The quality of textiles made a great leap forward. Jackets and pants are soft, warm, waterproof, breathable. In a word: comfortable. High tech fabrics use the system of three layers, membranes, coating... How to navigate this jungle?

It's not easy to find an outfit for effective winter sports because it must combine several qualities. It must cut the wind, resist various precipitation (rain, snow), save body heat, but also provide some form of breathability to avoid a "pressure cooker" when you move a lot. To summarize, it must be waterproof but breathable. Thanks to highly technical textiles it became possible to ski (or snowboard) in the greatest comfort in warm and dry clothes. The basic principle is the triple layer. For more than ten years, people had to face the cold of winter, a heavy fleece jacket that was very hot but that turned quickly into the oven as soon as sport was in process. Heat tempered by the cold which resulted in sweating. Clothing made of cotton or wool kept in the moisture, but on the chairlift chills were guaranteed! Three layers concept can better manage the thermal amplitudes between the skier when he hits the slopes and when he waits for lifts.

The first layer of the coat is disposed on the skin, so it retains body heat and wicks to the top layer. The first consists of thick underwear called "technical" or "thermal". The second layer of insulation protects against cold and sweating. Specifically, it consists of fleece. The final outer layer performs the role of defense against bad weather and it also evacuates sweat: this is the traditional jacket of Gore-Tex, Sympatex ... These three layers are consistent and interact with each other, they form a chain which ensures the transfer of moisture. Just one link is faulty and device no longer works. A simple cotton T-shirt for example. It retains moisture and prevents the fleece and breathable jacket to play their role.

How does it work?

Technical underwear and fleece are made with fibers called hydrophobic, ie they do not absorb water. Anyway if they are wet, they also dry very quickly unlike cotton which is hydrophilic (it keeps the water). With breathable fibres perspiration is directed towards the jacket, which has probably the most complex textile layer. It has an integrated membrane the fabric is very fine and fragile. This membrane is composed of micro-pores 700 times larger than the drops of sweat which can then be vented to the outside. For cons, the holes in the filter are 20,000 times smaller than a raindrop. Water from the outside does not pass through the net: the seal is intact. Gore-Tex membrane has 1.4 billion pores per square centimeter! Other brands such as Sympatex or Proline also develop their own membrane. Depending on the strength of the jacket and the use requested, the membrane can be integrated or not with several layers of fabric: it is called three or two layers.

Comfort is above all

The stacking of clothes is particularly effective and provides comfort for the skier who avoids hot shots followed by brutal cooling. It's also recommended to wear a baselayer to be fully prepared. Some of these sets, depending on the brand are anti-bacterial and do not retain perspiration odors, a breakthrough that everyone will agree to find interesting. In terms of maintenance, simply follow the recommendations of brands and in any case do not use fabric softener with technical clothing (underwear, fleece, Gore-Tex). Their hollow fiber membrane or may be blocked by the product affecting their thermal performance and breathability.

The three-layer system has distinct advantages in terms of technicality but for the portfolio, it often means a significant investment. A good ski jackets is expensive, between 250 and 300 euros. It requires buying a fleece and appropriate baselayer. On the other hand, clothes can be used separately. The baselayer for mountain biking, the polar snowshoeing, jacket for mushroom picking in the autumn rain. Alongside this system of three layers, there are outfits that have no membrane. The textile surface is made so that the water on the material slides. Large droplets are formed on the fabric but the moisture does not penetrate. While water-repellent jackets have made great progress in recent years, we must recognize that their use is limited to minor and short rains.