A good winter coat is a necessity here in Vermont as well as many other places in the world. While we love a good technical ski jacket, we can’t discount the benefits of a winter parka or everyday coat. Everyday coats and parkas don’t have the technical features of ski/snowboard jackets such as powder skirts but they are generally warmer and more stylish which is ideal for commuting and everyday life.

If you’re in the market for an everyday winter coat or parka, here are some great starting points to help narrow your search!

When looking for the perfect activewear piece, there is a lot to think about. Is it moisture wicking? Is it comfortable? How does it fit? Can it be worn on many different adventures and seasons? Is it high quality and long lasting? And finally, is it sustainable? Sustainability has quickly come to the forefront and now more than ever is a major factor people consider when making buying decisions. At Skirack, we take all these questions into consideration when carefully curating our collections each season. We work closely with our trusted brands and dive a little deeper into what sustainability means, asking: who made it, how is it made, where are the materials sourced, and what is it made up of?

Last January my family and I spent 6 months living and traveling in India. My wife Abby is a South Asian Historian at the University of Vermont, was on sabbatical, sponsored by a Fulbright Scholarship. Accompanying us was my wife’s nephew Ross who would become like a big brother to our son Zachary. We lived in Mumbai where Zach attended kindergarten and Ross 10th grade at the American School. The weather in India varies by region, ranging from triple digits and humidity to snow and cold in the Himalayas. In Mumbai, the temperatures range from the 70’s to low 80’s in January progressively climbing toward the high 90’s with increasing humidity hitting 80% as the monsoons approached in mid-June.

It’s 5:30 in the morning in Springdale Utah and nerves are high. We’re preparing to hike the notoriously adrenaline inducing Angel’s Landing trail in Zion National Park and it’s lightly raining. Not only is it raining, but it’s so cold outside that the rain is creating a thin layer of ice on the pavement. Not ideal when you’re about to hike a knife's-edge with 1000’ drops on either side of you. The conversation of “We might not be able to do this today” comes up, but we all agree that we’d at least hike Walter’s Wiggle and see what the rock looks like when we get to the top. My brother-in-law Dan had planned a jam packed 10-day hiking extravaganza around the Southwest for my 30th birthday and we only had one day in Zion. It was now or never.

Laura Gardner, run and nordic expert at Skirack went to New Zealand for two and a half weeks in February of this year (2018). We asked her some questions pertaining to her trip to find out what part she enjoyed the most and her some tips on travel and gear.

What made you decide to go here?
I've always seen pictures of the scenery and fell in love with the mountains. A friend of mine approached me over the summer saying they were planning to go for a few weeks in February and I asked if I wanted to join. It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up.