Berghaus Extrem: MTN Seeker GTX Jacket and MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket

Berghaus have returned to the high end mountaineering market with a bang over the couple of seasons. Once upon a time the Berghaus Extreme range was synonymous with top end mountaineering kit. My first GoreTex jacket was a black, red and yellow Berghaus Trango Extreme purchased with a generous staff discount whilst working for Ellis Brighams in the early 90s. That jacket accompanied me to the top of Mt Blanc and the Eiger as well as numerous Scottish winter routes. It was built like a tank and only got retired after about 4 years when all the seam tape started to peel off and even then it had a second life as my wife’s ‘allotment jacket’ for many years!

The re-launch of Berghaus Extreme has seen a raft of new garments re-asserting their position as a specialist manufacturer. There are three shell (waterproof) jackets in the new range:

• MTN Guide GTX Pro Jacket a top end heavyweight Gore-Tex Pro shell (not reviewed here)
• MTN Seeker GTX Jacket a high performance ‘value’ Gore-Tex Performance shell
• MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket a super light HYDROSHELL® ELITE 3L waterproof shell

We’ve not reviewed the MTN Guide GTX Pro Jacket here but it is clearly aimed at a similar market to the Rab Latok Extreme Gore-Tex Pro we reviewed over the winter, very feature rich with a price tag to match.

The MTN Seeker GTX Jacket is a performance orientated mountain jacket at a slightly lighter weight, very durable and built to accommodate winter layers and the abuse that winter climbing is likely to dish out at reasonable price. It’s the type of jacket that is likely to suite the majority of winter climbers.

The MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket is for me the truly special one in the Extreme range. It is the type of product that is rare to see from major manufacturers, highly specialised, well executed and not the type of jacket that is likely to be purchased for posing in Keswick Market Square! Anyway more about the MTN Guide Hyper LT later, let’s start with more conventional fayre.

MTN Seeker GTX Jacket

Constructed from 3 layer ‘Gore-Tex Performance’ (‘normal’ Gore-Tex for want of a better description) fabric and a minor step below Gore-Tex Pro with 90% bluesign® approved fabric content. The MTN Seeker GTX is a high performance jacket with decent environmental credentials manufactured inline with Berghaus B Corp status but without too hefty a price tag. Also worthy of mention is Berghaus now operate a ‘repairhaus‘ service for repairing equipment so if you are unlucky enough to damage your jacket you can easily get it repaired for free with a rapid turn around. The MTN Seeker is a no frills mountaineering jacket that will suit anyone looking for a good value, robust waterproof shell for alpine or Scottish winter missions. As Berghaus say:

” a mountaineering jacket that provides everything you need, and nothing you don’t.”

Although the fabric is nominally a step down from the top end Gore-Tex Pro, for most users (including myself) it is very difficult to tell the difference when in use. Gore-Tex pro is more breathable on paper (Gore-Tex Pro 3-Layer – 25,000 g/m²/24 hours), the micro grid baking is comfortable on the skin and you’re guaranteed a durable shell. However the Gore-Tex performance though less breathable (Gore-Tex Performance Shell 3-Layer – 17,000 g/m²/24 hours) is still built into a durable and comfortable face fabric and the reduced levels of breathability are probably only noticeable at the more extreme end of winter mountaineering activity, maybe racing another team to the start of a route or putting the hammer down heading up the skin track!
The MTN Seeker has a roomy, sensibly tailored cut perhaps not as sleek as some but I like the ease with which you can layer up beneath it without any binding between your mid-layer(s) and shell. I can actually fit a full on winter duvet like the recently reviewed Fjorm without too much difficulty beneath it! However it isn’t flappy or loose, I can look down and see my front points without obstruction. There’s plenty of room in the shoulders and together with the articulated sleeves this means no lifting or untucking of the hem when swinging axes above your head. Even though Berghaus tag the MTN Seeker as having ‘nothing you don’t [need]’ feature wise I actually think it could easily loose a pocket and even the pit zips, though the later are just a pet peeve of mine! You get two A line chest pockets, an extremely deep external chest Napoleon pocket on the left chest and an internal valuables pocket inside the right chest. All the pockets sit comfortably clear of a harness or pack belt. Loosing one of the chest pockets would save a bit of bulk, reduce double layering the Gore-Tex which limits breathability, save some weight and could reduce costs. So great as this jacket is it has the potential to be even better! Pit zips are a feature I would happily do without, I find them awkward to use with a pack on, slings trapped around your shoulders and wearing winter gloves, and for me they do little to regulate temperature – far easier to unzip the front of the jacket! I know others who are great fans and as it is not easy to buy a high end shell without them these days perhaps it’s just me. As you would expect from Berghaus the detailing is excellent, draw cords are tethered so they don’t whip you in the face (but a bit harder to ‘find’ with gloves on!), the cuffs are stepped to give a bit more protection to the back of the hand and the hood fits perfectly over a helmet. The hood is however a little on the large size without a helmet and I needed to cinch both the rear and side adjusters pretty much all the way to get it to stop flapping in the wind.

