ProView – TREW Gear Stella Jacket PRIMO & Chariot Bib PRIMO Review

I live and work at Crystal Mountain ski area in Washington State, so I got to put the TREW Women’s Stella Jacket PRIMO and Chariot Bib PRIMO through their paces with near-daily use in the resort and the backcounty. While the lackluster winter season we’ve had so far meant I wasn’t doing quite as much skiing as I normally do, I still got a good feel for what this TREW kit has to offer. If you’re looking for a “do everything” kit for mostly inbounds skiing with some touring, look no further (unless you have long arms, then shop carefully). 

This is my 11th season living and working at Crystal Mountain, WA. I’m privileged to ski a lot, both in the resort and in the backcountry of my beautiful backyard. However, if you’ve been watching Pacific Northwest weather, you know that this winter has been… rough. A December atmospheric river washed away snow and roads. Then, a glorious cold storm hit at the end of December, and we reveled in bottomless powder, before a stubborn high-pressure system arrived to taunt us with sunshine and a melting snowpack. That said, I made the best of my time with the TREW kit, wearing it daily at Crystal Mountain both in the resort and in the backcountry.

In the resort, I wore it for high-intensity powder laps and hiking, frigid cold, a bit of rain, and a whole bunch of sunny piste cruising and rock dodging. In the backcountry, I toured on storm days, sunny cold powder days, and hunts for preserved powder in the shade. Overall, my impression of the kit is that it is robustly built and thoughtfully laid out, with one unfortunate sizing issue and a couple of suggestions I think could really set this kit apart.

Fit/Comfort

First, I have to sing the praises of TREW’s sizing tool. Their bib size chart includes chest, waist, seat, AND thigh(!!!), which every single brand should do. The jacket size chart includes chest, seat, and sleeve. Trew’s sizing tool told me to get the Stella Jacket in size L and the Chariot Bib in size XL (My stats: 40” chest, 31” waist, 43” seat, 26.5” thighs, 32” inseam, 30” sleeve.) On first try-on, I 100% agreed with their assessment, until moving around on the mountain revealed an unfortunate discrepancy between the rest of my stats and sleeve length, which I’ll get into below.

Jacket

The interior is softly brushed, not at all plasticky. The hood design is the best I’ve ever used, protecting you from the elements while also preserving your peripheral vision and range of motion. Unfortunately, the deal breaker for me turned out to be the sleeve length. My 30” sleeve measurement seems well within the size chart (34” for size L), but on my first stormy tour, I reached for my toe pieces and two inches of wrist popped out. Even with over-the-cuff gloves, the sleeves would work their way out from under the gauntlet when I moved with outstretched arms.

Bibs

TREW designs for thighs! I was instantly exhilarated by my unencumbered range of motion. I even had plenty of space for my insulated shorts as a midlayer on a particularly arctic day in December. When wearing these bibs, I don’t think about them at all, which is exactly the goal. One small drawback of these girthy pant legs was that a few times they ended up stuck on my alpine ski bindings, either under my boot when I clicked in, or wrapped awkwardly around a Look Pivot heel piece (which are, to be fair, exceptionally upright). But if that is the price I must pay for effortless movement, take my money.

Look/Style

For context, my favorite kit is bright orange and yellow, so a blue and purple kit felt drab. However, I got quite a few compliments on this kit, so it’s obviously a winner. Let’s all agree to wear what makes us feel cool.

Features

Jacket

There is a pocket everywhere I want one, plus a couple I barely used. The two chest pockets are big enough for a phone, flat snacks, or a squeezy water bottle, depending on how you like to carry your essentials. I thought I would use the interior stuff pockets more for touring, but I continued to shove skins willy-nilly into my jacket like I normally do.

