By Peter Reese

Surfers chase waves, even traveling globally to keep the "forever summer" stoke alive. Their commitment - and financial investment - to finding the big breaks is a serious one (no matter how laid-back the rider is, Corona in hand).

Skiers are no different when North America turns into South America as remote backcountry stashes get tapped out in late spring. With the Enigma, Helly Hansen, long-time contributor to the outdoor life, has dialed down the overall cost of more on-snow hours and days during the bitterest conditions. Chasing skiable terrain now becomes a more lucrative venture in extreme or variable environments.

Indeed, the price point might raise questions about the jacket's absolute or relative value. Yet the day-extending, conditions-defying build of this piece says the opposite: Enigma, when teamed with wise choices in headwear, pants and gloves, unlocks skiing and riding potential. That applies close to home or in epic settings where less-prepared athletes can only stand, stomp and mutter in the parking lot.

For starters, Enigma is two respectable pieces melded into a cold-weather machine. Outside, the Helly Tech Professional Shell stood up to piercing winds and driving snow as well as any solo shell Active Junky has tested. The welded on-sleeve and hand warmer pockets sealed up potential breeches even as they add much-needed functionality.

Four-way, full-stretch fabric aided movement and kept the high-warmth torso area stabile through booting, skinning and downhill modes. Articulated arms and elbows were essential as the moderate-length Enigma avoided riding up in uneven terrain. Mechanical venting zips kept the piece relevant during a few warmer testing days.

Testers ended up sticking with the removable hood through most conditions to provide integrity in Enigma's weather-beating shell. Hood shape, size and glove-friendly adjustments avoided the balloon-head phenomenon common to less-engineered systems. Waterproof and breathable at 20,000mm/20,000g rating minimums, Enigma didn't induce terminal goggle icing with the hatches fully battened down.

Down is on the way up with Enigma, with selective use of 120 PrimaLoft Infinity in the jacket's insulation topography. In fact, the most striking element of the piece was the Down Flow hockey puck-sized disks peppering the jacket's back and chest panels. Laying claim to creating an equalized temperature environment, the disks spurred speculation that threatened to turn into low-stake wagering.

Skeptics found uncommon torso warmth in this jacket and, yes, the warmed air moved well beyond the pucks to share the BTU love around the entire torso. Deploying the powder skirt concentrated the warmth to notch the thermostat up a few more degrees while pushing away snow accumulation.

Only the most trained eye could spot the insulation bubbles from the outside. This was of little concern as winter companions were more invested in trying to stay warm and keep pace with the Enigma wearer in the group. Helly Hansen's weather-defying system is not light but compares favorably to expedition-quality systems that offer less abrasion resistance (another key Active Junky finding).

If Helly Hansen was out to add another 90 minutes to winter days and add up to 15 more powder days to the winter, they succeeded with the Enigma. For the skier or rider who counts every second as valuable, there's good reason to keep the mountain bike or surfboard in the garage a little longer next year. Sorry, dude.

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