Peak Performance Elevate Hood Jacket review: sustainable design meets Scandi cool

If you literally call your brand Peak Performance and set your prices high, your kit had better cut the mustard in the great outdoors. Fortunately, the Swedish brand warrant both name and cost. Peak Performance was founded in 1986, following a ski lift conversation between two passionate skiers about the dearth of functional yet attractive snowsport wear. From its charming base in the town of Åre, northern Sweden, the brand soon developed a solid reputation for superb outdoor gear.

These days, Peak Performance is owned by Finnish multinational Amer Sports, whose roster includes Arc’teryx and Salomon. Its Elevate Hood Jacket is a synthetic puffer that has garnered praise aplenty and won an ISPO award for its sustainable design, particularly in terms of its repairability. This is a key quality in a world where implementing a circular economy is of paramount importance in the fight against climate change.

As a jacket designed for ‘on- and off-mountain needs’, I was delighted to receive a sample to test through fall 2024.

First impressions

First of all, I’m wasn't initially a big fan of the Sand Fog colorway I tested. I thought that it made me look somewhere between a walking Mini Milk or like I’d just wandered off the set of a music video. It’s a little bit Paris Fashion Week, a little bit bling. I can also imagine it looking dirty after prolonged use in the mountains. Perhaps Gorpcore aficionados would love it, but it’s not really my style. The Hydro Fresh and Pine Needle options also look a little bit shiny for my liking.

However, it did grow on me a little during the test period and I immediately loved the soft feel and the cozy warmth the jacket provides. There's lots of nice little touches too, such as a spare patch of fabric for potential repairs in the interior pocket and subtle logo detailing on the cuffs, shoulder and hanging loop. So, had I been wearing the Black or Blue Shadow colorways, I’m sure it'd have been love at first wear.

A sustainable, repairable design

The Elevate won an IPSO Award in 2024, with the jury pointing out that ‘many measures have been implemented in this jacket that lead to better sustainability. In particular, the improved repairability is important to extend the life of the product’. To create the jacket, Peak Performance focussed on mono-materiality: the shell, lining and fill are all made from 100% recycled polyester, making up 97% of the overall jacket.

This not only makes it easier to repair, but it also makes it easier to recycle at the end of its life. This kind of mono-materiality is something you can expect to see increasingly in outdoor gear from sustainably minded brands. The components that don’t fall into this 97% – zippers, elasticated cuffs, elasticated material in the hood – are designed to be easily removed, thus assisting the end of life recycling process.

The Elevate’s creators were also guided by the goal of reducing fabric waste in the initial production, which they achieved with an innovative pattern design, arrived at after two years of development. Fabric waste in the outdoor industry usually sits at around 80% – this means 1/5 of material used in production never sees the light of day. With the Elevate, Peak Performance achieved a marker efficiency of 90%, substantially better than the industry average. These efforts are reflected in the jacket’s eye-catching baffle design.

Not only are the fabrics repairable and warm, they’re designed to do a decent job against wind and rain too, with what Peak Performs calls ‘medium protection’. The outer is a durable ripstop, so can put up with plenty of abuse – though not as much as a hardshell jacket. Meanwhile, a bonus of its synthetic sheet insulation is that it retains its insulating quality when wet, unlike many down jackets.

As we’ve come to expect from an insulated jacket, it’s treated with a DWR finish. DWR acts like a forcefield, protecting the jacket against rain and making water bead on the surface. This preserves the fabric’s breathability, as well as its insulating qualities. However, just like in the movies, a forcefield eventually weakens under sustained attack, so this shield doesn’t last forever. Fortunately, it can be reapplied with technical detergents, such as those from Nikwax.

Features

The Elevate is beautiful in its simplicity, a by-product of its fuss-free, mono-materiality design. There’s not a lot here that you don’t need, though those who like a few bells and whistles may be disappointed. The hood is helmet compatible but unlike some only features one-way adjustment via a draw cord. There’s no stiffened peak here either to keep rain out of the wearer's face.

The elasticated drawcord hem has two adjustment points on either side that are easy to manipulate. Fuss-free vibes continue at the cuffs, which are subtly elasticated to fit over hiking gloves and the like. The back of the jacket features an off-center fabric hanging loop.

In terms of storage, you get two cozy, zippered handwarmer pockets and two internal fabric pockets that are open, so not particularly secure. All the zippers, including the front one, feature fabric pulls for ease of use in when wearing hiking gloves.

Peak Performance members get an extended warranty of five years. As with brands like Rab and Patagonia, Peak Performance also have a platform, Wear Agains, for selling your unwanted gear and buying preowned, repaired gear, which is bonus when it comes to the jacket's end of life.

On the trails

I tested the Elevate Hoody on winter walks in South Wales’ Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park, as well as wearing it for everyday adventures, such as for walks in the local park and visits to Christmas markets. It was my best friend during a week-long bitterly cold snap towards the end of the year, which saw me heading to the hills with glee.

I like the non-complicated, fuss-free design of the Elevate. It does everything it needs to and there’s nothing to get your head around. It’s heavier and less packable than many down products – jackets that provide a similar amount of insulation. However, such a comparison feels churlish when you consider that no animals have been exploited here. Then there's the fact that the design is making strides towards the kind of circular economy all brands need to be striving towards. At no point during my winter adventures did I think ‘Golly! I wish I was wearing down right now.’ This is a warm and capable jacket.

It's also supremely comfortable. The feel of its fabrics is gorgeous and I can think of few puffers that are this pleasant to wear. There are no issues in terms of freedom of movement, and its helmet-compatibility makes it a decent shout for more technical climbing and mountaineering adventure, where it could be used as a mid-layer. In the right color, I’d also happily wear it for post-hike bevvies or après ski shenanigans.

My hikes took into sub zero environments and the Elevate kept me warm throughout. Its wind repelling qualities were obvious from the get go, batting away gusts with ease. I was lucky enough to avoid the rain during my walks in the national park, though I faced a fair amount of precipitation while wearing it during everyday adventures. As expected, it deals with showers well, though isn't a substitute for a waterproof jacket in sustained rain.