Last weekend, SnowMan hosted Snowgrrl at his fabulous winter retreat in lovely and luxurious Vail, Colorado.  This gave SnowGrrl the opportunity to mountain-test the NILS women’s ski apparel she’s been sporting in the city: the Melissa pants and the Mariska jacket.  We already know that the jacket is amazingly comfortable and sleek in the city.  Now, Snowgrrl can confirm that the jacket’s features make it the perfect apparel for an “ice princess” on the mountain.  A plethora of streamlined zippered pockets inside and outside the jacket, as well as two interior mesh pockets, allowed for ample room to store a phone, credit card, Larabar, an orange, and lip balm (with a few empty pockets to spare). The jacket’s stretchy cuff lining sealed the cold away from Snowgrrl’s delicate skin.  The jacket is cut slightly longer, which is perfect for tall women, and those who want a warm tush while riding up the ski lifts.  (Or, you can take Vail’s heated, wifi enabled Gondola One!)  The Mariska jacket kept Snowgrrl toasty warm on two sunny, bluebird days with temperatures in the low 30’s.

We have mentioned previously how NILS’ Melissa pant can be easily transformed from between a 33″ inseam to a 35″ long inseam.  Since Snowgrrl has recently parted ways with her tailor, the nail scissors came out and I set to work cutting the interior seam of the pants to lengthen them.  A few minutes later, they were long enough, and after a quick session with an iron, you can’t even tell they were not always a 35″ inseam suitable for us tall girls.  I wore these insulated pants without a base layer on the slopes, and they were completely warm and comfortable.  I even put my car key safely away in the zippered hip pocket.

In sum, snowgrrl now enthusiastically endorses both the Mariska jacket and the Melissa pant, which not only look great as street wear, but perform beautifully on the mountain as well.