Ski Suit
For most skiers a ski suit is highly recommended. Here are some key tips and ideas for choosing ski suits:
If you want to spend a wonderful time on skiing resort, you’ll need warm and comfortable clothing.
Buy all the necessary clothing before the vacation. If you are a beginner, you’ll have to buy a full set of skiing clothing. If you wear usual warm clothing, which you wear in winter, you’ll sweat, get wet, will be chilled by the wind – and as a result you’ll catch a cold and won’t have any pleasure.
Skiing suit:
A skiing suit comprising of a seperate jacket and trousers is more convenient than an all-in-one ski suit. When you are lucky to be on sunny slopes it can get real, and it is great if you can take off your ski jacket.
A good skiing suit should keep your body warm, be waterproof against rain and driving/melting snowfall, protect you from cutting, chilling wind and, something that might be oevrlooked - your ski suit material should resist sliding down the slope, when you fall. On top of this, you may also want your skiing suit to look pretty stylish, so that you can wear it confortably around town apres ski, or even away from the piste, back home when out and about and the weather is harsh.
Your whole ski suit ensemble should firstly be made up of several layers of clothing for optimum warmth and flexibility.
Your first layer should be some kind of thermal underwear. The main aim of this item is not so much for warmth, but it should be made of material taha will “wick” the moisture away from your the body. If the underwear is not made of the right stuff you will sweat then feel wet, and you’ll soon be cold, miserable and uncomfortable. That’s why you should avoid cotton underwear. Choose specially designed and manufactured ski underwear. And be sure that your thermal underwear fits you fairly close and does not form folds that will feel uncomfortable and be hard to adjust when layered with other ski clothes.
Your second layer should be for preserving body heat and keeping you warm. You could use one or two woollen sweaters and this would not be out of place. But these items can be quite bulky and feel heavy, making it less easy and comfortable to move. Even newbie skiers are recommended to invest in lighter weight alternatives. When you are just learning to ski, you want to be able to move easily and flexibly, so that you build up your confidence whilst feeling natural and unencumbered.
These days fleece skiing clothing is very much in favor. Fleece ski wear preserves the body warmth of and is relatively waterproof, it can withstand outer moisture yet let sweat ‘wick away’ from the body - as a good fleece acts as a permeable layer. If one ski vest or fleece sweater is not enough to keep you warm in the conditions you find on the slopes, it is lighte enough for a second one to be worn on top.
Fleece is also regularly used as a lining in for ski jackets too. A good ski jacket is a must ands it will be covered with modern waterproof textiles that are very good at protecting you from wind and moisture. The outer layer of your ski suit can, as I say, be an all-in-one or a ski jacket and ski pants combo. Youe choice of outerwear should be reliabley waterproof, good enough to withstrand the likely conditions you will be facing, but it also need to let your body breathe so that you keep dry on the inside.
A ski suit or ski jacket with a skiing hood can be an asset when conditions are windy, and that is on top of having a good ski hat or cap. The hood should be able to be fastened to the collar of the jacket, or ideally removed when desired, otherwise it should be rollable and stowable in the jacket collar, This is important to avoid problems with wearing a skiing helmet if you prefer to use one of these.
Choosing a Good Ski Suit - The Statistics to Look For:
1) Look for a waterproof coefficient which is expressed in millimeters, it should be printed on the label of the ski jacket you are considering to buy. Generally speaking for most conditions in typical skiing resorts a skiing suit with a coefficient of 5000mm ishould be adequate.
2) You should also look at the vapor permeabilty coefficient which is expressed in terms of millimeters per square meter of fabric in 24 hours. Don’t choose anything with a vapor permeability less than about 5000mm/m² 24 hours. This should help keep you effectively dery and comfortable.
Naturally you can buy skiing clothing and ski suits with highere rated coefficients - although this is also refelcted in higher prices.
If you can strtetch to it, for a new beginner skier, then choosing a ski jacket or suit with both figures around 7000 to 8000 would be optimum. You may be hanging around more and being less active than the experienced skiers so the extra quality may pay off in terms of prolonged comfort. Indeed experienced skiers may be thankful for outer skiing clothing with higher coefficients, when average temperature dive to close to zero and you may be ski in both rain and snow.
You may choose a longer style skiing jacket, along the lines of a snowboarding jacket, but many skiers still prefer a shorter ski jacket for ease of movement and flexibility. In this case you will need the high backed skiing trousers to make sure you are well protected from snow and wind.