Berghaus Vapour Storm Jacket ...

At the Hellvellyn Trail Team weekend back in April, I got a quick look at the Berghaus Vapour Storm jacket, and having put an ice axe through my long suffering shell jacket during the winter season, made a note to take a closer look at a later date.

Was silly excited to be given one to try out in the Alps and whilst the conditions above Courmayeur weren’t perfect for a proper test with only light drizzle, my initial impressions were all positive and I knew it wouldn’t be long until a full Scottish kit test opportunity would be available.

Since the vast majority of my running is in the mountains and upland fells, my own requirements for a shell jacket are based around two key features: it has to be durable enough to cope with the high winds and fairly extreme conditions we often experience here, and it must be simple in terms of construction. Now that the majority of good running packs feature accessible pockets, I want a shell simply to keep the weather out rather than to provide storage.

Last weekend, I was up on the Island of Harris for an ascent of An Clisham which is my second to last Corbett summit before I can claim a complete round. The forecast was bad with heavy rain and upland gales to look forward to later in the afternoon. Sadly, it was very accurate on all fronts, so not only was I glad to have the jacket with me but it also gave me the chance to give it a proper test.

Joe seemed impressed and wanted a shot !

The Vapour Storm is constructed out of 3 Layer Gore-Tex Active material so is certainly durable and, acknowledging what I said earlier about simple construction, the one external pocket gave easy access to my compass when the rucksack pockets were full! The fit was snug without being tight which I liked, but since fit is a personal preference, would recommend that it be tried on.

Four specific features I love about the Storm are:

The venting system – think fish gills and you will get the idea. There are a series of vents at the front, sides and back which have a turn back at the top which prevents any water from entering whilst giving an incredible degree of breathability. The vertical arrangement seems to produce a chimney effect whereby cool air comes in and the hotter air created by the body vents out.

There are back vents which may not work as well with a pack on but will certainly add further to the breathability when the shell is used with a only a bumbag or handheld waterbottle. I’m not entirely sure of the science behind it, but despite the jacket being fully zipped up and working fairly hard on the uphill, I felt very comfortable temperature wise and it definitely did its job at keeping the weather out.


The hood – normally a pet hate of mine since most shell jackets I’ve owned have hoods so big they are more akin to a group shelter! Initially, with the Storm I sighed not being able to find the volume adjustment in order to tailor the hood to fit. In my defense, this was due to the adjustment cords all being internally sealed to prevent the usual whipping and flapping, a brilliant feature. Once adjusted, the hood fit perfectly and the cut down to the collar at the sides didn’t obscure vision in any way. Being able to keep the hood up will give obvious protection and keep water ingress soaking the base layer as often happens.

The cuffs – I hate Velcro adjustments due to the ‘fiddle factor,’ so was pleased to see a simple elastic on the inside of the cuff to keep things neat. The cuff also extends slightly down towards fingers on the back of the hand to give additional protection with internal thumb loops to keep the whole arrangement in place. The main advantage I see to this is that it extends the range of conditions before gloves would become a consideration for me now; if you clench your hands, they are almost fully protected 

The jacket tail – this is similar to a cycling style shell being slightly lower than the waistline and it works well in terms of stopping the jacket from riding up the back. This maybe a small feature, but is an indication given to the thought put in by Berghaus to the jacket design.

A range of colours are available but my preference was for the classic Berghaus Aster Blue / Fire combination. Great to see that Berghaus have also produced a Women specific range of the Vapour Storm as well! As I write this, I’ve been trying to think on something I didn’t like about the jacket or some improvement, but I’m struggling to come up with anything meaningful. My only observation is that for in-between conditions where some kind of waterproof is required but it’s not full blown epic conditions, the Vapour Storm might be considered too heavy an option, but suppose that is where the Vapour Light Hyper Smock comes into its own!

Leaving Courmayeur - photo courtesy of Reuben Tabner