If you believe the ski and snowboard brochures then you’d think only thin, white, young people ski and snowboard. But we know you’re more savvy than that, hey you may even be fatter, older or browner than the brochures.
We can certainly help you on the fatter front. Because we know first hand how hard it is to get a pair of ski or snowboard pants to fit a wider girth without the length being twice as long as your actual legs. Though, when wrestling with powder skirts and scuff cuffs, we still wish we were as thin as we were when we thought we were fat back in 2008.
Forget bikinis or sluggos, there’s nothing worse than trying to haul your oversized arse into a pair of ski pants made for a skiing stick, while in a dressing room the size of a matchbox with a swinging door that barely covers your torso. Just add fluorescent lighting and the fact you have to step out of the change room to find a mirror, usually on the other side of the shop.
Fear no more, dear readers. We’ve tracked down the Australian outerwear brands listed below, that dare to make clothing for men and women who don’t fit the current brochure molds and also boast tech fabric to keep you warm and dry. Want more? USA brands The North Face, Burton and Columbia also offer sizing up to XXL for women.
XTM Performance
This Australian outerwear brand offers world wide delivery and free shipping for Aussies. XTM are also the official base layer and gloves brand for Australian Winter Olympians, so you know their gear is hardy. But best of all they offer outerwear for women up to size 16 then plus sizing from 18 to 26. For men they go up to a 7XL.
ROJO Outerwear
Another home grown Aussie brand, ROJO Outerwear is based in Torquay in Victoria and offer sizing up to 26 for women and 8XL for men. No need to sacrifice fashion and tech for size either, these guys have it all covered.
Cartel Snow outerwear
Cartel Snow specialist in larger size snow clothing and are based in South Australia. Sizing for women runs from 6 to 26 and for men from 2XS to 6XL. Best news is they keep proportions appropriate for those that put on weight without putting on height.
PURE Brandz
PURE garments are 100% recyclable and 100% free of chemicals. Better yet, when you upgrade your old PURE gear you get 10% off your original purchase price and your returned gear is then donated to those in colder climates for a year. After the year they are taken back for recycling and replaced with the next batch of returned PURE apparel. Win win win.
PURE Snow apparel is highly technical and offers guaranteed protection against wind chill. But best of all, PURE Mountain, PURE Riderz and PURE Snow have sizes up to 4XL for men and up to size 20 for some.
Aldi ski gear
We can’t reveal the Aldi ski gear for 2019, yet, and it’s technically not an Aussie brand, but we do know that they make well priced outerwear that works for Australian skiers and boarders. They don’t do a lot of bigger sizes but they do go up to a size 16 for women and XXL for men.
