I like softshell jackets, especially those that are really mountain-friendly. The Gipfelgrat Light jacket from Mammut is a softshell jacket that can do quite a lot and withstand quite a lot. The Gipfelgrat jacket is part of the Eiger X-Treme series, the successor collection to the famous bright orange Mammut Extreme clothing line.
Optically, the Eiger X-treme Gipfelgrat jacket is rather inconspicuous. It doesn't offer any big bells and whistles. In its catalog, Mammut writes: "Fully functional Schöller WB400 Soft Shell jacket for alpine use, optimized to the minimum". Now you shouldn't just blindly trust catalog announcements, but check whether the jacket delivers what the catalog says it will.
To say it up front: I have not climbed a north face with the jacket and certainly not the north face of the Eiger. And I don't intend to. Instead, I've worn the jacket during various more or less everyday activities on around 50 days of this strange winter: from cycling in the pouring rain in the city to ski touring on cold, windy days. I haven't done any really deep powder days with it, but it's also not suitable for that because of its more alpine-oriented cut. But for almost all other activities, the Jake is simply outstanding: for ski tours on dry, cold or moderately damp days, for all climbing activities anyway and even more so for simply being outside. If the Gipfelgrat jacket were even thicker, you could probably even use it on the fishing boat, as the material used is very resistant and the dark color conceals dirt.
First of all, here's my conclusion: I love this jacket! It's just perfect for the mild, damp winter of 2014. It's not overly warm, but reliably windproof. It can withstand light and moderate precipitation without being fully waterproof, but it's not supposed to be. The waterproofness is perfectly adequate for normal winter and alpine use. What I particularly like is the resistant and extremely stretchy fabric. Although the high-priced jacket is actually far too classy for this, I'll come clean: I've used it to saw down Christmas trees. Even full contact with needles has left no lasting marks. If the jacket is not needed, it can be stowed very compactly in the backpack. And if the conditions do turn nasty again, you have reliable weather protection with you.
