Menage a Jacket: Columbia Sportswear's Ultrachange 3-Way Jacket

As most of the country has seen this year, winter weather can be a fickle beast. With bright and sunny conditions one day, pouring rain and snow the next, just one jacket isn't going to cut it.

Columbia Sportswear's Ultrachange 3-in-1 Jacket ($450) does its best to accommodate your comfort in a variety of conditions. The setup consists of Columbia's waterproof OmniDry outer shell with the breathable OmniWick liner and a removable synthetic insulated jacket lined with the reflective OmniHeat lining. Hence the 3-in-1: you can pair the two for an insulated storm shell, yank out the liner and just wear the shell for warmer situations, or just wear the liner when it's cold and clear outside. 

I took the Ultrachange out for a day of snowboarding at Columbia's Fall '12 event, and the jacket negated any wind chill while I whipped down the mountain. By the afternoon, the day had heated up enough for me to take out the liner and just wear the shell for a while. I dug how much cooler it was, but the shell's fabric has a bit of a scratchy feel against the skin. I eventually swapped it for the insulating jacket, which I absolutely love.

The insulator's nylon outer and liner feel good against the skin, and the OmniHeat lining pairs up with the insulation to make for an incredibly warm package. It's got stretchy/breathable side panels, and it hooks into the shell via a loop on the back of the collar. I've made it a habit to wear it on its own more often than paired with the shell, but that'll probably change if California ever sees rain again.

It's scheduled for a Fall '12 release. Keep an eye out at Columbia.com.

Oh, and as an added bonus, the liner can be turned inside out for some early-90's bling action. So, technically, it's a 4-in-1.

Beat My Sleeve: One Man's Saga to Find the Perfect Headband

Despite all of the sweat-wicking, breathable, fast-drying materials that the gear industry showcases, I'm at a bit of a loss lately. I’ve tried a series of headwear options to keep my ears warm in the winter and keep the sweat out of my eyes in the summer, and all of the experimentation has led to one question: 

Why is it that my favorite headband is a cutoff sleeve from a shirt that was so grungy that my wife wouldn't let me wear it anymore? 

Now, to be fair, it's not that simple: I have a few special needs as a runner.

One, my head gets crazy hot in the winter, but my ears tend to freeze up on me. 

Two - I shave my head, so in the summertime, sweat just plain pours into my eyes the second I start moving. It’s like getting assaulted with seawater. I need something that’ll soak up and evaporate the sweat before it can offend my ocular sockets. 

I’ve tried tons of pieces of gear, but no luck so far. Here are a few notable tries: 

I started out with Turtle Fur’s Dryline Frost Ear Beanie with its lightweight and quick-drying Dryline material and extended ear coverage. It was warm in the winter, but too warm for all but the coldest of days and waaay too hot in the summer. I quickly decided to go with a headband. 

Mizuno’s Breathe Thermo Headband is warm and leaves the brainpan uncovered, but it’s too hot in the summertime. The Breathe Thermo tech makes the fabric warm up when it gets wet, which is neat in the winter, but pretty much nixes it for summer use. It’s not very elastic, either. After a few uses it was pretty stretched out and prone to slippage.

This may get me in trouble with notable Buff enthusiast Steve Regenold, founding editor of GearJunkie.com, but multifunctional marvel The Buff isn’t quite cutting it either. For every other purpose (full-on beanie, balaclava, blindfold, gag) it’s phenomenal and versatile, but there’s just too much material there. Folding the material over and over on itself to use as a headband makes it too hot during summer runs. Maybe a Buff headband would be good.

The Buff is great, but again, too hot in the summer.

The only piece of gear that works for me is a sleeve I cut from one of my favorite t-shirts. It provides enough coverage to keep my ears from freezing off of my head in December, but it’s small and thin enough to keep me from overheating in August. The fact that it’s cotton is definitely not ideal, but it soaks up the sweat just fine, it just takes forever to dry. I use it for running, climbing, hiking, just about any situation in which I might start sweating. Here's a photo of the Sleeve. Note the telltale seam and vintage "Electric" logo.

Now, I know there must be something out there that’ll work as well, if not better, than my Sleeve. Consider the gauntlet thrown, Gear Industry. Beat my sleeve.                                            

Teva Mountain Games Bringing Big Air, Big Awesome to Vail

One of the first things you learn when you enter the outdoor industry is that Teva knows how to throw a party. So it makes sense that they can bust out a long weekend with the best of them.

Mixed climbing? Check. Snowshoe, telemark, and splitboard racing? Check. Dual mountain bike snow slalom? Of course! A Theophilus London concert? Why the heck not?

The weekend of February 10-12, Teva Winter Mountain Games will hit Vail, Colorado, and it's going to bring a truckload of awesomeness with it. In addition to the standard winter sports like skiing, ice climbing and the like, Teva is bringing Big Air and On Snow Dual Slalom mountain bike events to the mix. Yeah. Two guys going head to head, flying down a snowy-covered hill and nailing gates. If that doesn't get your blood pumping, you may be dead. Seek help.

On Sunday, February 12, my favorite event will kick off. The Vail Uphill race appeals to the masochist in me. It separates the men and women from the boys and girls with a 2-mile race up groomed ski trails from the base of Vail Mountain's Lionshead to the top of the Eagle's Nest at 10,328 feet. Two miles, uphill, in the snow, as fast as you can. That is hard of core. 

Throw in a Theophilus London free concert on Saturday night and some Outdoor Reels film selections on Friday, and you've got a weekend crammed full of awesome. For the full list of events, head over to the Teva Winter Mountain Games website. Better yet, go check it out if you're in the Vail area next week.

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2012: Top Ten ORWMoments

If you've spent some time on this website, you'll know that the Outdoor Retailer shows can be a bit extreme for me and the people around me. No one went to the hospital this year, although another Columbia Sportswear employee did get hurt (sorry Adam), so I'll call this one a success. Here are a few context-free highlights from the trip.

1. Seeing oil explode out of a vat of molten salt at the Easton Mountain Products factory tour. Ka-BOOM!

2. Listening to Gearjunkie.com founder Stephen Regenold speak of his love of Buff headwear: "I think I wear one every day of my life."

3. Watching half a dozen blind-drunk people from [will remain nameless] apparel company stagger out of their plainly marked limo, then miraculously find their way into the Red Door lounge. Apparently, Kiwis know how to party.

4. Hearing iRunFar.com's (hilarious) Bryon Powell encourage our driver to have a glass of wine by saying "Well, you're not driving NOW..."

5. Seeing Columbia Sportswear's social media manager Adam Buchanan getting cracked on the head with a piece of street art. Sorry about that, A-bomb...

6. Admitting that I came to Outdoor Retailer with my mom's computer (long story).

7. Trying to write down all the courses of our meal at The Yurt at Solitude, but giving up when I couldn't pronounce half of the items. 

8. Realizing that no matter how many shoes I have, I need more.Thanks, Saucony.

9. Receiving a sample flask (still in its packaging) that happened to be pre-loaded with Maker's Mark whiskey. Deluxe model, anyone?

10. Seeing our collective Outdoor Retailer experience summed up in this video. Great job, Verde PR!

You want gear stuff, check out TheGearcaster.com or GearJunkie.com. These guys have tons of great gear content. Or heck, you could even read some of my gear reviews over at ActiveJunky.com/thefix or Wired.com. It's not bad either.