Great fit, with nice articulated sleeves. Unique zippers next to chest pockets allow access to interior layers or can be used for ventilation. Neat Napolean stash pockets on both sides of zipper placket. Excellent hood. Overall, a great jacket - light enough for go-fast stuff; durable enough for more abusive stuff!

Customer Service

None needed so far.

Similar Products Used:

Marmot Lightspeed, Patagonia Stretch Triolet

Oh my god, I have been blessed with the jacket of the gods. This is amazing, there are loads of great features for you to play with upon purchase but this doesnt effect the weight. The bright suposebly apricot kicks ass as does the hood, sleeves, pockets, pit zips, access pockets,material, powder skirt,one handed drawcords and size.
No complaints here Mountain Hardwear, the Chill factor alpine fleece also rules.

Similar Products Used:

I had an Arcteryx Alpha SV but that broke and I sent it off but it never returned so I got this half price. Im so much happier.

The perfect shell! It has all the features you want. Fleece chin protection, enough pockets, very lightweight, no TNF-taggs and a great hood.
With this hood you can turn your head aroud and be able to see all the time.
The reinforced alswell as the non-reincorced fabric is very soft and this makes it easy to manufere in.

Customer Service

Had an exposure shell. Fabric ripped along pittzip. Got a new ethereal parka with alittle extra money. Very friendly and quick.

Similar Products Used:

MH exposure jacket (perfect, but fabric not strong enough for harsh work)

BOMBPROOF, I purchased this jacket after an extencive search for a new 3-layer. This coat has held up very well in ALL conditions. Many,many extras including ample ventilation in the pits and chest. Excellent hood, very manuverable. One minor downfall in apperance is when the ORANGE color in the coat gets extremly wet from intense sweat or 30mph rain you can see the black backing through the material.

Similar Products Used:

None

I guess that I bought one of the first Ethereal Jackets a couple of years ago before I went to the Outward Bound IDP program. The color I bought was apricot, From what I read above about a guy that bought this jacket Apricot has always been orange. The jacket performed flawlessly. I lived in this jacket for 55 days straight. I took everything outward bound and the appalachians could dish out. The jacket is light weight, totally bombproof, and handles both hard rain nad wet snow. The 3 ply gore fabric is tough. When I went to get certified for my Wilderness First responder certificate, the jacket amazed my teachers with the way it was Highly visible, and the water still beaded on the jacket evern after I had stood in chest deep water for several minutes. I have climbed in this jacket, slept in the jacket, used it for a pillow, used it as a tarp, and loaned it out to friends going to do some fairly serious mountaineering; the jacket holds and perform flawlessly. It is also to my understanding that the maker of the jacket, Mountain hardware, are made up mostly from ex-North Face people who left the company to make outdoor gear their way. I would say that they have done a hell of a job.

I recently ordered this parka after admiring it for sometime at some of the local shops. I usually buy from those shops but I couldn't pass up the 20% off coupon I was offered. I wanted something very functional since I'm planning a mountaineering trip this spring and wanted a shell with a somewhat bright color for safety reasons (easier to see if buried in an avalache), so I chose the apricot.

When it arrived I was shocked to find that MH had changed their color scheme. Their "apricot" in orange. I don't know about you, but I HATE orange. But functionality was my priority and I was excited to give this baby a tryout. The fit was excellent. Large enough throught the torso and shoulders to allow for heavy insulation and full motion including high upward stretches without the hem raising. The hood was one of the best. It fit perfectly around my climbing helmet. The ventilation features were extraordinary with pit zip and pass through zips in the side pockets to allow for added ventilation.
There was one problem that I found very troubling. The zipper constantly jammed on the upper inside storm flap. It would continuously override the fabric on the upward closing motion which didn't affect the closing. The problem was in opening it. The zipper would not budge. After considerable fiddling I would successfully get it open. This was too scary for me. You don't want to have to remove your gloves in extreme weather every time you want to open the jacket.
This was more than I could tolerate. I sent the parka back. The zipper problem was more than I could put up with (the orange color didn't help either).
I have a number of Mountain Hardwear products and was disheartened to finally be disappointed in one of their products. They really need to address the zipper problem.

Customer Service

They're email service is very slow. They will answer, just don't be in a hurry.

I once called the company by phone and had an extremely frustrating time with the woman who answers their phone. If you call, you'll know it's the same person because she speaks with a definite accent. She totally misundrstood what I was calling about and got very belligerent threatening to hang up. I had no idea what was going on in her head and attempts to talk with her were futile.
I then asked to speak to her manager which really set her off but she followed through.
When I talked to one to top people at MH (a VP, I think), I told him in detail what happened and his response was totally unexpected. He was totally in defense of her saying she had always been a good employee. So if someone is usually a good employee they can NEVER screw up?
I think MH needs a wake up call!

