Patagonia’s Freewall Kit—Can it Tour?

Patagonia launched a new climbing kit designed to serve the needs of climbers getting high off the ground in a multipitch environment. Driven by athletes such as Doerte Pietrom and Josh Wharton, the new Freewall Kit focuses on high-performance movement and on-route recovery. Back in October, The High Route had the chance to test the kit, and we’ve been curious about its applicability to tourers. While designed with multipitch climbing in mind, backcountry skiers and riders should take a look at a few of these new pieces.

(Note, it’s not uncommon for tourers to use pieces from a brand’s alpine/rock climbing lines, as they often emphasize efficiencies in movement, storage, function, and weight.)

The kit includes six new items. The Haulsmith Pack: a crag-style pack with on-route hauling in mind. A newly designed Houdini jacket, styled as the Houdini Rock Jacket, and the introduction of a Houdini Rock Pant. There’s a newly designed R1 Ultralight Hoody, and the new Freewall climbing pants. The Durable Down Parka completes the kit. While the Haulsmith Pack, Houdini Pants, and Freewall Pants fall squarely into a climbing category (read that as zero crossover with how we think of touring pieces), the Durable Down Parka, Houdini Rock Jacket, and R1 Ultralight have definitely caught our attention for potential integration into the winter touring kit.  

After months of testing this fall and winter, we have some thoughts. Let’s take a look.

A Puffy that’s Durable.

Of the three, the highlight piece is the Durable Down Parka. Designed for durability and mobility, it has held up to that mission in our testing. Patagonia says they’ve used material from their Workwear line for the outer shell, which has been surprisingly durable. The face fabric is an Ultra-PE ripstop, a fabric utilizing UHMWPE fibers. While I’ve used this extensively touring, cragging, and ice climbing, there’s not a single rip so far. And that’s not for a lack of trying. The inner lining is a softer, lighter material that reduces weight and bulk, making the parka dang comfortable. Two front hand pockets and two sewn-in drop-in pockets feel appropriate, but some may be let down by the lack of a chest pocket, if that’s something you like in your parkas. For climbers or ski mountaineers, the main zip is two-way for better harness access. As for warmth, the Durable Down has 800-fill-power down and feels as warm as the Patagonia Fitzroy Jacket, if not a touch warmer. (Jason, who runs cold, finds it very warm and agrees, it feels a bit warmer than the Fitzroy, and depending on hydration/calories to burn, close to the Alploft.) The durability does come at a bit of a weight cost, as the jacket weighs in at a modest 595g in the men’s and 507g in the women’s in size medium. Compared to the Fitzroy, which weighs 485g and 420g for men’s/women’s, respectively. I wouldn’t expect this layer to compete with some other ultra-lightweight insulative pieces, but that’s not what it’s designed for.

A well-designed, helmet-compatible hood (no adjustment cord) and the ability to stuff/store the jacket into the hand pocket for clipping to a harness or stashing in a pack, round out the relatively simple but purposely designed parka. 

For us, where this parka can fit into the winter touring kit is really in everyday/all-around use.  The jacket seems purpose-built to withstand abuse. Have no fear shoving the jacket into your pack at transitions—from what we’ve experienced, the face fabric holds up. So if you’re someone who seems to constantly be patching holes and having down feathers work their way out of your parka’s porous (read…paper-thin) face fabric, this is a great option for a do-it-all down jacket.   

Specs

Weight: 595g (Men’s M) and 507g (Women’s M)

Fill: 800 fill-power down

Basic features: Two-way zipper, two zipper hand pockets, and two large internal drop pockets.

Face Fabric: 1.9-oz 98% recycled nylon/2% recycled polyester Ultra-PE ripstop with a solvent-free acrylic coating and a durable water repellent (DWR) finish made without intentionally added PFAS.

Liner Fabric: Pertex® Quantum 0.8-oz 10-denier NetPlus® 100% postconsumer recycled nylon ripstop made from recycled fishing nets to help reduce ocean plastic pollution; with a DWR finish made without intentionally added PFAS

Price: $575.00

Iterating the R1

The R1 has a massive reputation in all things mountain, and recently Patagonia has introduced new iterations of the R1. The new R1 Ultralight feels a bit more true to the original R1, with a similar pullover design and fit, but with slightly different face material and features. The material feels slightly lighter, but the term Ultralight may be a bit of a misnomer, as it marginally beats out the original R1 in weight. There are two zippered chest pockets, vs one on the original, and it offers a very similar hood design. This is also an anorak design, which means the main zipper runs approximately ⅔ down the chest—it is not a full zip. The main fit difference is in the arms and shoulders, where the intention was to make the Ultralight more comfy, and they may have marginally achieved that. For those new to this piece, or its lineage, it is not the R1 Z-shaped pattern or the older grid-patterned R1 fleece. The face fabric is similar to older-school, more technical hoody fabrics, with a smooth/brushed feel. (Some of you might remember the brushed feel of the old-school Piton Hybrid Hoody?)

For us, this seems to be a slight improvement on the OG R1, but nothing revolutionary. If your old R1 is on its last legs or beyond that, these new R1 Ultralights may be worth checking out, but not something to go out of your way to replace anything that’s still working. So far, it’s been pretty dang comfortable, and we’ve got no complaints, and this is coming from a few R1 die-hards.

Specs

Weight: 280g

Fabric: 4.6-oz 100% recycled polyester flat-faced double knit.

Basic Features: Helmet-compatible hood, two zippered vertical chest pockets.

Price: $199.00

A New Houdini

Lastly, the new Houdini Rock Jacket rounds out the pieces we’re highlighting. This is an anorak-style pull-over version of the well-known Houdini Jacket. Think the Houdini Jacket we all know, but a pullover. We know that is a non-starter for some, but those who like pullovers, this is a pretty sweet wind jacket. Weighing in at 130g/120g men’s/women’s, respectively, it’s light but a bit heavier than the standard Houdini. The reason for the weight bump is the longer waist designed to sit a bit lower under a harness or pack waist strap to avoid any awkward bunching as jackets ride up, and to add a bit more waist/bum wind protection. It accomplishes both well, and we appreciated the design tweak there. The hood has been redesigned and seems to fit a bit better over a helmet, a drawback to the standard Houdini.

For us, this jacket is going to be great on high-output winter days, but will really shine in the spring. We can already imagine ripping perfectly ripened corn down a big Cascadian volcano, barehanded, wind in the hair, and nothing but a sun hoody and this new Houdini Rock Jacket on the top. Who doesn’t love spring skiing?

Specs

Weight: 130g

Fabric: .2-oz 100% recycled nylon ripstop with a durable water repellent (DWR) finish made without intentionally added PFAS.

Basic Features: Helmet-compatible hood (generous enough to fit over the helmet), single zippered chest pocket, cinch adjustments to adjust the hood and hem, and stuffs into a pocket and easily clipped to a carabiner.

Price: $199.00