The search for a great winter jacket is a personal journey. You’ll have different needs in Montana, Alaska, and Michigan, and different style and feature preferences if you live in New York City or on a Southwestern ranch. Fortunately, we tested winter parkas in all of the above locations—and more—to come up with a list that will serve fashion-minded city dwellers, northerners in frigid climates, and folks who work outside year-round. Whether you’re walking the dog, feeding the horses, or heading to the ski hill, these lifestyle jackets will keep you cozy and protected all winter long.

At a Glance

• Editors’ Choice:
• Best for Frigid Temps:
• Best Value:
• Most Durable:
• Most Versatile:
• Most Stylish:
• How to Choose a Parka
• How We Test
• Meet Our Lead Tester

If you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn more.

Editors’ Choice

Helly Hansen Women’s Aspire Puffy Parka

Sizes: XS-XL
Warmth: 8/10
Weather Protection: 6/10

Pros and Cons
⊕ Excellent warmth-to-weight ratio
⊕ Protective high collar
⊕ Fits over bulky layers
⊗ Boxy cut is not the most flattering

This marshmallow-soft, super puffy parka shines for its balance: It won’t break the bank compared to some other options we tested, offers serious warmth without being wildly heavy or bulky, and has a classic, streamlined look that’s still distinctive. During a windy blizzard in Colorado’s high country, one tester appreciated the high collar, which buttons over itself to offer scarf-like warmth at the neck. A generous cut fits easily over bulky layers—the same tester made a habit of zipping it over her entire ski kit, shell and all, on cold mornings. Helly Hansen’s high-loft synthetic insulation compresses like down, making it surprisingly packable: We were able to squish it down to the size of a beach ball. (Though that’s pretty good for such a big coat, don’t expect to be able to shove it in a backpack for a hike.) Our female testers noted that the warmth did come at the cost of a flattering silhouette, but the boxy cut is a price worth paying in the coldest of winter climes.

Best For Frigid Temps

Norrøna Women’s oslo Duvet Jacket

Sizes: XS-L
Warmth: 10/10
Weather Protection: 8/10

Pros and Cons
⊕ Warmest in the test
⊕ Good wind and moisture protection for a puffy
⊕ Flattering cut
⊗ Expensive

This is a mega jacket for mega weather—the closest thing to a wearable sleeping bag we found while testing. Made with a sturdy, durable, 100-percent recycled polyester outer and insulated with responsibly sourced, RDS-certified down, the oslo Duvet stood up against the coldest winter weather in Canada and Alaska. It’s remarkably windproof thanks to a Gore-Tex coating, and it even provides some protection from precipitation. Don’t be dismayed by the limited size run (which only goes up to a large)—this jacket runs really big. One tester loved that the generous sizing let her layer the oslo Duvet over heavy, oversized wool sweaters without sacrificing mobility or comfort. This jacket is well-built to stand up to the Norwegian concept of friluftsliv, or open-air living, which encourages spending ample time outside no matter the weather. If you’re committed to long hours outdoors in the dead of winter, this piece will help you do so in supreme comfort. On the flip side, you’ll likely find it awfully warm for all but the most frigid of winter weather.

Best Value

Flylow Women’s Truckee Down Parka

Sizes: XS-XL
Warmth: 7/10
Weather Protection: 6/10

Pros and Cons
⊕ Flattering silhouette
⊕ Stylish color options
⊕ Drop hem offers good coverage
⊗ Not very packable

This no-nonsense, stylish 600-fill down jacket became one Denver-based tester’s go-to down all winter long. “It was the one I reached for during everything from chilly dog walks to standing on the sidelines during early-spring kids’ sports spectating,” she said. She liked that the cut of this responsibly sourced down jacket was still form-fitting and feminine while also being cozy and warm, and the drop-hem in the back fully covered her butt. Smart features round out the piece, like a generous hood with an easy cinch for extra protection from wind and snow, and an inner pocket that allows you to secure valuables with a zipper. The available colorways—including a muted forest green, cream, and simple black—are understated yet stylish. The only downsides? It was a little bulky for travel, and some testers found the thumbholes restrictive.

PAID ADVERTISEMENT BY REI
REI Co-op Norseland Down Parka – Women’s ($229)

Stay cozy all winter by wearing our women’s REI Co-op Norseland down parka whenever you venture out in brrr-inducing temps. On cold days, its extra length and 650-fill-power down feel like a warm hug.

• Down insulation
• Weight: 2 lbs 2.2 oz
• Downproof nylon shell fabric is water-resistant, windproof and highly breathable
• Nonfluorinated durable water repellent (DWR) sheds light rain and snow

Most Durable

Filson Men’s Tin Cloth Insulated Packer Coat

Sizes: XS-3XL
Warmth: 7/10
Weather Protection: 9/10

Pros and Cons
⊕ Durable
⊕ Heritage style
⊕ Cozy wool-lined collar and knit cuffs
⊗ Best for moderate conditions

If you’re the type of person who tends to accidentally tear holes in your featherweight down jacket, the Packer Coat has your back. Filson has a long history of using natural fibers and time-tested materials, which is one of the reasons it’s so beloved by ranchers and laborers. This jacket features a waxed cotton that’s incredibly durable and water-resistant, and it’s double-layered at the shoulders for extra protection whether you’re toting a backpack on the trail or shouldering heavy loads at the ranch. A wool-lined collar adds warmth and next-to-skin comfort where it counts. And most importantly, its 100-gram PrimaLoft Gold insulation provides protection from chilly winter temperatures down to the 20s. One tester loved it for working outside through the winter, building trails, operating heavy machinery, and using hand tools—all tasks that can turn a puffy jacket into scrap with remarkable speed. Instead, the Packer Coat stood up to heavy use, abrasion, and bad weather with style.

Most Versatile

Marmot Men’s Stockholm Down Jacket

Sizes: S-XXL
Warmth: 8/10
Weather Protection: 5/10

Pros and Cons
⊕ Packable
⊕ Lightweight
⊕ Fun retro style
⊗ Not waterproof

One of our male testers has a profound aversion to stockpiling jackets and other winter gear, so he was pleased to find a single coat that could do it all. The Stockholm Down Jacket can perform on a chilly hike, on a walk to the après bar, and on the ski hill—though on dry days only, as it’s not waterproof. The tester preferred the jacket’s shorter length because it offered greater versatility, while the oversized cut and 700-fill down still provided plenty of warmth on frigid winter days at high altitude in New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristos. He also appreciated the jacket’s vintage-inspired style, with big baffles and roomy pockets that look equally at home at a ski area tailgate as a city sidewalk. Lightweight, packable, and even a bit breathable compared to similarly warm jackets we tested, the Stockholm is the best option for someone who wants a lifestyle jacket that they can also recreate in.

Most Stylish

Arc’teryx Men’s Therme SV Parka

Sizes: XS-XXL
Warmth: 8/10
Weather Protection: 10/10

Pros and Cons
⊕ Most weatherproof option we tested
⊕ Modern style and long cut
⊗ On the bulky side
⊗ Pricey

Our New York City tester flagged this jacket as his favorite for slogging through slushy East Coast snowstorms and braving frigid, windy city days. He appreciated the sleek cut and the generous length, which meant he could finally stop layering long johns under his work pants. This is a great do-it-all jacket for winters that are equal parts wet, cold, and windy, with a two-layer Gore-Tex outer offering the most water resistance of any jacket in our final lineup. Baffled down insulation on the interior offers ample warmth, and the clever, minimalist design—with a neat zipper overlap and a high collar—doesn’t let on that this jacket is packing a serious technical punch. It is on the bulky side, however, so don’t expect to easily pack it into your backpack during winter travel.

