Montane Ice Guide Jacket - Review / Overview

This review of the Montane Ice Guide has been updated since its original publish date (Jan 2015).

I'd been looking for a warm synthetic jacket to replace another belay jacket which doesn't provide me with enough warmth in winter (Montane Flux). Being here in the UK with the occasional spot of rain, I'm not always reaching for my old Alpkit down jacket when headed out into the winter hills...

So the Montane Ice Guide is at the time of writing, the warmest belay style jacket out there with a synthetic fill. It's got 210g of the Primaloft eco / Primaloft silver fill in the main body. Most of the rest of the jacket has 170g of fill. The arms are pretty warm too, with 133g of fill. So basically it's pretty filled with fill... Some may think it's over-filled...

The outer is The Pertex microlight ripstop also found on things like the Flux jacket etc.

Montane Ice Guide - birds eye view!

The Montane Ice Guide comes in 3 colours. I got the shadow / graphite / flame type colour which I think looks the best! Not that I'm shallow or anything...

So let's get started on the many features that the Ice Guide offers...

1. The Hood (the thing on your noggin, not the Bronx...)

Montane Ice Guide hood from side

Ice Guide back of the hood

So the hood is excellent as you'd imagine from Montane. There is a stiffened peak on the front of the hood which is a God-send in gales for visibility. The visibility left and right with the hood up is great. There's a couple of drawcords easily adjustable (although with large mitts on it'd be a challenge) and another drawcord on the back of the hood. Thankfully most manufacturers are now doing this. Designed so the cords don't flap into your face like can happen in winds - I speak from experience... The hood can also be rolled up and stashed inside the jacket, with a label and velcro acting to hold it down. This same feature is found in the Flux and it's a useful one.

In Petesy's much better review of the Ice Guide than mine, he points out another feature that when the Ice Guide hood is down, it intentionally also acts as having an extra collar. Having tried this as a result of his review, it's a great feature!

2. The Zips

Ice Guide Zip and fastener at top

View of the zip and the two top pockets

Ice Guide showing the two-way zip

The zips are YKK style top quality zips. This is one area where Montane stands out over other (I hate to use the word 'budget') brands. It'd be nice to see a bigger toggle on the zip when it's cold outside. Unless you've been out in freezing temps with ice axe and harnesses, it's hard to explain how important it is that kit is accessible and works immediately! But these will be very adequate. Two-way zip to help with venting, access, harness and for convenience. I like there fact that at the top and bottom of the front zip, there are fasteners to keep things neat. There's an excellent zip guard all the way up to protect from snags. At the top, there's a soft fleece beardguard as well. Nice. The zips are all bright red in colour which I also like esp at night or in foggy / whiteout conditions.

3. Drawcords

Inside of pocket on Ice Guide showing inner drawcord

Hem drawcord on Ice Guide

A great feature that Montane has on both the Ice Guide and the Extreme Jacket is to add an inner drawcord which you'll find in the lower pockets. This helps snug things up around your 'tummy' and is a great addition to the drawcords on either side of the hem to lock in warmth on the jacket. It's a great feature in the snow especially with spindrift often finding its way everywhere! The Ice Guide is one that can be used for belay jacket purposes but it's also designed to be worn on the move and many people ice climb in it etc.

4. The Pockets

Two top pockets on Ice Guide

One of the lower pockets on the Ice Guide

Inside of the Ice Guide, also showing the hood 'loop' at the top

The Ice Guide has four pockets, two located on the chest and two hand pockets. None of the pockets are really map compatible but they aren't designed to be! The lower pockets are encased with fill etc but don't have the same immediate snug warmth that you find on the fleecy lined pockets of the Simond warm mountain jacket!

Not shown on the pics is an inner top pocket which is found on the top left of the jacket (underneath the outer pocket).

5. The Cuffs

Ice Guide adjustable cuffs

The cuffs have an adjustable cuff using velcro, with easy to use 'hand grab' bits so you can quickly tighten the cuffs when wearing gloves.

