Italian designers usually end up dressing celebrities, or Bond girls. Suitable for riding a moped through the streets of Rome, perhaps, but not usually available for us mountain-ladies, riding skis up and down alpine mountains.  Fortunately for us, the Italian team at La Sportiva has designed the equivalent for alpine ladies. The Storm Fighter GTX is a like a designer-styled jacket for the uphill athlete.

I’ve taken the Storm Fighter for ski tours in the Cascades, and thrown it in my pack for days with thunderstorm risk in the Rockies. It’s an incredibly light jacket – a shell in the true sense of the word. It’s withstood direct rain, but it is also lighter and more flexible than any other Gortex shell I own. It vents well on the uphill, and is just stretchy enough to allow overhead axe swinging and climbing. It’s tailored in a feminine fit, and it’s just the right length for my arms and torso at 5’8”

I love the La Sportiva colors – they pop against the alpine landscape, and I like being bright in the mountains. I’m glad to have Italian designers on my side!

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