with the
new Cassis face in high wear areas, it's a good-looking multi-use
jacket complete with removable snow skirt, zipped ski pass pocket on
the sleeve, fold-down mountain hood with wired peak and underarm
pit-zips.
Unfortunately there's no little yellow rectangle in the center of
the back, but at just 770 grammes it's much lighter than the old
version, which we sampled back to back. Guess that little square of
fabric was heavier than it looked. Price for the new Trango is
£280 and it has reflective bits as well. It's sort of extreme
without being extreme, if you get what we're saying.
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Rear view shows the iconic yellow
rectangle of the original and the reflective bits of the new
version
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While we're talking retro, the classic top-selling Mera Peak stays
the same, but is joined by a new
Mera Peak XCR with nattier
styling and, erm, two-ply XCR fabric compared to the standard Mera
Peak's two-layer Gore-Tex Taslan. It's also a claimed 130 grammes
lighter.
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Chris gets down and fluffy in the
new Yeti...
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Insulation
In practical terms, the days of the fleece are numbered, but you
still can't beat a good fluffy jacket for lounging in the pub or
canoodling in the caff. First on the fleece front, Berghaus has
slimmed down the cut on all its interactive - IA - fleeces for better
fit and less bulk.
Second of all, the company has jumped onto the fluffy fleece
bandwagon with its new Yeti fleeces using Polartec's deep pile
Thermal Pro fabric for that sought after teddy bear look. Available
in both men's and women's versions, with collar, handwarmer and chest
pockets. Looks nice, feels nice, is nice....
More Information
See the Berghaus
web site.
