Its Easy to tout the virtues of Patagonia's sport specific gear, the weather barriers of their alpine shells, for example, or the understated miracle of moisture-wicking fleece. Increasingly, Patagonia incorporates environmental innovation into fabric technology and still meets the demands of quality, performance and appeal.
This season they have divided their mountain outerwear into two Performance categories - Alpine (for climbing/mountaineering) and Edge (for backcountry skiing and snowboarding), though not to mark hard and fast lines of usage.
For more than thirty years, North Face has been the choice of the world's most accomplished climbers, mountaineers and explorers. Athletes whose lives depend on their turn to North Face for stronger, lighter, and more efficient equipment. To engineer such equipment, their materials specialists and design engineers work with the world's most advanced materials innovators to develop the technologies they need to realize the best designs
As long as athletes continue to strive for new challenges, North Face will continue to engineer the clothing and equipment they need to get there.
Marmot's purpose since 1974 has been to design and build the best technical performance clothing, tents, and sleeping bags that are available for people who are passionate about the outdoors and discriminating about their equipment. They make gear that keeps you warm, comfortable, and dry during sports and activities that may be technically difficult and are often in remote places. Whether backpacking for the weekend or spending weeks on a Himalayan climb, Marmot customers have always been able to depend on their gear.
OR (Outdoor Research) is fanatical about developing products that are as functional as possible, ignoring trendy fashions. Their outdoor gear is versital, innovative, durable and reasonably priced. They use only the most technically advanced materials; like Gore-Tex, Windstopper fleece, and Spandura, and all their products are made in their plant in Seattle Washington.