PAID ADVERTISEMENT BY REI
REI Co-op Stormhenge 850 Down Hybrid Parka – Men’s ($299)

Wish your favorite puffy was waterproof—and a bit longer? The men’s REI Co-op Stormhenge 850 Down Hybrid parka combines down and recycled fill in a HydroWall waterproof/breathable shell. Insulation is a down/synthetic blend. Weight is 1 lb. 15 oz

How to Choose a Parka

If you’re in the market for a new winter jacket, ask yourself these questions:

What’s My Local Winter Weather Like?

Each jacket offers a different degree of protection from cold, wind, and rain. Based in Maine? You’ll probably want something with some waterproofing and wind protection, like the Norrona Oslo Duvet or the Arcteryx Therme SV. Looking for a cozy puffy to wear in Colorado’s high country? You might opt for something with a lighter face fabric and more insulation, like the Helly Hansen Aspire.

What Do I Plan to Do in This Jacket?

We’ve highlighted lifestyle jackets in this review. None of them are specifically designed for skiing, winter biking, or any other high-output activity. But some will offer you better mobility and more versatility than others. If you’d like a jacket to bring on a ski trip that could serve as a cold-day layer on-slope but will still look nice when you head to dinner, the Marmot Stockholm Down will serve you just fine in both situations. But that jacket doesn’t offer great durability—if you’re looking for something that will hold up to outdoor chores, the Filson Tin Cloth Insulated Packer Coat might be a better choice.

How We Test

• Number of testers: 12
• Number of products tested: 38
• Testers’ age range: 25 to 65
• States represented: Washington, Montana, Michigan, New York, Utah, New Mexico

Meet Our Lead Tester

Lead tester Abigail Barronian is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is a senior editor at ���ϳԹ��� Magazine. She owns more jackets than anyone else she’s ever met, and has strong opinions about all of them. As an avid skier, flyfisher, backpacker, hiker, mountain biker, and more, she’s always looking for gear that will make it easier to spend more time outdoors.

Barronian’s diverse team of gear testers spans the country: New York City-based artists, newly-minted Michigan moms braving brutal winters, Seattleites and Salt Lake City-dwellers, and ranchers in Northern New Mexico, to name a few. These folks each have different needs and preferences, whether it’s a jacket that can stand up to rope burns or a bomber parka that won’t ruin the lines of their impeccable outfit.

The post The Best Men’s and Women’s Parkas of 2025 appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

On Thursday, October 10, seven of the world’s best freeride mountain bikers lined up to compete in the first-ever women’s Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, Utah. Since 2001, freeride’s biggest competition has only ever featured male riders. After years of advocating for women’s inclusion in Rampage, attempting to qualify for the event, and hosting their own events, the community of top women riders finally got their chance.

Robin Goomes, of New Zealand, was the first rider on the venue. Her run—punctuated by two flawless backflips, several huge drops, and steep, technical riding—set the tone. The panel of judges, which critiques riders on their style, jumps, and line choice, awarded her 85 points.

The women that followed demonstrated a keen understanding of how to ride dry, loose terrain, and how to manage their speed to clear consequential gaps, make tight corners, and land large drops. They were stylish, powerful, and confident in puckering terrain, and every rider who made it onto the course came out with a scoring line. (Riders who crash are given three minutes to complete their line if they still want to receive a score.)

Casey Brown and Vaea Verbeeck stood out for their aggressive line choices. Brown neatly rode a feature nicknamed the Laundry Chute for its verticality and tightness, and Verbeeck laced together a triple drop with three separate, consecutive airs. Canadian Georgia Astle, who took second, approached her line with remarkable speed and fluidity—almost making it look easy.

But ultimately none of the other women topped Goomes’ first run, and she took the victory.

I watched the two-hour event replay with a few other women mountain bikers at home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was surprised when I found myself tearing up. I’ve been a mountain athlete for my entire life, and have been riding mountain bikes since my early twenties. Seeing women like Goomes, Brown (who has held a torch for women’s inclusion in Rampage for nearly a decade), and Vinny Armstrong—at 25, the youngest woman in the competition—step up to that terrain and succeed, with the support of the industry, was really powerful. Many of the participants had fought for years to convince the event organizers that they belong at Rampage. They were finally given a chance to prove themselves, and they did so in a major way.

• Check out of the women’s Red Bull Rampage
• Watch the
• What means for bike media

I’ve followed the conversation over women’s inclusion at Rampage in comments sections and online forums, and I’ve seen plenty of support from men who want women riders to get their opportunities to shine. I’ve also seen chatter to the contrary, including a frequently-repeated refrain that women would be getting in over their heads, and that someone was going to end up seriously injured (or worse).

At Rampage, the women demonstrated that these fears were, at best, overblown. The seven competitors put down clean lines. Just one rider, American Chelsea Kimball, crashed (and was still able to ride out her line and head up to the start gate for a second run). In practice, Argentinian Cami Nogueira did take a heavy slam that resulted in a concussion and broken nose, and doctors advised her not to keep riding while she recovered.

But some level of carnage is typical amongst the men that compete at Rampage, too. The reigning champion, Cam Zink, was evacuated by helicopter  with broken ribs and a punctured lung after crashing during the men’s competition on Saturday. Which is all to say—Rampage is dangerous, period, and the women proved that they’re more than capable of their own risk management.

The women’s competition produced a dramatic finish. Each athlete had the opportunity to ride their line twice, but with winds picking up, just Kimball opted to give it a second go. With one final opportunity to descend her line, Kimball hit a drop that had given her trouble in the first round. But she skidded out in the same spot as she did on her initial run and lost control of her bike. Cameras waited for Kimball to raise her arms and signal she was OK. Then, the TV crew showed Goomes, whose victory was secure.

The men’s competition, held on Saturday, came down to a similar scenario: after an impressive first round, just one of the 17 riders—Brandon Semenuk, who won his first Rampage in 2008 and has taken first four times since—braved the wind to head back up for a second attempt. His solitary second lap won him first place: After a long wait for the wind to die down, he landed a flip whip on a step-down jump that he had crashed on in his first lap (among a dizzying number of other technical slopestyle moves). Semenuk and Goomes each took home a $100,000 prize purse.

The event was a profound step for women’s freeride, and the camaraderie and excitement beamed through the livestream. Brown greeted many of the riders with a massive hug at the bottom. Verbeeck wore a kit decorated with art from young mountain bike fans, in an effort to make them feel like a part of the event. Riders autographed hats, posters, and apparel for excited young fans in the finish corral.

Despite my own excitement as I watched the event replay, I also found it a little surreal—like I was watching a broadcast from a different time, of something that should have happened a long time ago. The fact that it took until 2024 to create a women’s division is still a little hard to believe. And yet, biking events across the globe have been slow to give adequate opportunities to women athletes—take, for instance, the fact that there wasn’t a true Tour de France Femmes until 2022 (and it’s still only eight stages, to the men’s 21).

Many of the arguments against women’s professional sports—nobody watches, athletes aren’t capable, events lose money—are being proven wrong. Instead, more fans are waking up to the chicken-or-egg reality in women’s competitions. Nobody will watch a sport if it isn’t televised. Athletes won’t improve if their teams or leagues lack funding.

