Rab Khroma Latok Ski Jacket Assessment

It’s arduous to search out one ski jacket for all of the circumstances you’ll encounter driving at ski resorts and within the backcountry. A shell that may maintain its personal in opposition to subzero storms on a resort ridgeline is normally overkill when spring touring in full solar within the 50s. Nonetheless, ski attire manufacturers are recreation to attempt, and Rab’s Latok is a worthy applicant.

The Latok is a dear shell that makes use of a lighter variant of the high-end GORE-TEX Professional membrane to supply most weatherproofing and respectable breathability for the construct. The lower and building are principally according to an excellent resort-skiing jacket. However some little tweaks make it a believable choice for lighter backcountry ski excursions in colder climate.

Outsized chest pockets accommodate skins and are operable even when sporting a pack — one other nod to the backcountry skier. Lighter materials within the physique assist with breathability. Whereas harder layers within the shoulders and arms are extra sturdy.

In brief: The Rab Khroma Latok ($680) ski jacket is a high-quality, high-performing ski shell that’s sturdy and weatherproof sufficient for the ski resort however mild sufficient for infrequent cold-weather backcountry ski excursions.

Learn our full evaluate beneath, or The Finest Ski Jackets Purchaser’s Information to see how the Latok compares to our different favorites.

• Match
  Freeride
• Insulation
  None
• Shell
  80D and 40D Recycled GORE-TEX Professional Most Breathable
• Waterproof score (mm)
  28,000
• Breathability (g)
  20,000
• Weight
  611 g

• 
  Finest-in-class weatherproofing
• 
  Mobility-friendly match
• 
  Mild total weight

• 
  Costly
• 
  Insufficient breathability for high-output touring

Rab Khroma Latok Ski Jacket Assessment

Skiers have shoehorned Rab mountaineering jackets onto the slopes for years. And in 2020, the British mountaineering model lastly debuted their ski-specific Khroma attire lineup. The Khroma assortment immediately meets the wants of skiers with a large spectrum of ski jackets, pants, and gloves which are constructed for the slopes.

Khroma attire is marketed to backcountry fans. However the high-end weather-protection and sturdiness affords loads of choices for resort-first skiers.

To contextualize the model’s choices, I’d argue that the GORE-TEX ePE-based Khroma Converge shell and Khroma Transpose Insulated shell are each traditional resort-only ski shells. Whereas the lighter weight Khroma Latok bridges the resort and backcountry use, by utilizing the GORE-TEX Professional Most Breathable material, which employs a lighter face material than the opposite Professional variants. 

I examined the Latok Ski Jacket throughout 10 days of backcountry touring and resort snowboarding between the Arapahoe Basin and Breckenridge Ski areas and the encircling backcountry terrain. My testing fell in late April and Might, with loads of intense solar and heat days. However I additionally skilled a number of storms that offered winter-like circumstances and excessive winds to check the Latok’s weatherproofing.

Cloth Building: Good for Downhilling

There’s no lining or insulation right here. However as a result of the Latok makes use of GORE-TEX, it’s greatest suited to resort snowboarding or lighter excursions in chilly climate. Excessive-output skimo sorts will discover it too cumbersome and scorching for the uphill on most days. That stated, it’s a sturdy, weatherproof choice for any downhill, whether or not you used a chairlift or skinned up.

The Latok’s GORE-TEX Professional Most Breathable pairs the trade commonplace — the GORE-TEX Professional membrane — with a thinner face material. The combo makes the jacket lighter when it comes to total weight, extra packable, and extra breathable. Whether or not or not that elevated breathability is sufficient for you going uphill depends upon your touring fashion, the local weather the place you ski, and the climate.

Extra Waterproof Than Breathable: Rab Khroma Latok Ski Jacket

On colder storm days mountain climbing on the ski resort, the Latok was excellent with only a baselayer beneath. I didn’t overheat, and the pit zip vents had been there if I felt myself steaming up.

Spring touring in full-on solar was one other story. The GORE-TEX simply didn’t breathe sufficient, and I needed to shed the Latok except I wished to completely soak my baselayers.

Intimately, I run scorching, tour comparatively quick uphill (not precisely at a skimo stage, however I attempt), and the ambient temperatures had been greater. No GORE-TEX three-layer shell goes to be breathable sufficient for me in these circumstances.

Whereas GORE-TEX Professional delivers best-in-class weatherproofing with a 28K waterproofness score, it’s no extra constructed for high-output ski touring than it will be for cross-country snowboarding or biking.

The exception to this rule is temperature-dependent. A shell just like the Latok works effectively when temperatures drop low sufficient. For me, that is about 15 levels F or much less. Stiff winds could make that quantity greater.

If you happen to preserve your layering beneath mild, the ambient chilly will preserve your core temperature down sufficient that you simply seemingly received’t steam and sweat sufficient to wish to take the Latok off.

