Mountain Hardwear Up First Tech Fleece Hoody Review

When we first saw the Up First Hoody in the new Mountain Hardwear Fall catalog, we were immediately intrigued. A lightweight mid-layer that includes a hood, thumb loops AND a neck gaiter? That had to be tested! 

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Where We Tested the Up First Hoody?

We have taken it on a backpacking trip to Middle Palisade, several day hikes in the High Sierra, including Bishop Pass and the Adamson Mine, and on a road trip around the West side of the Sierra Nevada to Yosemite and Sequoia Kings Canyon National Parks.

Whenever we test gear, we're not being very nice to it... The Mountain Hardwear Up First gets mercilessly stuffed into backpacks and pulled out from underneath bear cans and other gear, the sleeves scrape across Sierra granite on 3rd class routes, it's used as seat cushion, and more.

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Doing the tourist thing in Sequoia National Park on a 49-degree fall day - the Up First kept the cold temps away

What makes the Up First Hoody special?

This is a mid-layer with an athletic fit - meaning, it's a light fleece sweater that fits snugly. You can size up if you want a more casual fit, though.

It's perfectly suited for aerobic sports in 40 degree weather, be it climbing, biking, hiking or running. However, it doesn't necessarily look too technical, so you can also just wear it as a day-to-day sweater around town.

The body panels, hood and tops of the sleeves are made up of a light fleece fabric. It is abrasion-resistant on the outside, and a little fluffy on the inside, to keep you warm. The built-in neck warmer, side panels along the body, arm pits, underside of the arms and the cuffs are made up of a stretchy knit fabric in a mid-baselayer weight. On the chest it has a small zipper pocket that holds IDs, cards, chap stick and other small items.

Mountain Hardwear advertises the fleece as odor blocking, and we can confirm that so far, the stink has been limited, even when we didn't shower for several days.

All in all, the Mountain Hardwear Up First Hoody is extremely stretchy and moves with you, whatever you do.

The hood fits just right, not too snug, but snug enough to stay on your head in windy weather. The material is thin enough to allow you to wear a helmet on top of the hood. What's very nice is that the hood moves with you when you turn your head. You never turn your head and just look at a black hole.

Here's the special sauce: the neck warmer! It's long - long enough to pull it over your eyes if you wanted to! Obviously, we didn't do that, or we would have stumbled and fallen... It's actually very nice to have "spare" fabric on the neck warmer, because if it can bunch up a little, you don't get any chilly drafts down your neck. 

It’s easy to adjust the neck warmer, it can easily be worn up or stuffed down into the collar if you're feeling too warm. The collar is a continuation of the hood on the front side, and about 2 inches high.

Since it doesn't have zippers and only a tiny chest pocket, it is very light - at only 8 ounces, it is 1.4 oz. lighter than the hooded Patagonia R1 pullover.

Thanks to the thumb loops, this piece even fits a tall person with a positive ape index. Our owner is always complaining about sleeves being too short on almost everything, but there hasn't been any griping about the Up First Hoody!

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The Up First Tech Fleece Hoody is also available in the color Blackberry

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On the inside, the fleece is fluffy

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Do we use our sweaters as seat cushions? Perhaps...

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Durability

So far, it survived a bunch of 3rd class scrambling, countless stuffing into backpacks, many rounds in the washer, and a road trip and still looks as good as new. On one sleeve, a tiny thread started pulling, but that'll all the wear and tear there is. Not bad for getting treated poorly. 

The Pros

• Lightweight!
• Good-looking, you can wear this from the mountain to the brewery and anywhere in between.
• Versatile
• Can't forget your neck warmer and beanie anymore

The Cons

• Will more threads pull? Only time will tell

The Bottom Line

We can't wait for winter! The Up First Hoody will be amazing for sport climbing in the Owens River Gorge, ice skating in the Sierra Nevada, adventures in Death Valley and for those pesky cold days in the back office of the store. 

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If the Mountain Hardwear Up First Hoody has caught your attention, stop by the store to test them out or click here to see if we have your size in stock and get your own pair shipped today!

As always, don't hesitate to call us at store (760-873-7520) if you have questions about the right footwear for you!

(And if you need any gear to prepare for your own Eastern Sierra adventure, we got you covered with free shipping if you meet the criteria! All you have to do is join our email list and place your order of a certain amount with us online.)