That’s why I was incredibly heartened to see Red Bull and the Rampage organizers make the right call this year. Hopefully, this event will provide the scaffolding that women freeriders need to continue building their sport.

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If Ada Limón were left to her own devices for the day, she would rise, hug her husband and her dog, write a poem, and read a poem. Then she’d spend the rest of her waking hours learning the names of things—flowers, trees, insects, clouds. “There’s a beauty to naming, to learning the name, to identifying,” she tells me one morning in March. Once, while looking up the term for part of a magnolia tree, she discovered that the species is primarily pollinated by beetles, which are older than bees, and that its early ancestors lived alongside the dinosaurs.

“When people ask, ‘How do you keep finding things to write about?’ I’m like, ‘How do you not?’” she says. “How could you not wonder in awe at the magnolia tree and think of it existing among the dinosaurs? It’s endless.”

It has been a while since Limón, 48, had an entire day to spend as she pleased. In July 2022, she was named the 24th poet laureate of the United States—the first Latina to be awarded the seat—by the Library of Congress. Since 2006, she has published , and currently she’s working on four book projects in addition to touring and promoting the projects she’s created in connection with her new post. In February, she was honored as one of Time magazine’s 12 Women of the Year. Even scheduling interviews with her involves coordinating with three people—an impressive contingent for a poet.

But Limón graciously takes my video calls from her home office in Lexington, Kentucky. Her 13-year-old pug snores next to her, she’s surrounded by hundreds of books, and she’s intentionally calm and engaged: “Before every reading, every event, every vacation, I put my hand on my heart and say to myself, Be present and enjoy this.”

Yet as much as she lives in the moment, Limón wants to encourage change, and that requires forethought. During their one-to-four-year tenure, each poet laureate in recent history has developed a project to bring the literary form to those who might not otherwise encounter it. Limón wanted her project to involve nature. “My first thought was, What if we flew planes over deforested land, with poems written on seed packets, and worked to reseed and replant places harmed by wildfires?” She figured that the good people at the Library of Congress would ask her to dream a little smaller.

Instead, she opted to focus on the accidental encounter: How could she create opportunities for people to stumble upon a poem while in nature? The result is a dispersed exhibit of picnic tables engraved with poems by a variety of modern writers selected by Limón. The initiative is being rolled out at seven national parks this summer. At Mount Rainier, in Washington State, the late poet A. R. Ammons’s work “Uppermost” will accompany a view of the 14,411-foot peak from the park’s popular Paradise area:

The top / grain on the peak / weighs next / to nothing and, / sustained / by a mountain, /
has no burden, / but nearly / ready to float, / exposed / to summit wind, / it endures / the rigors of having / no further / figure to complete / and a / blank sky / to guide its dreaming

Why national parks? According to Limón, these are places of “intentional nature,” destinations you might seek out in pursuit of an altered state. Maybe you’re looking to quiet your mind. Maybe you’re chasing an experience of wonder. Maybe you just felt restless and cooped up.

A pitfall for many motivated to get outdoors, however, can be missing the forest for the trees. Limón cites hiking to an objective, like a summit or a lake, as an example: “You’re supposed to be at ease, at peace, and in awe, but then you’re thinking, I have to get to this place.” It’s only by slowing down—to take a closer look at a flower, say—that the wonder begins to reveal itself.

“The connection between poetry and nature is that they both give us a moment to recognize what we’re going through. They give us space. They give us breath. They return us to ourselves.”

Like nature, poetry invites the mind to wander and take a break from its preoccupations. “Poetry is a place that holds so much mystery. It holds a space for the unknown and for the messy interior of the mind,” she says. She also hopes that people will use it to ponder language—but also the limits of language. “Poetry makes room for that. So often we stand in a forest and think, Oh, there are no words, and that’s enough.”

Each picnic table includes a prompt: “What would you say in response to the landscape around you?” Limón also asked 50 poets that question and compiled their responses into an anthology of nature poems titled , published by Milkweed Editions in April. It’s the second half of her project and aims to offer diverse reflections on the many ways we engage with the earth, including “daily nature, urban nature, ourselves as nature,” Limón says.

Limón grew up in Sonoma County, California, a child of artistic, outdoorsy parents. (Her mother’s paintings adorn the covers of her poetry collections.) In school, the syllabus included field trips to the ocean, and she constantly learned about the plants and animals that surrounded her home. Words held a deep fascination. She graduated from the University of Washington with a major in drama, but a trusted professor suggested a second degree in poetry, which led to an MFA at New York University. That morphed into a career doing marketing for national magazines, an arrangement that subsidized her real passion. After juggling the two pursuits for a decade—and publishing three poetry collections—at the age of 34 she quit her job to write full-time. Accolades and awards followed, as well as a , a university teaching position, and a MacArthur “genius” grant.

Although Limón has been in Kentucky for more than a decade, memories of her time in New York continue to find their way into her work. Initially, the wilderness of her childhood felt distant from the city. Then she discovered the East River, the city’s winged and four-legged inhabitants, the plant life, the weather, “the bright ginkgo, with its foul smell, smashed on the sidewalks—all of that is part of nature,” she says.

You Are Here provides a more expansive view of the outdoors, in which the neighborhood gingko is of equal importance to the high peaks. Limón considered including archival works but decided against it. “The nature poem has changed,” she says. “You can’t have a nature poem extracted from the emotional impact of climate change. Everything is tied up in what we’ve done. Making room for complicated grief is just as important as making room for the beauty, the awe, and the wonder.”

Instead of perpetuating the old-school style she describes as “a white man standing on a mountain having an epiphany,” she wanted work with a broader array of perspectives. “You see a colonial, idealistic taming of the land in those [older] poems, or that nature exists just for the poet to observe it. What hubris, when in reality nature is observing us as well. It’s reciprocal.”

The experience of being witnessed is a recurring theme in Limón’s own work. “A Name,” the first poem in her collection , published in 2018, reads:

When Eve walked among / the animals and named them— / nightingale, red-shouldered hawk, / fiddler crab, fallow deer— / I wonder if she ever wanted / them to speak back, looked into / their wide wonderful eyes and / whispered, Name me, name me.

Limón is masterful at simple, surprising shifts in perspective. When you give equal weight to the human and animal points of view—and perhaps throw a few plants into the mix as well—the world becomes a friendlier place. She’s an avid birder, and her half-acre backyard contains several feeders. When she forgets to fill them, the birds make it known. “They come by like: Hey, what’s going on? Noticing that kind of relationship, feeling seen by the world, not only makes you a better steward, it also makes you less lonely.”

Beginning this summer, Limón will visit each of the seven parks selected to receive a picnic table as part of the project. She tells me that she can’t wait to visit the redwoods of Northern California, where Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcón’s “Never Alone” will be featured. The short piece addresses a phenomenon similar to what Limón feels when the birds seek her out, a kindred companionship.

Always / this caressing / Wind / this Earth / whispering / to our feet / this boundless / desire / of being / grass / tree / corazón

Limón is looking forward to her own personal shift in perspective amid the world’s tallest trees. “I’m obsessed with feeling small,” she says. “It’s very good for my brain. I can turn myself into an all-encompassing, looming force in my own life, but when I’m in the redwoods, I feel like the smallest speck.”