There are additionally loads of people that preserve a extra leisurely tempo on the uphill who received’t overheat within the Latok. In actual fact, I’d guess nearly all of skiers that tour not less than just a few days a 12 months within the backcountry are getting out for shorter excursions chasing pow in colder climate. There’s definitely a portion who don’t thoughts stopping to drop layers as wanted. If that’s you, the Latok ought to work effectively in most backcountry conditions.

Excessive Sturdiness, Poor Packability

We’ve centered on the backcountry right here to this point, however it’s price mentioning that at its core, this ski jacket is a good conventional shell for downhill snowboarding.

The GORE-TEX Professional is prepared for any sort of wind or precipitation. Whereas it’s lighter than some resort-first shells, you don’t really feel ambient chilly temps and biting wind the best way you’ll in wispy backcountry-oriented jackets.

This 40D material used on the shoulders, arms, and chest is powerful and designed to bear the brunt of abrasions from sporting a pack and run-ins with bushes. Whereas my testing interval wasn’t lengthy sufficient to make definitive claims concerning the long-term sturdiness of the Latok, GORE-TEX Professional is designed to retain its efficiency over years of heavy use and abuse.

Whereas the lighter 80D material is supposed to assist with breathability, it’s restricted to the physique of the jacket beneath the chest and remains to be moderately thick and stiff. This strong total building means the Latok, whereas mild at 611 g, doesn’t precisely pack right down to nothing.

The stiffness of the GORE-TEX Professional prevents it from compressing down as tight as thinner, extra malleable ski jackets. I discovered myself strapping it to the skin of my backcountry pack moderately than stuffing it inside because of this.

Match: Rab Khroma Latok Ski Jacket

The Latok sports activities a roomy freeride lower that doesn’t bind across the shoulders or chest as slimmer shells can. That is key, as a result of the GORE-TEX Professional Most Breathable building doesn’t have any inherent stretch. Particularly whereas touring, a stiffer shell can really feel restrictive.

The underside hem of the Latok hangs a number of inches beneath the waist, which helps preserve snow out by overlapping your pants or bibs. There’s additionally the powder skirt that’s detachable if, like me, you not often snap it up.

For backcountry use, I at all times wish to lose the majority of the powder skirt, as I’ve by no means eliminated one and later wished I hadn’t. On the resort, I discovered the skirt’s highest and greatest use is forming a seal to dam wind on particularly breezy days.

I’m 6’0” tall and 190 kilos and went with the XL measurement. Although, I’m in all probability proper between Massive and XL and will’ve worn the Massive with out situation. Within the XL, I discovered the sleeves a contact lengthy however not too lengthy. And I’d at all times choose too lengthy over too brief in that division. Regardless of Rab being European, I wouldn’t advise mechanically sizing up as I would with different abroad manufacturers.

Pockets and Options

The Rab Latok has all the same old ski-specific options. The aforementioned powder skirt, a sleeve-mounted go pocket, pit zips, a helmet-compatible hood, and inner sleeve gaiters. I like sleeve gaiters in a resort jacket, however I discover they restrict venting. For backcountry utility, I’d be okay with out them within the Latok.

There aren’t any expressly backcountry-oriented options on this jacket. However the placement and measurement of the chest pockets make them accessible even when sporting a pack.

They’re additionally giant sufficient to accommodate folded-up skins, which is a pleasant choice for fast transitions with no need to take off your pack. (I ski a 120mm width backcountry ski in a 190 size. Splitboard skins could also be fatter however the lengths are shorter.)

In addition to these chest pockets and the small go pocket, there’s only one different on the Latok: a small mesh choice on the within of the chest that’s large enough for a big smartphone. The spacious measurement of the chest pockets means you received’t be hurting for cupboard space. However in case you carry a whole lot of small gadgets in your jacket, you may need to dig for them a bit.

The usual-length pit zips present stable emergency venting when issues begin heating up. Twin zippers allow you to micro-adjust the vent opening. Given the Latok’s supposed dual-use as a backcountry shell, I wish to see longer zips that allow you to utterly blow the jacket open to maximise venting and hopefully keep away from needing to take it off as typically.

Rab Khroma Latok Ski Jacket: Conclusion

The Rab Khroma Latok ski jacket is a good resort crossover shell in case you principally tour in chilly climate and aren’t pushing your coronary heart price on the uphill. If you happen to’re a devoted, high-output ski tourer, you’ll seemingly need one thing lighter and extra breathable. However this design is ideal for resort snowboarding and lighter backcountry ski and splitboard excursions.

Resort-first skiers who need one thing a bit lighter for the occasional tour will love this ski jacket. However this jacket might additionally match right into a quiver of jackets for use for chilly midwinter excursions and ski resort days after which swapped out for a lighter ski jacket on hotter days and for spring snowboarding laps.

Learn how the Latok compares to our different favourite ski jackets in the Finest Ski Jackets Purchaser’s Information.