Patagonia R1 Hoody - Review

The R1 Hoody is perhaps one of my favourite pieces of outdoor clothing so after 18 months of use I’m going to offer my thoughts on it here. This is Patagonia’s run down of the product:

The minimalist R1® Hoody follows our guiding design principle: Perfection is achieved when there's nothing left to take away. Alpinists and backcountry skiers live in this finely tuned, versatile favorite that's made of Polartec® Power Dry® polyester with a high/low grid interior. The fabric provides enhanced breathability, superb compressibility and stretch, has a terrific feel, and remains durable and warm. Its design features the pared-down detailing that avid climbers and backcountry skiers need - from the deep-venting front zipper that's offset at the face, to wrist-warming thumb loops, to the snug-fitting balaclava-style hood. With raglan sleeves for pack-wearing comfort, an exterior chest pocket and low-grid stretch polyester at the cuffs and bottom hem for minimal bulk under a harness.

The first regulator garment that I bought was a R1 Flashpullover back in 2006, it’s a sort of cross between the R1 hoody and the pullover in the current line. It has the more sculpted and longer fit of the hoody and the lighter stretch fleece in the cuffs, round the lower torso and under the arms but lacks the thumb loops and hood. I don’t know the exact number but I wouldn’t be surprised if this top had seen more than 150 days use. It’s been used as a midlayer while skiing, a stretchy cragging top on cooler days, a super warm baselayer in really cold conditions and now my girlfriend occasional dons it as pyjames on cold nights! I’m a little disappointed that Patagonia has dropped this from their current line as I feel it’s a significant step up from the regular pullover because of the longer cut, and small features like the offset neck and zoned use of fabrics. I’m guessing their logic behind this is that the regular pullover, without those aforementioned features are cheaper to make and anybody who does desire them will buy the hoody and probably benefit from the hood and longer cut as well. In a perfect world I guess we’d have all three, but Patagonia can’t have an infinite range.

Cragging in Sqamish,BC in my Flash pullover.

After using and abusing the Flash for so long I decided that it was time to replace it with a hoody, and eventually about 18 months ago I managed to find the elusive item in Patagonia’s outlet shop in Salt Lake City, Utah. It soon became clear that this was indeed going to be an upgrade rather than a replacement for my old Flash pullover.

Let’s talk about the material first. It uses a high/low grid interior made of Polertec’s Power Dry supplemented my Capilene stretch panels on the waist to minimalize bulk under a harness and around the cuffs and thumb loops to have the same effect under gloves. Because of the grid design it is noticeably more breathable then other standard fleeces, it also means that it’s is comfortable to wear next to the skin in in moister conditions.

Sport climbing on a cool day in the Saas valley in Switzerland with the R1 Hoody.

The hood, there weren’t up until a few years ago a lot of hooded fleeces out on the market and Patagonia were ahead of their time with the original release of the R1 Hoody and when they brought it back I feel they were still ahead of the game as its only in the last few years that we’ve seen other companies start to copy the design with couple of examples being the Berghaus Smoulder Hoody and Rab’s Shadow Hoody. I also hear Mountain Hardwear has a similar piece in the pipeline which has been designed in conjunction with Ueli Steck. While the hood isn’t a replacement balaclava as it doesn’t cover the face entirely it gets pretty close to it. My routine at the bottom of a winter route is pull the hood up under my helmet as it keeps my head nice and warm and stops spindrift going down my back. The offset zipper means is comfortable to wear all the time as you have no zipper rubbing against your chin. The zipper itself its nice and deep, deeper than most pullover tops which allows for excellent venting and dumping of heat if it gets too hot.

Winter climbing on Aonach Mor with the Hoody as a midlayer.

This is a climbing garment so it is perhaps prudent to mention that the combination of the stretch properties of the fabric and superb cut mean that his garment doesn’t restrict movement at all. Mine is a snug size small and I still don’t feel restricted all, even when using it as a midlayer. It’s also comfortable to wear having flat lock seams which are cleverly positioned away from areas where they might rub or chafe. Predominantly this is a winter climbing top for me, check out my article here to see what I wear in conjunction with.

The workmanship, being Patagonia is second to none. This top has probably seen 50 days of use, having climbed 35 routes in the UK last winter, and seen two summers in the Alps and has little wear to show for it apart from a little balling of the fabric, and to be honest I expected this. My Flash pullover which is now 6-7 years old and has been my go to cragging to top for the last few is still wearable now despite the fabric being quite heavily balled and two small holes appearing in the chest – I’ve certainly had my money’s worth though.

Belaying on Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis with the hood up under a helmet.

Yes, £120 is a lot for a fleece. But you not just getting a fleece, your getting a super versatile piece of clothing that will probably last you for quite a long time. If you don’t have one, and you do any winter or alpine climbing I cans seriously recommend them and guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.