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I have often joked that skiing is a jealous lover. I spend all my money on her. When she’s around, all my free time is devoted to her, too. Friendships with people who don’t understand her appeal fall by the wayside —in a way, she isolates me. If I’m up too late midweek, I still answer her call at 5:45 in the morning to walk a couple thousand feet uphill in the pre-dawn gloom to chase a little joy before I settle into my workday. God forbid I miss a day or a weekend—who knows what conditions might have lined up unexpectedly? What sleeper pow day I could miss? Will my fitness falter, my flow grow clunky, uneven? No matter that I have skied dozens and dozens of days this year, if a late February storm hits and I miss it, I start to fear the relationship is falling apart. This isn’t a casual relationship, and I often feel I have no choice but to be very committed. I’m in lovejail with my favorite sport.

Complicating matters is the fact that access to skiing isn’t just dictated by time and money. Skiers are also at the whims of the weather, which is increasingly fickle.

In an El Niño year, my home state, New Mexico, is supposed to fare well. We don’t often have much luck when it comes to snowpack, with regards to depth or stability. But these years that skiers in the Pacific Northwest dread? This is our sweet spot. When we might get lucky, surpass 200 inches. At Taos, where I ski most often, the average snowfall in a season is just 177 inches. But warmer temperatures on the surface of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean are supposed to send cooler, wetter weather our way, while the northern half of the continent deals with a warm, dry winter.

Last fall, everyone was buzzing about the upcoming winter. The last two La Niña winters had been slow to start, keeping us guessing until mid-February when the storms really started to stack up. In December and January, I’d get antsy, existential. When winter finally came around, I was grateful and relieved, but also frazzled. It felt like the weather was playing hard to get, and when it finally came around, my trust had been so tested I could hardly enjoy it.

In November, the snow started falling, blanketing Santa Fe in early storms. I repeated myself to myself, to my friends—I have high hopes and low expectations. If I don’t dream too big, winter can’t hurt my feelings too much. Right?

As it turns out, winter was bluffing. In December, the skies turned a relentless, untouchable blue. We got 21 inches of snow between December 4 and January 4—nowhere near enough to make Taos’s rocky terrain skiable. We had a stormy week, then January dried up too. In early February, it looked like things were starting to turn on. Last year, we had a 222-inch snowfall, most of which came in February and March. Those pesky hopes reared their heads. But here we are, in early April, with just 65 inches of snow on the ground.

I worked as a dishwasher at Alta’s Goldminer’s Daughter for a little while, when I was 23. I lived in employee housing in the basement of the lodge, along with most of my coworkers. The mood among Alta’s seasonal population swung wildly between a deep conviction that we were living the dream and angsty cabin fever. When conditions were good, we would roll out of bed and line up for first chair ten minutes later. Life was about skiing and nothing else, and skiing was more than enough. But when high pressure set in for more than a few days, the energy shifted. We’d get antsy, unsure of what we were doing living at the end of a highway and washing dishes for tourists, all for the sake of skiing chattery hardpack in blown-out boots. People would drink, sulk, and wait for the next storm to fall and remind us that everything was alright. Until then, it was just us and the high-pressure blues.

These last few years, each winter has started off with this feeling. As fall wanes, the fish grow sluggish and the trails get icy, the forests go brown and we wait for the snow to settle upon us like a weighted blanket. Here in northern New Mexico, we feel that weight—or lack thereof—keenly, knowing that wildfires will start burning as soon as March or April if we don’t get enough snow to keep the forests wet through our windy spring. We know that the snowpack feeds the rivers in which we fish and swim, supports the watershed that supplies the city water. As the early weeks of winter drag on, with no snow in sight, I get that old cabin fever feeling. I’m antsy to do the sport that I love. To build strength and fitness and relationships for the season ahead, to start dreaming about the lines we hope fill in come spring and the trips we want to take. But it is a small step from worrying about the season to worrying about the future of the sport. And a small step from there to worrying about the future of the ecosystems that depend on annual snowpack to survive.

I realized recently that these high-pressure, no-snow blues, are reminiscent of the feeling I get when I know I need to end a relationship. Like we are growing apart, and I can no longer count on this lover showing up for me in the way they used to. Maybe she doesn’t make me feel the same way she did in years past.

Everyone loves to talk about when we talk about climate, but that’s because it’s a rare instance in which we don’t need to turn to another language—German, Danish—to find a strange word that describes with uncanny precision exactly what we’re feeling. It’s as if I’m in preemptive mourning for a way of life that might not be feasible in another 50 years. I’m grieving the assuredness that skiing was enough to stake a life on, at least for five or six months out of the year.

And still, this winter, I’ve been there in the liftline every weekend morning, aching shins pressed against my ski boots, hoping the weeks-old snow stayed chalky. During the work week, I fold my tired body into the driver’s seat of my truck at 6 A.M. to squeeze in a ski tour before work, even if I’m just chasing fresh corduroy in-bounds before the lifts start spinning. I’ve poked around the backcountry, patiently digging pits, checking the snowpack, taking in the view, and skiing safe pockets of soft snow. Sometimes I wish I could just stop caring about skiing, do something else instead, something that doesn’t rub my nose in everything I’m afraid to lose. But even if the strange weather fills me with dread, I’m a creature of habit, and this winter rhythm—wake up early, exhaust myself in the cold air, sleep deep, do it again—feels like a heartbeat.

Some friends and I were recently discussing what month feels like the new year. For one academically inclined friend, it has always been September. For another, it’s April, the beginning of spring. For me, October has always felt like the true marker, when the leaves fall and winter, my favorite season, begins to murmur in the high peaks. A few days later, I was researching some snowpack statistics and realized that that’s when the begins, when researchers start to calculate annual snowfall, can begin to predict how the rivers might run in the spring.

Snow is good technology—better than any water storage system we humans have come up with. While reservoirs lose massive amounts of water to evaporation, snow deflects the sun and melts at the base of the snowpack, where water can move, protected, to the streams and rivers below. It doles out what we need over time, ensuring that we have water for the dry months in late summer. The snowpack feels almost intelligent—it has natural self-defense systems, and distributes water with careful portioning and forethought. It’s a nurturer. Life in the West depends on it. And even if skiing may be shallow ground on which to stake my life, snow itself is actually foundational.

When the leaves go golden in the fall, the trails grow crowded. Instead of being peeved at these fair-weather peepers, I’ve come to think of it like this: The mountain is throwing a dinner party. She set the table all nice. How sweet that everyone accepted her invitation. The pilgrimage up to the hills when the snow falls feels the same. It’s not her fault that this winter may be more famine than feast. Early this year, after one of the first storms, I ran into a friend near the top of our local hill. I had walked up on my touring setup for a single lap, he was on his way up for a third. “Hay que aprovecharse,” he told us—we must take advantage, when the snow falls, no matter how it falls.

Skiing may be a jealous lover, and winter a heartbreaker, but snow is impossibly generous. And even if my heart keeps on breaking, the best way I know how to say thank you is to show up to the party, listen for that familiar rhythm, and dance.

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Great cold weather workout gear should move with you, keep you warm, and let you breathe. From the gym to the trails to the studio, these pieces will outfit you for a winter of indoor and outdoor training and recovery.

