Stio Durrance Jacket

Bundling up in a mountain town is non-negotiable—unless you want to freeze into a statue on the main drag. On or off the ski hill, down insulation is a must. Stio’s Durrance Down Jacket is bursting at the baffles with 650-fill Allied Feather HyperDry water-repellant down: while this isn’t the most packable down, it is warm, affordable, and performs well in wet weather. The outer fabric is a 2-layer polyester DELFY membrane-equipped shell rated at a middle-of-the-pack 10K/10K waterproofness.

The sheer size and warmth of the Durrance Down Jacket makes it less than ideal to ski in, aside from all but the most windshield-shattering, windchill-battering of days. The voluminous puffy gives off a clichéd but truthful Michelin Man feel that hinders aggressive movement required by aggressive skiing, and the insulated jacket is sure to crank sweat glands to overtime if temperatures do rise during the day. That being said, the Durrance is a perfect parka for rocking day-to-day, barhopping downtown, riding snowmobiles, going dogsledding, and other mountain-town recreation. 

Stio decked the Durrance out with plenty of ski-friendly features, however, like a removable down hood and powder skirt, mesh-lined pit zips, two chest pockets, and two hand pockets. And while we wouldn’t recommend relying solely on the Durrance for your skiing needs, it’s near perfect in other settings: essentially, it’s as snug as a wearable sleeping bag, but still retains a sense of style.