Let me start off my review by asking if anyone else besides me is sick and tired of 12 year olds walking around in North Face $450 3-layer Gore-Tex Jackets!!!....Had to get it off my chest, sorry. I am a guide in New England and spend most of my time in horrible weather just for the hell of it. On Mt. Laffayette in New Hampshires Franconia Notch. I found myself without shelter on an extended day hike. What I had with me was a first aid kit, food, h2o, my Hardwear parka and my Lowe-Alpine contour4 pack. With a hefty storm rolling in about 20 miles away I needed cover. Long story short: I put my jacket on and used my pack as a bivy. Snow, sleet, rain, wind (the kind of stuff the mail menwomen deal with daily)I was dry, I was warm , and I was pissed I was stuck on the side of the mountain, but I was dry. God bless you Mtn. Hardwear. You truly make an exceptional piece of outerwear.

Customer Service

Their customer service is a real person, who cares about his companies product. Not some answering machine that tells you about new job openings in their sweatshops.

Similar Products Used:

Arc'Teryx Theta AR(close second)TNF Mtn. Light(crap) TNF Kichatna(uncomfortable, bulky when filled)MTN.Hardwear FTX ULTRA(2nd, Bombproof, personal prefernce stepped in). Due to mass production of North Face products, I have noticed a drastic change in their quality as compared to the quality of their products from 5 years ago.It is all a fashion show now. Hope I have been of assistance.

I recieved the following questions which could be of interest to anyone so I thought I would add the comments

I am looking at the same jacket, and have a few points of concern that you could maybe answer.Does the Ethereal pack up (compress) well enough to pack it away when you are out of the thick weather?

It rolls up to about the size of a smallish loaf of bread - about 10 in long and 5 inches in diameter

How bulky does the Ethereal end up being with a small pack on your back? What about with a larger pack?

With a medium ALICE pack, its just fine. You just need to make sure that the hood doesn’t get caught between you and the pack; this tends to happen when putting the pack on as you would expect. Also I prefer the hood loose rather than rolled on a large pack (~4500 cu in), as when it rolled up, it pushes my head forward some.

Do the internal water bottle pockets sag with a full load of water?

My large pack has an internal bladder and I don’t own a 1-liter bottle so, this took some time to answer. Anyway, I tried a 20oz Sobe (picked because it has a glass bottle - more weight) in front pocket, the waist cord was only slightly cinched, the powder skirt was not snapped, the jacket was zipped. It felt like I had my hand on my stomach. Noticeable, but not a problem.

While hiking, do you find that the pit zips are harder to draw down?

I presume that you mean hiking with a pack. No problem at all I use the opposite hand to start it and perhaps, depending or where the straps are, the same side hand to finish it off.

Are the pit zips large enough to place your hands against your body for warmth? Are they long enough to place your hands in an interior jacket or fleece?

You really can't use the pit zips, but this isn't a problem as the napoleon pockets are well suited to this. Additionally, there is a second zipper for access to the interior water bottle pockets that you can also use if you want to put you hands on your fleece insulation layer.


What other jackets did you look at before deciding on this jacket? I am looking at the Arc Teryx Alpha SV and Theta AR (fancy names for expensive jackets).

I tried the Theta AR and was quite pleased with it. It has a more tailored fit (which might not appeal to a heavier person or if you wear a lot of layers) and I like the hood a bit better in the side to side tracking. And it's lighter. However, I did not find the waterproof zippers to be convincing. Although they did not catch when I worked the zippers they did seem to be stiffer, especially the pit zips and, they simply seem small; I have more faith in the 3 oz more weight it takes for YKK zippers, Velcro and a little more Gore-Tex. As you would expect the Theta AR rolls smaller. I'll post a more complete review for it when I get a bit more time.

Incedentally, the value rating is at the list price. For the price I purchased it at, I could only give it a 5. Thanks for the questions.

Similar Products Used:

Arc'Teryx Theata AR, Montain Hardware FTX Ultra, numerous North Face and non-goretex jackets.

At around $425 list, this is not a cheap jacket. However, its well worth it for serious backpackers and for some climbers.

First the good parts:
1) long sleeves
2) pit zips run from the elbows to about mid waist
3) the ergo hood is quite good. None of the problems of turning your head only to look your hood.
4) There is a lot of attention to detail that you would expect, e.g., some polartec sewn where you chin would hit rub & snaps are molded with the company logo.

So, what annoys me about it? Honestly, nothing other than the industry trend to put large labels in conspicious places so that it becomes a status symbol for yuppies and their larvae.

A side note: the Etherial FTX does not have D-rings for gloves or mittens like the Ultra or the Exposure.

Now, in my case I got mine on sale, bringing it from about 425 to about 225, plus tax. At that price, I think this is a steal; I would have sticker shock at the list. Really hard core climber might like the Ultra better as its shorter and will likely be wearing climbing bibs anyway. College students who want a nice weather proof jacket ... go with LL Bean or something like Columbia, otherwise you'll just look like posers

Customer Service

This is a new jacket... no problems found.

Similar Products Used:

Arc'Teryx Theata AR, Montain Hardware FTX Ultra, numerous North Face and non-goretex jackets.

Bought a Mountain Hardware Ethereal Ftx and like d it alot only had good things to say about it but recently the stichting on the powder skirt came undonne was reallyy disappointed is being sent back to Mountain Hardware for a repair it is a great coat and o laove it it keeps me dry and is wind proof And the company has a lifetime warranty

Customer Service

Will have some in the future