The Winners at a Glance

• Norrøna Senga Warm1 Hood
• Ridge Merino Women’s Aspect Wool High Rise Base Layer Bottoms
• Tracksmith Brighton Base Layer
• Vuori Mid Rise Elevation Slim Bootcut Pant
• Lululemon Align Bra Light Support and 6” Align High-Rise Shorts

The Reviews: The Best Women’s Workout Gear of Winter 2024

Norrøna Senja Warm1 Hood ($189)

Sizing: XS-L

This versatile midlayer fleece, made of 100 percent recycled polyester, is lightweight and impressively warm, with thoughtful details like a generous half-zip for dumping heat, a zipper chest pocket, and extra long sleeves with thumbholes. It was designed for trail running, so it works well for higher-output activities: it dries quickly, wicks sweat, and has been treated with an amino sugar polymer that helps minimize odor. But it’s equally useful while backcountry skiing and on cold runs as it is for mellow dog walks and around-town wear.

Bottom line: A warm layer for any and all cool-weather activities

Ridge Merino Women’s Aspect Wool High Rise Base Layer Bottoms ($74.95)

Sizing: XS-3X

Wool leggings are hard to get right. They tend to stretch and sag, and often are too warm for anything other than layering under Gore-tex. But these 80-percent wool leggings from Ridge Merino feel like my favorite synthetic-material yoga leggings, with a wide waistband and a flattering, snug fit. And despite the wool blend, they’re lightweight and breathable enough for indoor training (though I wouldn’t wear them to hot yoga). Whether you’re looking for something cozier than poly for an early morning gym session or a soft, warm base layer for a winter run, they’re versatile, flattering, and comfortable.

Bottom line: A supremely versatile, natural-fiber base layer

Tracksmith Brighton Base Layer Long Sleeve Top ($88)

Sizing: XS-L

This is a do-it-all merino layer. The 52 percent wool, 28 percent nylon, 20 percent polyester blend is smooth and soft next-to-skin, thanks to a seamless construction. A more open weave throughout the core and a denser weave in the arms offers extra warmth where you need it and more breathability where your body generates ample heat. It’s equally happy layered underneath jackets and overshirts, worn as an outer layer during an outdoor workout, or as a yoga top on a cool day in the studio. It became a go-to baselayer for cool early-morning ski tours, thanks to its mix of breathability and warmth.

Bottom line: A good-looking, easy-wearing, breathable, next-to-skin layer

Lululemon Align Bra Light Support ($58) and 6” Align High-Rise Shorts ($64)

Sizing: 2-14 (Bra) / 0-20 (Shorts)

The Align collection from Lululemon is made of a buttery-soft, gently compressive, nylon/lycra fabric designed for yoga. But for this tester, it became a go-to for gym workouts, stretch sessions, hikes, hot yoga classes, and more. For an A/B cup, the Align bra is supportive enough for skiing, mountain biking, and similar higher-impact activities, and the long-line cut offers extra coverage, making it a good option to pair with a high-waisted bottom if you feel like skipping a shirt. The Align shorts are the best biker-style shorts this tester has tried: they’re snug and flattering, stay put through complicated mobility work and weight room circuits, and have stretchy hems that don’t cut in at the thigh.

Bottom line: The comfiest, most flattering bike shorts this tester has tried, and a comfortable yet stylish bra

Vuori Mid Rise Elevation Slim Bootcut Pant ($108)

Sizing: XS-XL

If you’re ready to branch out from the legging silhouette, these super-soft polyester/elastane pants from Vuori are a great option. Sweat-wicking but still soft and cozy, they’re perfect for the gym, yoga, and other studio classes, and make a great lounge pant for your recovery days, too. A mid-rise through the waist offers security while still allowing freedom of movement, and the gentle flare and slight crop at the ankle keep them out of the way when you’re doing fancy footwork.

Bottom line: Cozy workout pants for the legging-averse

How to Buy

Your gear needs for a winter workout will depend on your preferred way to move and where you like to do it, which is why we prioritized pieces that work well in several different contexts. If you’re going to be exercising outside in cool temperatures, look for wool next-to-skin layers, which will help you stay warm even if you’re sweating, and choose insulated pieces that still help you shed heat. I’ve found that running layers generally double well as ski base layers or other high-output activities outdoors. If you’re a die-hard gym-goer or a yogi with a penchant for heated classes, your needs likely won’t change much seasonally, but you should focus on finding light, sweat-wicking fabrics that offer you the range of motion that you need.

Fit is a matter of personal preference and will also change based on activity, but it’s always a good idea to order a couple of sizes in any given piece and return what doesn’t work. If we’ve learned anything from testing gear, it’s that sizing varies wildly between different brands, and isn’t always consistent even within a brand. The best piece of clothing is one that fits just right. No matter how much you like how something looks, you’re not going to wear it if it’s not comfortable.

How We Test

• Number of products tested: 40+
• Number of workout activities: 12 (Winter mtb, winter road cycling, trail running, road running, yoga, weight training, stretching/recovery, backcountry skiing, downhill skiing, hiking, pilates, crossfit)

This year, we prioritized finding pieces that are multi-functional, with the versatility to cross over from barre class to the ski hill to the trail and back to the weight room. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t feel excited to pull on your ski base layers for a yoga class, or your favorite running shirt for a gym session. And of course, comfort and function were top of mind. We offered bonus points for clothing made with natural fibers or sustainably-sourced synthetics. Our products were primarily tested in Santa Fe, New Mexico: on cold, stormy mornings up at the local ski hill, on cool, dry afternoons on our techy foothill trails, in studios and gyms, and on downtown streets.

Meet Our Lead Tester

Abigail Barronian is a multi-sport athlete based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a senior editor at ���ϳԹ��� Magazine. She’s an avid skier, mountain biker, flyfisher, and backcountry traveler, with a fondness for the weight room and a nice, mellow yoga class. She’s been testing gear for a decade, and moving her body as much as she can for even longer. If you’re looking for a strong opinion about a sports bra, ski jacket, or pair of socks, you know where to look.

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The glove is a humble piece of equipment. It lacks the technical wizardry of a binding, the heft and drama of a ski, or the dynamism of an airbag pack. But don’t be fooled: Gloves are a critical safety tool and can add major style points to your kit. Whether you’re spinning inbounds laps or heading on a multi-day backcountry mission, the options below will keep you warm and dry, so you can focus on hauling uphill and ripping down, all day long.

The Winners at a Glance

• Auclair A-Peak 2-in-1 Mitt
• Gordini Cirque 3-Finger Glove
• Norrøna Lofoten Gore-Tex Thermo200 Mitten
• Rab Khroma Tour GTX Gloves
• Flylow Super D Lobster
• The North Face Montana Pro Gore-Tex Glove
• Eddie Bauer Guide Pro Glove
• Beyond Clothing Guide Lite Glove
• Black Diamond Spark Mitts

The Reviews: The Best Winter Gloves and Mittens of 2024

Auclair A-Peak 2-in-1 Mitt ($135, includes liner mitt)

Sizes: S-L (women’s)
Weight (per pair): 7.6 oz

Pros:

• Comes with a liner mitt
• One of the warmest options we tested

Cons:

• Doesn’t offer the best dexterity

Auclair has been making bomber gloves and mittens that withstand gnarly Canadian winters for over 75 years, and their new A-Peak 2-in-1 Mitt is a testament to the brand’s focus on quality and fit. This women’s-specific offering is part of the brand’s all-mountain lineup and a solution for ladies who struggle with cold hands. A goatskin leather shell and powder cuff keep the elements out, while warm Thinsulate insulation and a soft-to-touch liner add the coziness factor. But the mitt’s best feature is a removable inner mitten. This butter-soft fleece liner with added ripstop over the knuckles and the inside of the hand for durability proved to be a lifesaver on colder days. It easily snaps back into the shell glove, so you won’t pull out the liner everytime you take the mitten off. Sizing note: Our tester has small hands and found that the medium fit well without much room to spare, so consider sizing up.