The left sleeve has a card pocket near the wrist, which makes getting through resort RFID scanners super easy. The neck of the jacket stands up easily on its own, with a bit of fleece right where your face touches for extra comfort. The velcro wrist closures feel burly and secure. The main zipper is your standard one-way zipper. There were a couple of times on high-output powder days that I desperately wished for some sort of chest vent, but alas I committed to being a sweaty mess in the pursuit of fresh tracks. The pit zips felt reasonably long when I messed with them inside, but I had trouble grabbing them on the go while wearing a pack. 

Bibs

Pockets pockets everywhere AND a bunch of sewn-in transceiver clips!? You get FOUR options for clipping your beacon. Incredible. Something I’d also never seen before was a velcro cargo pocket on top of a zippered waterproof pocket on the thighs.  I wasn’t sure what I’d use them for but quickly realized they were great for quick-stashing gloves and stowing snack trash, so I didn’t have to worry about accidentally littering wrappers while digging around in my zippered snack pocket.

Speaking of zippers, it’s been a long time since I’ve had vents on both outer AND inner thigh and my goodness, the ventilation is divine. And now what you’ve all been waiting for: bathroom talk. The bibs have a generous horizontal butt zip if you’re sitting on a toilet or squatting in the snow. That said, when I’m out skiing I really prefer to pee standing up. The front zipper on the bibs is your standard one-way zipper and is just barely long enough for me to get my pee funnel situated. It takes a little pre-planning, though: you have to unsnap the snap at the top of the bibs and only zip the zipper up partway so that it’s possible to grab by reaching up under your jacket when nature calls. Otherwise, you have to unzip your shell and midlayers to get to it, which is a bit of exposure to the elements that I’m trying to avoid by opting to stand-pee in the first place. On behalf of the stand-to-pee ladies of the snow world: please, Trew, add a double zipper to these otherwise excellent bibs.

Function/Performance

In both the jacket and bibs, I felt warm, dry, and protected. The jacket is not the most breathable one I own, which I really only missed while touring. As a resort piece, it’s excellent. The bibs felt amazing, no notes.

Durability/Construction

Jacket

TREW’s PNW Primo 3L fabric material feels rugged and like it will hold up to abuse. After a month of heavy use, I haven’t noticed any wear on the shoulders, which is typically where I see it first because of how often I wear a pack. The zippers are all moving smoothly, and the velcro hasn’t started peeling off.

Bibs

The material is the same as the jacket and exhibits similarly little wear, even on the inner ankle cuffs where ski edges get a little slicy sometimes. The bib straps and buckles are also quite burly and feel like they will hold up to a lot of use. The only issue I noticed was that within a few days, the velcro of the cargo pocket had started to detach. It seems like an easy fix and something TREW would happily warranty.

Friendliness to Society and the Earth

Both the Stella jacket and bibs are made from Trew’s “PNW Primo 3L Fabric,” which is Bluesign Certified, 100% Recycled Nylon, and PFAS free (see this very informative article on PFAS and gear performance on their website.

TREW is upfront about the company’s belief in and support of human rights, the environment, and representation in their industry. Their Values page breaks down those commitments, in addition to their stated goal of durable, repairable, and upcyclable gear. Their “Afterlife” program accepts used TREW gear in exchange for a shopping discount on repaired and lightly used gear, plus a section where creators use old TREW materials for upcycled accessories. Neat!

Their website models are noticeably and refreshingly non-homogeneous. TREW appears to be making a sincere effort to represent different shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. The final green flag I’ll mention is that Trew makes legit plus-sized outerwear, with the exact same materials and features as “straight” sizing. We love to see it.

The Final Word

The TREW Stella jacket PRIMO and Chariot bib PRIMO are an excellent “one kit to rule them all” for resort riders who also want to explore the backcountry. As a company, TREW seems to care about its athletes, its community, and our planet, so you can feel good about supporting them. The jacket and bibs are well featured and durably constructed, with just a couple design and fit tweaks that I think would make it a perfect kit.

---

Shop TREW Gear on Outdoor Prolink. Not a member? Apply today!
See other TREW Gear reviews