Overall the MTN Seeker is an excellent climbing hard shell, to call it entry level feels a bit of a misnomer, though this is how Berghaus have pitched it in their Extreme range. It is in reality a top notch mountain shell that will cope with anything you’re likely to throw at it. Unless you have some pressing need for all the pockets on the top end MTN Guide Gore-Tex Pro or feel that the extra breathability of Gore-Tex Pro is going to be crucial then the MTN Seeker is a better bet. It’s cheaper. It’s lighter. It’s more than durable enough. What more could you ask?

Pros

• Sensible cut for winter
• Good value
• Sensible and complete features.
• Workmanlike, nothing flash or exciting

Cons

• Hood a little floppy
• Nothing flash or exciting

SRP £320

Stockists

MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket

Products like the MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket always bring a smile to my face, doubly so when they come from a major manufacturer. The MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket confirms that Berghaus must be listening to its athletes as it is a jacket that an alpinist or climber will love but is not likely to appeal to the vast majority of the outdoor market and you’re unlikely to see many on parade down Keswick high street! In brief the MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket appears to be the mutant offspring of an ultra runner’s and an ultralight alpinist shell. It is ridiculously light, I had to confirm the weight as I thought it was a typo when the press release arrived!
First up this is not a Gore-Tex shell, Berghaus have used their own Hydroshell Elite® 3L. This is rated as having a Hydrostatic Head of 20,000mm and breathability MVTR 20,000g/m2/24, so certainly well up there with the fully rated waterproof shells. Design wise it takes the minimalist ethos to the extreme. There are no draw cords. Cuffs, hem and hood have slight elasticity and nothing else. There is one small internal pocket – perhaps suitable for a key an energy bar but little else – I used it to store the mini stuff sac – this is not a jacket that you would use in the expectation of storing stuff in its pockets. The jacket comes supplied with a neat stuff sack that allows you to clip it to your harness or give it a bit of protection in your sac.

The cut of the MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket is almost the polar opposite of the MTN Seeker GTX Jacket, being close cut with little room to spare, base layer and a summer mid layer are fine but if you expect to need anything beyond that then it’s likely you’ll want to size up. I have both jackets in a size small and the MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket will fit base layer, R100 type fleece and a lightly insulated gillet at most. Why get the MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket instead of one of the many ultralight running shells? Well firstly it has a hood that fits over a helmet which is pretty much essential for climbers, this is a scarce feature in ultralight jackets. Secondly the fabric although firmly in the ultralight category is not ’tissue paper’ and though I’d not want to thrutch up a granite off-width in it it is not going to dissolve on first contact with the rock. However this is ultralight kit and will not put up with regular abuse on the rock. The MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket’s niche is as a take along just incase jacket or to bail you out if you’re a bit slow (route finding errors anyone? 😉 ) and you get caught by those typical summer mountain afternoon storms. A case in point this summer Rob and myself set off to do ‘Into the Wild’ on Mt Oreb 350m fully equipped knowing that storms were forecast around 5pm. Unfortunately the storm arrived at 11am turning the groove we were in into a waterfall. We both had jackets (I had the MTN Guide Hyper LT) and we retreated along with two other teams who had no jackets and they were beginning to struggle even though the air temperature was not that cold.

Once down the skies cleared, rock dried and we got back on and did the route – the other teams bailed. Having a light jacket that is a no brainer might save your day’s climbing or in the extreme save your life. On our belay doing the ‘rap line shuffle’ a couple of the colder folk were struggling with clipping and unclipping because of the shivers and if they’d been out any longer (say a couple of pitches higher) then add in some cognitive impairment and things could have turned unpleasant!

Is the MTN Guide Hyper LT Jacket perfect? Not quite. The jacket is also quite short which is good for weight and mobility but does not easily stay tucked into the harness. Obviously the fabric has its limitations in regard to abrasion and you shouldn’t be expecting it to last forever. Design wise I think the ultra minimalist take is spot on and it is great to see a major manufacturer producing such focussed specialist kit. There are limitations though. You can’t fully seal the cuffs or hood as you would be able to with a draw cord which is not a massive deal and the elastic does a decent job of keeping the rain out. My take on this is that the MTN Guid Hyper LT is not meant for sustained wear in foul weather. It is meant to bail you out or get you down in relative comfort while not weighing you down in the process. It is the jacket you’ll not have to think twice about bringing along, stuff it inside your approach shoes before you clip them to your harness and you won’t even know it’s there till you need it. If you are a more muscular or larger build it would be as well to try before you buy as the cut is definitely on the athletic side of slim.

Pros

• Ultra light and compact
• Laser focussed design.
• No extraneous features
• You’ll never be without a waterproof on a climb again!

Cons

• Likely limited lifespan (Some users may have unrealistic durability expectations!)
• Slim cut not for everyone
• Can untuck from harness

SRP £250

Stockists

Disclaimer – CGR reviewers are never paid to provide a review and the website does not take advertising. We are a bunch of keen climbers and outdoor enthusiasts that accept sample products and offer an honest and independent review of the item. The reviewer will often keep the sample after reviewing it for both hygiene reasons and more often they’re in no fit state to return!