Bottom line: An excellent choice for ladies who need an added layer of protection for cold resort days.

Gordini Cirque 3-Finger Glove ($150)

Sizes: S-XXL (men’s)
Weight (per pair): 8.3 oz

Pros:

• Lobster claw offers great dexterity for a mitten
• Low-profile cuff fits snugly under jacket sleeve

Cons:

• Lobster claw design may not be for everyone

The lobster claw really is all it’s cracked up to be, offering the dexterity of a glove and the warmth of a mitten. These became a go-to for lift-accessed skiing with lots of hike-to terrain, striking the right balance of warmth for uphill and downhill movement. They’re all leather, with well-designed articulation across the back of the hand for a great range of motion and reinforced panels on the fingers for extra protection. Bonus: the low-profile cuff fits neatly inside your jacket sleeves.

Bottom Line: This is a great daily driver for inbounds skiers and backcountry skiers alike.

Norrøna Lofoten Gore-Tex Thermo200 Mitten ($229)

Sizes: XS-XL (unisex)
Weight (per pair): 6.3 oz

Pros:

• Nice balance of warmth and dexterity for a mitten
• Slimmer profile makes these more versatile than your average mitten

Cons:

• May not be the best option for skiers who contend with wet snow

All of the gloves in Norrøna’s Lofoten line are sleek, simple, and stylish, featuring buttery-soft, durable goat leather and a wind- and water-resistant recycled polyester, nylon, and elastane blend. The latest addition to the lineup, the Thermo200 mitten, uses just the right amount of recycled insulation to make this a versatile, do-anything option that’s ready for wet storms and cold days, but not so warm that you suffer on the bootpack.

Bottom line: This is a do-it-all mitten for the frontside and the backcountry.

Sponsor Content
Seirus HeatTouch Hellfire Mitt ($499.99)

For customizable warmth on demand, you need to get your hands into the HeatTouch Hellfire Mitt—the warmest and most durable mitt by Seirus yet. With Heatlock insulation for unmatched warmth, this stylish mitt is designed to thrive in extreme environments. Plus, the advanced Dryhand insert provides breathable waterproofing to shield against rain, snow, and slush. But what truly sets the Hellfire apart is the exclusive Flexible Fusion heat panel. With the press of a button, this cutting-edge technology activates and distributes warmth evenly across the entire glove back and fingers for a next-level heating experience. With three heat settings to choose from, you have the freedom to customize your comfort zone like never before.

Rab Khroma Tour GTX Gloves ($150)

Sizes: XS-XL (unisex)
Weight (per pair): 5.7 oz

Pros:

• Excellent dexterity
• Ideal for backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering

Cons:

• May not be warm enough for inbounds skiers

Rab set out to offer supreme dexterity, ample warmth, bomber waterproofing, and adequate breathability in this backcountry-ready glove that performed in all conditions. Whether testers were tying in for glacier travel, rappelling into a line, or digging a snow pit, these gloves were workhorses. Elements like externally sewn seams on the palm and a naturally curved design ensured a secure grip and a big range of motion, while soft goat leather and a polyamide-elastane blend offered waterproofing, wind resistance, and warmth.

Bottom line: This is a quiver-killer glove for ski mountaineers and backcountry travelers.

Flylow Super D Lobster ($125)

Sizes: XS-XL (unisex)
Weight (per pair): 5.7 oz

Pros:

• Burly design
• Best option for powder hounds

Cons:

• A tad bulky

Flylow upped its glove game this year, releasing a line of burly, feature-filled gloves and mittens that carry the same down-to-earth energy as the classic work gloves they sold in the brand’s early years, just with better engineering and design. This goatskin leather-and-polyester lobster mitt features a generous over-the-sleeve cuff for colder temperatures, catering to skiers who prefer to tuck their sleeves in. The three-finger design struck a nice balance between dexterity and warmth, and a wool-blend lining kept us warm even when our palms started sweating at the top of a line.

Bottom line: A lobster glove tailor-made for serious chargers who line up for first chair and rope drops in freezing temps.

The North Face Women’s Montana Pro GTX Glove ($150)

Sizes: XS-XL (women’s)
Weight (per pair): 11.6 oz

Pros:

• Bomber glove for cold temperatures
• Over-the-sleeve cuff seals out cold and snow

Cons:

• May be overkill for some skiers

If you’re looking for ample warmth in a five-finger format, the Montana Pro GTX glove has you covered. Using a proprietary synthetic insulation with impressive durability, The North Face created a big-mountain glove for mid-winter weather. It’s fully featured, with an over-the-sleeve cuff, a soft patch of fabric for nose wiping, a wrist leash, and a pre-curved design for dexterity and comfort.

Bottom line: This is the glove you’ll want while heli-skiing in Alaska.

Eddie Bauer Guide Pro Glove ($189)

Sizes: XS-XL (unisex)
Weight (per pair): 6.4 oz

Pros:

• Great option for skiers who value dexterity over excessive warmth
• Very durable

Cons:

• Skews towards backcountry use over inbounds skiing

Eddie Bauer recently updated its longstanding Guide Pro glove, which had been our lead tester’s go-to glove for the last six years. It’s ideal for a skier who prioritizes dexterity and runs hot—it’s lightweight and low profile, fitting neatly into a jacket cuff and making it easy to tie knots, set up a tent, and pack a backpack. This glove shined in the backcountry for all of those reasons, but it’s also a great daily driver inbounds, especially if you’re regularly sidestepping or bootpacking to get to your favorite lines. Bonus points for durability: It took five years of heavy use before our tester needed to replace hers.

Bottom line: This is a lightweight, versatile, and highly durable option for ski mountaineers, patrollers, and anyone else whose ski days involve doing more than hanging onto ski poles.

Beyond Clothing Guide Lite Glove ($69)

Sizes: XS-XL (unisex)
Weight (per pair): 4 oz

Pros:

• Ideal for high-output backcountry ski missions
• Good value

Cons:

• Not insulated, so may not be the best choice for skiers who run cold

This non-insulated uphill glove will become your go-to for uphill travel and touring days. Made of soft cow-belly leather and a softshell polyester and nylon blend, the Guite Lite Glove offered enough wind resistance and warmth to keep testers comfortable moving uphill even when the temperatures were as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit, but they were breathable and cool enough to wear on sunny days that climbed above freezing. The leather palm offered great grip and durability on a mixed-climbing approach to a ski line, and the versatile gloves proved to be a favorite for cold hikes, rock traverses, and even winter bike rides around town.

Bottom line: The Guide Lite Glove is a versatile, durable touring glove.

Black Diamond Spark Mitts ($120)

Sizes: S-XL (men’s); XS-L (women’s)
Weight (per pair)t: 7.1 oz (men’s)

Pros:

• Fun colorways
• Great dexterity for a mitten

Cons:

• Not the warmest mitten in our test

Full disclosure: Our lead tester is not a mitten gal. She happily tested them, but turned to gloves or lobsters for her daily drivers. Then she met the Spark Mitts. It helps that they look good—all leather with great colorways, as we’ve come to expect from Black Diamond. But the well-articulated construction, with reinforced padding on the back of the hand, made these mittens feel almost as functional as gloves when unzipping bibs for a backcountry bathroom break or tightening ski boots at the top of a techy line. They were warm enough for most inbounds ski days in the Rockies, and a low-profile cuff helped them fit neatly inside our jacket sleeves.

