Mammut Ultimate Pro

New in for review is a rather nice-looking Gore Windstopper Soft Shell jacket from Mammut called the Ultimate Pro.

It's a short cut, alpine-type windproof and water-resistant jacket made from latest fabric in the Gore Windstopper Soft Shell range. It's got a nice, soft light feel to it and the interior scrim is very thin, so has little insulation value. It also keeps weight down, so the jacket in a medium weighs just 430 grammes.

It's all very alpine, you can imagine Swiss Mountain Guides wearing these as they rope up at the base of the Matterhorn, we're not quite so sure how applicable it is to UK conditions however. Our experience of Windstopper is that it really needs lots of venting to work well in typically damp UK conditions, though it's great in the Alps where it tends to be cold and dry.

Windstopper fabric itself is effectively waterproof, but because seams aren't taped, the garment will leak there in wet conditions. And the pay-off for excellent weather protection is reduced breathability to the point where you might consider a fully wateproof hardshell instead, particular when the soft shell, like this one, has no hood. If you do want something similar with a hood, check out the Mammut Ultimate Hoody.

That's not knocking the Mammut Jacket, in cold, dry conditions, we suspect it will work very well, but on a gnarly day in the 'gorms, we'd want head protection and possibly more length. What is good about the Mammut is that it feels great on, has hand-warmer pockets, thumb-loops and an adjustable hem and collar.

Cut is close-fitting and technical and the fabric itself is soft and stretchy. And the weight is excellent. We'd save it for the Alps and ice fall climbing rather than Scotland though.