Mammut Nordwand Advanced Review

This jacket supplies some of the best weather resistance we've ever seen, as well as a great fit with plenty of mobility, good ventilation, and a relatively low weight. Overall, it's a solid choice if you need a reliable hardshell for the most serious winter weather.

Performance Comparison

Weather Protection

With its extended hem, long sleeves, and full-coverage hood, the Mammut Nordwand Advanced sets a new standard for weather protection. It uses a 30-denier polyamide face fabric that feels surprisingly durable and stiff, more so than other low-denier hardshells. The sleeves are long enough to cover the user's wrists during the full range of motion, and the hem is slightly extended in the rear to provide more coverage. The hood is excellent, and fits well over helmeted heads and bare heads.

Gore-Tex Pro technology is used in the Nordwand Advanced, which ensures a stiff and durable outer shell, a very thin and lightweight inner lining fabric, and fully waterproof zippers and taped seams. The hood has three drawcords, one on each side of the face and one in the rear, to ensure a perfect fit in stormy weather. The hood also features a stiff brim to deflect drops of water away from the user's face. The DWR finish on the face fabric effectively beads water long after the purchase date. This is an incredibly weather-resistant jacket.

Weight

This jacket's exceptional storm protection comes with some minor drawbacks, and principal among them is weight. A size large weighed in on our scale at 16.0 oz. This isn't heavy enough to be disqualifying for the most serious missions, but it's a few ounces more than lighter competitors. When it's dumping inches of snow or an ice route is dripping wet, we think it's worth the weight, but for the more casual user who just wants some weather protection for a winter hike or summer alpine climb, this jacket is on the heavy side.

The Nordwand Advanced is relatively light compared to its closest competitors. Fully-featured hardshells require plenty of material to allow for a wide range of motion, a full-coverage hood, pockets, waterproof zippers, and other design features that all add weight. This jacket strikes the perfect balance between weight and performance. We wouldn't hesitate to bring it on light-and-fast missions where weather resistance is mandatory, but it also isn't the best choice for carrying in the backpack as an emergency raincoat for fair-weather adventuring.

Mobility and Fit

The Nordwand Advanced is a favorite among our testers in terms of fit. The hem is low and stays tucked into a harness as well as any jacket we tried. The sleeves, meanwhile, are long and stay securely in place, even with arms overhead. There is plenty of room for twisting and reaching, and the torso doesn't carry too much extra material that can make other jackets feel baggy.

We never felt restricted by this jacket, and the fit is nearly perfect. If we had to pick a weak spot, the fabric feels a little crinkly and stiff compared to the softest shells on the market, but this is due to Gore-Tex Pro's lack of a soft inner lining. This omission adds a plasticky feel, but it also shaves weight and increases durability. The chest has a little extra material, but not much. If you are looking for a well-fitting hardshell, this is a good choice.

Venting and Breathability

In our stationary bike test, we found the Nordwand's Gore-Tex Pro fabric, which relies on solid-state diffusion, to be less breathable than air-permeable fabrics like The North Face's Futurelight material or Outdoor Research's AscentShell. That said, the vents are long and easy to manipulate.

For ventilation, there are two underarm vents and a two-way main zipper. When conditions permit you to use those features (i.e., when it's not precipitating heavily), the Nordwand Advanced sheds heat nearly as well as any hardshell we tried. It might not be the best choice if you hope to keep charging in a downpour, but if you're willing to slow down a little when it's storming, you can keep the Nordwand on without sweating. For non-aerobic activities like skiing groomers and slow winter climbing, this jacket has plenty of breathability.

Features and Design

This jacket has enough features to make life on the mountain simple and easy, but not too many. There are two external zippered chest pockets that have plenty of room for belongings, as well as a smaller internal zippered chest pocket that can hold car keys, a ski pass, or a phone.

This jacket sports three drawcords on the hood and two on the waist to seal out the storm. All of these are easy to tighten and loosen, even with gloves on. There is also a soft chin patch on the inside of the front zipper for additional comfort. The wrist cuffs tighten over gloves with a large, burly hook-and-loop closure strap that won't come undone during normal activity. Additional features include reflective strips on the face fabric that increase visibility during storms, and a small fabric loop inside a chest pocket for clipping car keys.

Should You Buy the Mammut Nordwand Advanced?

The Nordwand Advanced is one of the pricier hardshell jackets we've tested. That said, it provides some of the best weather resistance we've ever seen in a lightweight and well-fitting package. For users who spend a lot of time in extreme winter environments, like alpine climbers, backcountry skiers, or resort skiers in snowy climates, this jacket is probably worth the price. It will allow you to stay protected and active for longer, and it might even save your life if conditions take a turn for the worst. That said, most occasional users won't need this much protection and can find much more value elsewhere.

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