Bottom line: If you’re a mitten lover who primarily sticks to the resort, you’ll dig the Black Diamond Spark Mitts.

FAQ

Are Gloves or Mittens Better for Skiing?

It’s mostly a matter of personal preference, though generally speaking, a pair of well-fitting mittens made of the same materials as a pair of well-fitting gloves will be warmer. Mittens keep your fingers together, which generates more warmth than when fingers are separated in gloves. But gloves generally provide better dexterity.

Are Leather Gloves Better than Other Gloves?

Leather is a durable material that is treated to withstand wear, tear, and weather. A pair of leather gloves or mittens will almost always last longer than gloves or mittens made of synthetic materials.

How Should a Ski Glove Fit?

A ski glove should fit snugly around your whole hand, with just a little bit of space at the end of your fingers to keep your fingertips from being jammed up against the end of the glove. The cuff of the glove should also cover your entire wrist.

Should Ski Gloves Be Waterproof?

When skiing, it’s inevitable to come into contact with snow, so ski gloves should be waterproof. Most gloves and mittens designed for snowsports are made with a waterproof, breathable barrier that prevents moisture from getting in while allowing sweat to escape. Gloves that are waterproof are also windproof.

How to Buy Ski Gloves

Ski gloves are not one-size-fits-all. Chances are high that your preferences are different from your ski buddy’s, and your own needs will change based on the weather and your objectives. A few things are constant, though: You’ll want to look for durability, dexterity, and a snug, comfortable fit. Leather palms offer better durability in high-wear areas than synthetic blends. Thoughtful seam placement and articulations on the front and back of the glove will help with fit and range of motion.

Then, think about your own specific needs: do you run hot or cold? Do you ski in Wyoming or California? Over-the-sleeve cuffs tend to be a little warmer and burlier, better insulated gloves are ideal for chilly skiers in colder climes. In the backcountry, you’ll want something breathable on the way up, and dexterity will be more important than at the resort. If you regularly storm ski, build jumps, or dig around to evaluate the snowpack, you’ll want to look for a glove with Gore-Tex.

How We Test

• Number of products tested: 25
• Number of testers: 3
• Locations tested in: Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Alaska, Oregon, British Columbia, Switzerland
• Range of temperatures during testing: -0 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit

Everyone has a different preference: mittens or gloves? Down or synthetic? Lightweight or heavy duty? Over or under the cuff? We tested pieces from every category and handpicked these standouts that will fit every type of skier and winter athlete, whether you run hot or cold.

Meet Our Testers

Abigail Barronian is a skier based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and a senior editor at ���ϳԹ���. She has a penchant for dawn patrol ski tours, bell-to-bell lift laps, long days in the backcountry, and springtime volcano ski missions.

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Less Is More

By Kelly Klein, associate gear editor

After a year as a gear editor, I’ve tested countless layers. Base layers, midlayers, outer layers, you name it. Whenever I headed out on a ski trip last winter, I brought along at least half a dozen pieces to test out over the course of the day. As part of the review process, I wanted to do each one justice, and I needed to be sure I was using them for their intended purpose. But as time wore on—time spent, it seemed, primarily thinking about what to put on or take off next—I found that I only wanted to wear one or two layers at most beneath my jacket. Whether I was spending the day resort skiing or skinning up in the backcountry, I really wasn’t concerned about regulating my body temperature to a tee. It was too exhausting, and it got in the way of my fun. If I was a little chilly or a tad warm, it didn’t bother me; I was more focused on the terrain and the experience. Plus, clothing technology has gotten so advanced that newer apparel is able to dump and retain heat to a degree that a decade ago could be accomplished only by switching out layers. These days a couple of versatile pieces are all you need. If I’m going on a full- or multiple-day backcountry mission—or if the weather forecast is dicey—I’ll hew to a better-safe-than-sorry approach and pack a few extra tops. But for ordinary adventures, life is too short to miss a beautiful sunrise or a friend getting the turns of their life because I’m busy fine-tuning my body temperature.

More Is More

By Abigail Barronian, senior editor

Almost every time I venture into the mountains, I grab the same lineup of apparel. For my upper body: next-to-skin wool, a lightweight midlayer, a puffy jacket, and a shell. Things are similarly simple on the lower half: lightweight pants, with wool long johns beneath if the situation calls for them. This arrangement retains its utility across activities and seasons—although, depending on my output and the conditions, some of these layers may shift in bulk and weatherproofness. When it’s really cold, I might double up on wool, add down knickers and a vest, and opt for a burlier shell or a heavier puffy. My outdoor wardrobe is almost entirely free of hybrid layers—I don’t own any insulated shells or fleece-lined pants, for example—and I’m picky about things being trim enough to combine comfortably. Done right, I can mix and match to create the breathability and protection I need over the course of a long excursion in variable conditions. I can stay comfortable in a freak spring snowstorm at 12,000 feet and in 75-degree sunshine as I descend to the trailhead. It’s difficult to achieve that kind of versatility with a single do-it-all garment. It might do one thing really well, but I do lots of things in the mountains, and I want what I wear to facilitate each of those activities. And most important, I want to be prepared when I find myself in unpredictable environments. One or two layers can’t possibly provide the comfort and safety that a quiver of them will.

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As multiple atmospheric rivers pummel the Pacific Coast, Californians have been watching their coastline change shape—and surfers have been hunting down sheltered spots to take advantage of the swell. While the biggest waves came Thursday, the National Weather Service (NWS) extended a high-surf warning, which was originally set to expire at 9 A.M. Friday, to 9 P.M. this evening (though it was downgraded to an advisory).

The NWS warned that waves could be between 15 and 25 feet, but surf forecasting website Surfline reported wave heights up to 35 feet. In , the storm has produced , particularly from Santa Barbara through northern San Diego County. But up north, the weather has mostly wreaked havoc.

In Santa Cruz County, a historic cement ship that has been anchored for nearly 100 years at Seacliff State Beach was , and the nearby Aptos pier collapsed.

BREAKING – The iconic cement ship in Santa Cruz County broke away this morning from the pier at Seacliff State Beach. Waves are HUGE, between 25-35 feet, according to Surfline. Largest swell of the winter. The ship keeps getting hammered.

— Amy Larson (@AmyLarson25)

Aptos Pier collapsing in the

— Adrienne (@HolaAdrienne)

Just up the coast, the popular wharf in the town of Capitola was split in half by a wave.

BREAKING: Capitola Wharf was split in half when a section of the wharf collapsed into the ocean. 30-foot waves, powerful tidal surges, and gusty winds are battering the beaches right now. Capitola Village is flooded.
(Video by Autumn Rose Purdy)

— Amy Larson (@AmyLarson25)

Capitola Beach and Pier are under siege with tide and surf still rising.

— sports business (@soulfocussports)

Flooding—both on the coast and inland—is a major concern with this weather event, and have been closed due to high water levels. But, on the plus side, the is at a ten-year high.

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In January 1915, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance became icebound in the Antarctic. What happened next would become legend: Shackleton and his crew watched the vessel slowly sink, survived a year and a half stranded on the ice, and eventually self-rescued with an 800-mile journey in an open lifeboat. Every member of the 28-man team survived.

Now, 106 years later, the wreck has been found—and in remarkable condition—at a depth of nearly 10,000 feet in the Weddell Sea. A team from the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust led by polar geographer John Shears located the ship with an autonomous underwater vehicle on March 5, after a month at sea.

