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When you’re ready to hit the slopes—or just want to look like you are—the very best ski jackets on the market offer up a near-perfect blend of scintillating style and peak performance. After all, skiers and snowboarders face extreme conditions on the slopes, taking on fresh snow, icy winds, and heart-pumping adrenaline with every turn. Their jackets, then, need to not only be water-resistant, windproof, and breathable, and come complete with big ol’ hoods, plenty of pockets, and a decent amount of insulation stuffed within their modular hard- or softshells. They also need to look sick as hell, otherwise what was the point of putting yourself at all that risk?
Not to say that you actually need to be facing any slaloms to rock a great men’s ski jacket. Were you actually on a hardcourt the last time you wore tennis shoes? Didn’t think so. Whether you’re traipsing around fashion week like Frank Ocean, taking center-stage like Aminé, or just running a few errands on a cool February day, the best ski jackets will amp up your style all winter long. The tech-y vibes will sync up just right with a chunky sweater and some faded jeans, or a pair of baggy-as-hell corduroy pants and clogs.
Wherever you choose to wear yours, we’ve got 13 of the absolute best on the market here for your shopping pleasure. Carve on, dude.
The Best Overall Ski Jacket
Long before TikTokkers began wearing their jackets in the shower, Arc’teryx built a cult-like following (and a spot on GQ’s Quality List) for the advanced functionality and uncompromising quality of its outdoors gear. The Rush jacket is an exemplar of that performance-minded excellence, slickly engineered with a windproof and waterproof Gore-tex shell, taped seams, heat-sealed zippers, pit zips for ventilation, a helmet-compatible hood, a powder skirt, and on and on and on. If you’re hoping to conquer a black diamond and look damn good doing it, this is the jacket for you.
The Best Budget Ski Jacket
Skiing is an expensive enough hobby as it is. So if you can save a little dough on your cold day ensemble without compromising on style or performance? That’s a win-win-win. Clocking in at just under $200, L.L.Bean’s Wildcat jacket is the triple threat you’re looking for: It’s fully waterproof, comes in a quartet of solid tones, and is packed with svelte, lightweight PrimaLoft insulation, a two-way zipper, and a removable hood.
The Best Highfalutin Ski Jacket
Moncler makes some of the most luxurious outerwear on the market, and its alpine-focused Grenoble line sacrifices none of that extravagance in the name of function. Sure, it’s stuffed with toasty down, it’s windproof, it’s waterproof. But it’s the outer shell that really does the talking: the crinkled texture, shiny finish, and woodland camo print are a show-stopping trio, and the Dyneema material it’s fashioned from is as strong and durable as steel. If you’ve got the funds for it, this is an absolute grail that’s worth every penny.
The Best Adaptable Ski Jacket
Given the way the environment has been trending lately, knowing exactly how much to layer up for a day on the slopes can be…tricky. That’s where this three-in-one jacket comes in. It’s comprised of a weatherproof outer shell to protect you from the elements and a toasty detachable insulated layer which can be worn in tandem or separately, giving you a ton of flexibility in varying conditions. They also come in a vibrant range of colorways to help you brighten up even the bleakest winter days.
The Best Eco-Conscious Ski Jacket
Picture Organic cares as much about sustainability as they do about the slopes. Their Track jacket hits all the requisite ski jacket marks: underarm vents, generous chest pockets, pass pocket, adjustable hood, hems, and cuffs. But it goes above and beyond in the hardshell itself, which uses sugarcane waste in combination with recycled polyester to form a waterproof two-layer fabric. That material is also coated with an eco-friendly, PFC-free DWR coating to make sure you stay drip dry all day long.
