The North Face - Next Winter...

Another quick glimpse into the future - we've told you about the new The North Face kit for spring 2007 but we also got a sneak peek at a few of the things that are coming out for next winter.

This stuff won't be available until August/ September, so we won't go into much detail, but we thought you might like to see what's in the pipeline, so here goes...

TNF has a long history of floppy peaks, apparently our American cousins don't share our enthusiasm for wired and stiffened brims, but that's going to change with £290 Pantheon Jacket which, it says here, has a 'roll-away hood with wire brim'.

The rest of the jacket's interesting too. TNF can't use their seamless Magic construction with Gore-Tex, so no welded seams, but the jacket uses a mix of the new three-ply Gore-Tex Pro Shell in abrasion areas combined with three-ply Gore-Tex Performance Shell for the main body.

We're still getting up to speed with the new Gore fabrics, but the abrasion-resistant bits have a real bombproof feel to them and should stand up to plenty of abuse. Also present and correct, a snow skirt, stretch shoulder panels, pit-zips, pockets. Heavy by modern standards at a quoted 851 grammes, but feels tough.

The new top of the range jacket from TNF is going to be the Modulus Jacket which will cost a cool £400. TNF says it's their 'most technical mountaineering jacket' and it's made entirely from three-layer Gore-Tex Pro Shell with water-resistant zips, pit-zips, stretch panels at back and elbows and a helmet-compatible hood.

The hood gets an interesting stiffened double peak that's got to be the stiffest TNF peak we've ever seen. Still, 400 quid is a lot of money for a proper hood peak ;-)

Weight is quoted as 600 grammes, so again not ultra-lightweight, but respectable for a three-ply technical mountaineering shell complete with reinforced areas. It also looks nice in the flesh...

Also new is what is effectively a down version of the popular Redpoint synthetically-insulated jacket. It's called the Flash Jacket and is reckoned to be more functional on a day to day basis than the classic Nuptse.

Available for both boys and girls - the women's version is the one on the right - the Flash uses 800 fill power down in a lightweight downproof shell for a weight of under 400 grammes. There's also a hooded version called the Catalyst.

The polypropylene baselayer range is supplemented by new North Face merino wool baselayers. The one in the pic is enigmatically called the Merino Wool Sporty Quarter Zip - £70 -and it's a classic long-sleeved merino baselayer top. Only real stand-out feature are what the Americans call 'hobo mitts' and we call thumb loops. Looks nice with raglan sleeves and flatlocked seams. Also available as a crew-neck version for £65.

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We couldn't not tell you about the mahoosive Limited Edition tweed McMurdo Parka that'll be out next year. It's an enormous tweed-shelled version of TNF's furry-hooded, down-filled cult classic...

There will 'only' be 5000 available and they cost £350 each. And hey, look at that liner detailing :-) To be honest, it scared us, but then we're easily frightened.