6. Reinforced arms

Reinforced arms on Montane Ice Guide

When putting on the Ice Guide, I immediately felt very warm in the arms - and with 133g fill I'm not surprised. This is more fill than most jackets have in the body! The outer sides of the arms are reinforced as well, which is shown in the pic. Useful for active use and scrambling up gullies!

7. Other Features

Small Primaloft logo (front bottom right)

Reflective detail on the back of the Ice Guide

Montane logo top left of the Ice Guide

8. Sizing and fit

I got a large in the Simond Warm Mountain Jacket and a large in the Montane Ice Guide to compare and contrast! So here's my findings...

- The Ice Guide is more snug on the arms. I'm a medium and just wearing a fleece underneath, I would possibly struggle in a medium.

- I find the Ice Guide slightly 'puffs out' around the waist area, unlike the Simond jacket. This could be because I'm very athletic / slim size and normally a medium. But the Ice Guide would certainly fit you if you liked your pies!

- The Ice Guide is slightly wider than the Simond jacket at the hem (this is possibly due to the extra fill).

Widths of Simond (top) and Ice Guide (underneath)

- The two jackets are the exactly same length from neck to hem. The Ice Guide has a slightly longer 'drop' tail.

The Simond warm jacket (top) and Ice Guide (underneath)

- The Ice Guide has longer sleeves than the equivalent in the Simond jacket.

The Ice Guide has an articulated cut, esp around the arms which means you can move about with your arms and not worry about the jacket riding up etc. This is extremely important in active use. If you are going to use the Ice Guide for ice climbing and active use I would definitely stay with your normal size. (I did find the Ice Guide vaguely 'tight' across my shoulders but nothing that stops movement and no more so than the usual Montane fit).

There is a slight drop tail on the back of the jacket which is a nice and often helpful addition.

My large weighed in at around 820g, much heavier than the 667g Montane website weight for a medium.

9. Warmth

Again, this is tricky to answer because I haven't taken this out in lots of brutal winter conditions yet.

However, the jacket is very warm. It's much warmer than the Montane Flux as you'd expect with over twice the fill. I would also say it's clearly warmer than the Simond jacket (which has a 180g own-brand fill). What I can say is it's warmer than any of the other jackets I have or have tried (and of course bulkier).

10. Conclusion

Comparing this to the Simond jacket, the Ice Guide has far more technical features. For technical use I would highly recommend the Ice Guide. If you absolutely need the warmest possible jacket I'd also recommend it - as I would in terms of the aesthetics! However, this comes at a pretty high price (understandably). The average price of the Ice Guide is £145-£150 (although can get cheaper in the sales and offers). The Simond is £49.99 less delivery.

Montane Ice Guide (left) and Simond Warm Mountain Jacket (right)

If you just want a warm jacket for hill use to throw on then you'll find the Simond jacket is more than enough. If you're out in foul conditions, in the snow and spindrift and need the best then the Ice Guide is impossible to beat. It is absolutely top notch, has helpful features that other jackets don't, it's made from the best quality materials and very warm.

11. Out in the hills (2015 and 2016)

I have since taken this out for both MLT in Winter and on my own around the Lakes. It has also travelled to the Cairngorms for a winter outing or two. My conclusion is that this is a very warm jacket, very well featured. It's a great 'belay' jacket if you need serious warmth or are sitting around for long periods belaying, or other outdoors activities where there's a lot of waiting (especially in wet or drizzly conditions where down isn't great unless under a hardshell).

Navigating on Sgor Gaoith

Usual wide-ranging views from Ben Macdui

However, I would say it's also quite bulky to pack (even in a dry bag) so you'd need to decide whether you need something this warm. I didn't take this out much in (an admittedly) slightly 'warmer' Scottish winter in 2016 and it certainly didn't emerge in the Lakes. It would be great if stuck out, or taking long breaks or winter wild camping where you were uncertain about down.

But for your average UK winter walk it's probably too much. For harsh Scottish winter walking in the Cairngorms etc, multi-day cold winter outings etc it'd be fine. Or if you find you get very cold easily. Otherwise you may find it's a bit too bulky / too warm. In that case I'd recommend something a bit less warm. I bought the large - which easily goes over outer layers. A medium may have been better (but is slightly tight on the shoulders).