Gimmer Crag

The day after our evening at the Kendal Film Festival we decided yo head out in the Lakes to try and get a final bit mountain route in before everything takes on its winter guise. We arrived in the Old Dungeon Ghyll and sorted gear, I was climbing with Bec and Joe and Andy were climbing together. It was cold but reasonably dry so we decided to head up to Gimmer.

Sorting gear in the ODG car park.

Bec and myself did Asterisk VS 4b which I led. Its a superb long pitch climbing the full height of the lower North West face on steep, just off vertical terrain but where good holds, or good gear is never that far away. In character its very similar to its neighbouring route North West Arete if a little easier perhaps. I topped out on Ash Tree ledge and brought Bec up and we had a bite to eat and warmed our hands before she set off up the first pitch 'D' Route S+ ***.

Andy on Ash Tree Ledge.

I'd wanted to do either F Route or Kipling Groove however both were green and damp so I guess it will be summer before I come back to get them. I've done D Route before but once again it didn't fail to dissapoint, being high on the face of Gimmer and steep for the grade. Bec belayed at the block belay, after having a little moment on the crux and then I came up and led on through to the top.

Bec leading high on Gimmer in the evening sun.

We abseiled on the chain at the top back down to Ash Tree Ledge, and then off the ledge back down the North West Face to our sacks, starting the walk out just as we were loosing the light. A few pints in the ODG and we headed back to Lancaster. Joe and Andy did Ash Tree Slabs VD and seemed to have a good time on that.

The Moonflower

Friday evening, Bec and myself along with a few other friends from Lancaster took the train up to Kendal to catch the premier of The Moonflower new film from Posing Productions. Jon Bracey and Matt Helliker were there, along with Alastair Lee who introduced the film. It chronicles there ascent of a new route on the North Buttress of Mt. Hunter in the Alaska Range. which they named the Cartwright Connection in honour of Jules Cartwright, a British Mountain Guide who tragically died while guiding the Piz Badile a few years ago.You can see the trailer below:

Cartwright originally envisaged the line as a companion to his route The Knowledge ED4 on the same buttress, which he climbed with Ian Parnell in 2000, although feeling that the climbing on this new line may be of a more sustained nature. In may of this year Jon Bracey and Matt Helliker set out to complete this line, which they did.

The Cartwright Connection, Alaskan
 Grade 6: 5.8 A2 AI6 M6, 2000m 

I won't ruin much of the story now as I think its best saved for when you watch the film, which I think it great. The lack of footage of a lot of the actual climbing, and the quality of the camera work done by the climbers could be criticised but I think this gives a real raw look at what climbing a bit alpine route it like. I think Alastair Lee might of been a little short on footage to work with as I'm pretty sure I saw some of winter climbing on the Ben at one point that he'd subtly woven in! On the other hand, some of the aerial footage and time-lapse photography that accompany that taken by the climbers is very impressive.


Bracey and Helliker climbed the route in a clean but slow style, carrying a portaledge and plenty of food. It will be interesting to see however in the coming future if this route has the potential to be climbed fast and light in a single push style as some of the route on Hunter, and many of the other big mixed test pieces in the Alaska range already have.


So, an excellent achievement for the alpinisits and a great film. I highly recccomend buying the DVD or downloading it from posing productions here. It's certainly solidified by ambition for a trip to Alaska.

Quayfoot Buttress and Raven Crag

Last weekend was Lancaster University Mountaineering Club's freshers weekend in the Lake District so as a alumni member I headed along with a few other expats to give them a few extra leaders for the weekend. The forecast was poor for Saturday, wet and windy for most of the day so I decided on an easy route reletively close to the car. Most people were heading to Borrowdale so we decided on Quayfoot Buttress VD on the crag of the same name.

Leading the first pitch of Quayfoot Buttress.

I was climbing with Martin and Dominic both who had done a little indoor climbing before but never climbed outside. The route was very wet and it showered on us while we were on the rock. The route was also very dirty and slimy have a lot of dirt washed down onto it. I think perhaps it would deserve its classic reputation if done on a sunny warm midsummer day but in the depths of autumn it certainly did not.

Bec at a cold Raven Crag.

Sunday the forecast was a little more promising so we headed to Raven Crag in Langdale where I repeated Original Route S with Bec and Martin before doing Centipede S 4a which I haven't done before with Richard and Martin. Centipede was a lovely route for the grade. Unfortunately in my rush to get down to the Old Dungeon Ghyll for a pint I completely forgot to disassemble my belay at the top and only realised this while taking my first sips of the aforementioned pint. A run in the dark back up to the top of the crag inevitably followed...