The mission to find the Endurance was a far cry from Shackleton’s voyage on the 144-foot schooner. A 63-member expedition team joined a marine crew of 45 aboard the S. A. Agulhas II, a South African icebreaker and polar-research vessel outfitted with two helicopters, the materials necessary to install an ice camp, and two autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) able to hunt for the wreck. The team represented an astonishing level of expertise across numerous fields: engineering, geophysics, medical science, statistics, polar expedition, oceanography, and beyond.

In 2019, a crew comprising many of the same individuals set out in an icebreaker equipped with an AUV to scan the seafloor, but lost the device in drifting ice.

“The Weddell Sea is probably the most difficult ocean to travel on worldwide,” says Lasse Rabenstein, a geophysicist and the chief scientist overseeing the sea-ice team.

Subsea manager Nico Vincent said that operating an AUV under these conditions is extremely challenging, requiring high-tech equipment and a strong, experienced group. “To [navigate] under drifting ice is harder than landing on the moon in 1969,” he says.

For many team members, this was a mission unlike any they’d experienced before. “Either we’d succeed completely by finding the wreck or we’d fail,” says Rabenstein. “Usually when you do scientific operations, there’s a goal, but it’s more open-ended.”

The expedition would have been fruitful even if they’d failed to locate the ship. “The search for the Endurance was the primary task,” Vincent says. “But secondary objectives were achieved, too: ice science, weather forecasting, marine-engineering research, education for kids, and media support.”

While searching for the vessel, Rabenstein’s team took sea-ice samples and better grasped how to navigate a frozen ocean. At a 24-hour ice-information desk, he and his crew made up-to-date satellite images and drift forecasts available for the subsea team, to help pilot through the dark and in whiteout conditions. That data helped Rabenstein with his own research as well. “My company, Drift and Ice, is writing navigation software for research ships in the ice. I learned a lot about what is needed in software to navigate safely,” Rabenstein says.

Meanwhile, engineering scientists used sensors to better understand how a ship reacts to pressure from the ice, to optimize vessels for future expeditions. South African weather-service representatives deployed weather balloons and scanned the water column, sharing data with the research community.

After locating the Endurance, the crew visited Shackleton’s grave in Grytviken, South Georgia, to pay their respects. “Shackleton is more important for me than for the average person,” Rabenstein says. “He never gave up but also did not push it to the limit. All the people he took on his expeditions survived. Other polar explorers were not so successful. He was a real hero.”

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At 10:40 A.M. on Monday, September 26, renowned ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson summited 26,781-foot Manaslu with her climbing—and life—partner Jim Morrison. They stepped into their skis and began their descent, and shortly after, Nelson was knocked off her feet by a small avalanche. She fell 5,000 feet down the south slope of the Nepalese mountain, according to an . After determining there was nothing he could do to help her, he descended, making it to base camp safely. After two days of searching in a helicopter, Morrison and a rescue crew located and retrieved her body, which was then flown to Kathmandu. 

Nelson, 49, was a giant in her field: one of the most accomplished ski mountaineers in the world, a mother of two boys, a mentor to many, and an inspiration to more. The environments she thrived in, remote high alpine regions that she explored on foot and by ski, are inherently inhospitable to human life. Her discipline has claimed the lives of many of its most dedicated acolytes, but something about Nelson—her formidable physical strength, her calm, resonant demeanor, and the many years that she has safely traveled through treacherous terrain—seemed to give her an air of invincibility.

“I and every mountain person alive today [feel] the roar of a big spirit passing,” in a tribute. 

Nelson grew up in Seattle and learned to ski in the Cascades, but her career as a skier took off when she moved to Chamonix, France, after graduating from Colorado College in the 1990s. There, she developed her technical climbing skills and began pursuing bigger and more complicated objectives on her skis. In 1996, she won the European extreme ski competition in Chamonix. By 1999, she had landed a sponsorship with The North Face, which offered her the opportunity to go on expeditions to the world’s biggest and most remote mountains.

To excel in expedition-style climbing and skiing, an athlete needs to be meticulous, organized, and committed, with ample ambition balanced with enough humility to stay alive. “Hilaree was stubborn as hell,” says climber Emily Harrington. “She fought so hard for everything and she desperately wanted to be strong and be successful. She was so passionate.” 

Harrington and Nelson met through their mutual sponsor, the North Face, and formed a close bond when they were the only women on a three-month Everest expedition in 2012. On that trip, Nelson summited Everest and Lhotse in a 24-hour window, making her the first woman to climb two 8,000-meter peaks in a day. The feat earned her international recognition. 

“Her accomplishments made her a larger-than-life character, but she never bought into the hype,” wrote climber in a tribute. “She wore the mantle of being one of the world’s preeminent ski mountaineers (male or female) with a grace and genuine humility.” 

In 2015, she completed the first female descent of Makalu La Couloir on 27,766-foot Makalu. In 2017, she completed an , climbing Cassin Ridge and skiing the Messner Couloir, and in the same year she notched a first descent on 21,298-foot , alongside Morrison and photographer Chris Figenshau. The next year, she and Morrison made the first ski descent of Lhotse, leading National Geographic to name her one of their ���ϳԹ���rs of the Year. That year she was global athlete team, a role held by climber Conrad Anker for three decades. Dozens of other expeditions—to uncharted peaks in , to Baffin Island, to the Andes—filled her calendar in between those highlights. 

“I don’t think she could really handle normal life without having that other side, being on the edge. And you could tell that she just loved it,” says Harrington. “That’s where she was at peace: when we were out on an expedition doing something really complicated and dangerous that required a lot of mountain experience. That was where she thrived.”

For her athleticism, skill, and drive alone, Nelson would have been a leader in her sport. But what set her apart was how she showed up in her relationships, as both superhero and relatable friend. She was also an activist, campaigning for strong environmental policy with the nonprofit and serving on the board of the American Alpine Club.  

“She was a force, strong and powerful, but she also was not afraid to be vulnerable, express her fears, and be honest. There was this tenderness and rawness about her that she was willing to share with us, especially younger women,” says Harrington. Professional skier Ingrid Backstrom echoed that sentiment in : “She showed me that you don’t need to be only tough and badass to succeed in the mountains, you can be kind and nurturing, hard as nails and still soft and caring.”

Mountaineers with children are frequently met with disapproval for taking on risk with families at home, and, predictably, women face greater vitriol than men. Nelson was not insulated from criticism for undertaking serious expeditions while raising her now teenage sons, Grayden and Quinn—Harrington remembers one article that came out during their 2012 Everest expedition that questioned Nelson’s choices as a mother and left her in tears.

Still, Nelson was “unapologetic about the life she chose,” Harrington says. “She knew that she was taking a different path than most women. She chose to become a mother at a time when you had to choose between your athletic career and being a mother, and she refused to choose.”

Nelson was open about her own struggles with the balance—how hard it was to leave her kids, and the way their presence influenced how she moved through the mountains. But the high alpine was where she came alive, and instead of compromising in either arena—the mountains or at home—she passionately pursued what she wanted in both. 

“There are no words to describe the love for this woman, my life partner, my lover, my best friend, and my mountain partner,” wrote Morrison in an Instagram tribute. “My loss is indescribable and I am focused on her children and their steps forward. [Hilaree] was the most inspiring person in life and now her energy will guide our collective souls. Peace be with us all. Pray for her family and community which is broadly stretched across our planet. I’m devastated by the loss of her.”

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