L1 Premium Goods Axial Review

Barricading yourself against the elements is essential for powder hounding at the hill — but doing so with a flare of style is a tougher win. Both are achieved with the L1 Premium Goods Axial Jacket, for men and women, which boasts a memorable edge while blocking day-long precipitation.

The most memorable compliment I received was from a random passerby as I walked a few blocks midday to the base of Lift 8 in Telluride: “Gorgeous kit — I just love it. It’s been nice seeing you around the hill!” We didn’t know each other, but the aesthetic brought a smile to her face. The day prior, a lift operator drilled me with questions about my “really cool kit” every time I went by — not that he necessarily cared about the design’s intended gender, but I let him know it was unisex.

L1 Premium Goods launched with snowboard outerwear more than 2 decades ago, circa 2002. The steadfast brand recently debuted a classic, looser-fitting, and genderless collection, including the Axial kit, in 2022. After seeing this jacket-and-pant combo in action, I was excited to put it to the test. I usually prefer to wear women’s specific snowboard jackets, but this one is unisex, and it hit that mark.

In short: The L1 Premium Goods Axial ($430) is a unisex snowboard jacket with a fairly long, baggy, freeride fit that allows bulk-free movement through various terrain and the terrain park. The technical, dense, and weatherproof fabric is topped off with a unique front zipper design: the center opener is parallel to two shorter, vertically stacked zippers that enter a chest pocket while the other widens the collar for ventilation.

I appreciate the soft interior chin guard, detachable goggle cloth, underarm vents, and helmet-compatible hood. This piece quickly entered my favorites list for resort laps, and it’s stylish for guys and gals alike. I tested this jacket alongside the matching Axial Pant: check out the review.

Read the full review or hop over to the Best Snowboard Jackets buyer’s guide.

L1 Premium Goods Axial Jacket Review

Led by pro snowboarder and designer Jon Kooley, L1 Premium Goods is a sister brand held by Foundry Distribution, which houses Nitro Snowboards alongside Eivy Base Layers, Autumn Headwear, and Corduroy beanies.

I first rode with this non-insulated resort kit — the Axial Jacket and Pants — at Crested Butte Mountain Resort in spring 2024, covering 7 days on the hill. With the kick-off of the 2024-2025 season, I continued to test the fit for another 7 days at CBMR and Telluride Ski Resort. I snagged a set in the Haze — a lovely light lavender color — and found that the fit runs true to size.

While lapping these resorts, I logged more than 53 hours, 322 miles, and 100,474 vertical feet in this outerwear. Those numbers exclude après, walking to the bus stop, and catching the bus to and from the mountain.

Weather Barricading Fabric & Underarm Vents

When I first pulled on this jacket, I noticed the weight — it’s not light, and the traditional denser feel of the three-layer fabric is a welcomed option alongside other fabrics that continue to shed grams. Density often comes down to personal preference, but there can be something reassuring about the sense of protection. And while the fabric isn’t buttery, it feels relatively smooth compared to crunchier options.

Throughout my field testing, the weather ranged from freezing to very frigid temps with windchill and a couple of 0- to 10-degree days. I finally caught two full powder days, too, with consistent, fluffy snowfall.

One day in Telluride, we experienced a bizarre mist that coated everyone’s goggles and outerwear with a thin sheet of ice for several hours. Fortunately, the Axial jacket performed better than what my homies were wearing and resisted absorbing the heavy moisture or becoming a pure ice sheet. This also allowed me to pull on a totally dry jacket after we grabbed lunch to warm up.

That’s because the fabric has a pretty high degree of waterproofness and breathability — at 20K/20K — plus PFC-free DWR. For extra kudos, the outer shell is made with 87% recycled polyester: impressive. All of the seams and stitchwork are heat-sealed with water-repellent tape, too.

In addition to providing a solid barricade against weather, I love the multidirectional stretch and mobility of this fabric. My upper back, shoulders, and arms never felt restricted while clipping in or weaving moguls, trees, and hopping off drops on powder days.

If I was working up heat, the underarm vents were roomy and easy to open up. That said, I would not prefer to wear this snowboard jacket in the backcountry, due to the weight and cut; I’d opt for a lighter, more breathable, more athletic-shaped jacket.

Many days, I could wear a warm, medium-weight base layer beneath this jacket. But on colder days, I also opted for a fleece midlayer, which was easy to layer beneath the jacket.

Front Zippers & Collar

One of the most unique details that differentiates the Axial Jacket is the front zipper — I’ve tested a lot of ski and snowboard jackets. Never have I seen a zipper setup like this.

I still remember the first time I saw a gal wearing this jacket at Utah’s Snowbasin Resort. “What’s going on here?” I thought. While the jacket’s face is eye-catching, it’s also functional.

Off-centered and slightly to the right is the primary zipper: a burly two-way zipper with a pull that’s relatively wide and easy to grab. With high water resistance, I never had issues with moisture leaking in.

Slightly off-centered to the left are two shorter zippers that are vertically stacked. The higher-placed zip splays the collar open with a mesh panel for ventilation. The lower zipper opens to a chest pocket.

Inside, the collar delivers a tall, soft, generous chin guard that runs 9 inches across the front. I love comfortable jacket necks that help keep my face protected, especially from the cold temps and harsh wind that often moves through CBMR.

Pockets

The Axial Jacket offers up five pockets. The two hand pockets are extremely spacious, and they can easily swallow a large phone or a beanie for the end of the day, without feeling stuffy. I tended to use these pockets the most due to the ease of space and security of the zipper.

Up top, the chest pocket is much smaller. I found it was a good spot to place a snack bar. But there is a port for threading headphones, followed by an elastic loop near the jacket collar, so you can use the pouch as a media pocket, which is nice, because it has an external entrance.

I appreciate that the discrete pass pocket is on the underside of the left forearm, so that the pass (or my ID or credit card) don’t get stuck in the crook of my elbow.

There’s also an interior mesh drop-in goggle pocket on the right side.

Inside the pockets are additional accents: a key clip and detachable goggle cloth, which comes in handy.

Fit & Hood

The freeride fit provides just enough roominess without feeling overly baggy. There’s solid length on the arms and torso, which you’ll appreciate when using your upper body through tight trees, mogul fields, the terrain park, snagging grabs, or to dial in the binders.

That extra length around the torso is great, perhaps especially because the kit has snowboard pants versus bibs. The length reaches a couple of inches below my backside when I stand upright!

I appreciate the wide, tapered Velcro cuffs and that the circumference can layer over the top of ski glove gauntlets rather easily. While the stretchy wrist gaiters have a moderate thickness, they also have thumbholes, and the fabric didn’t feel cumbersome when my hands weren’t inserted.

The hood does fit over a ski helmet, and I can turn my head with relative ease while the hood is zipped up. There’s also a reinforced brim, which I appreciate, to help keep precipitation from dripping onto my face and goggles. That said, the hood doesn’t extend to the very front of the helmet — other jackets do a better job with helmet fit — so here’s another reason why the fabric’s stretch comes in handy.

Critiques

As mentioned, the hood doesn’t extend all the way to the brim of the ski helmet when it’s zipped up. This is a hard detail for most brands to nail, I’ve found, especially because we also don’t want a hood so big that it’s parachuting behind us.

But the biggest critique I have: The chest pocket is not big enough for a large phone. I could barely fit my previous large phone and had to remove my gloves to shove it in. With a newer, minimally larger phone this season, there’s no way it’ll fit in the chest pocket. So, I can’t take advantage of the media outlet.

Even more annoying is that the placement of the hand pocket (where my phone lives) sits on the crease of my hips when I bend over: Every time I strap and unstrap my bindings, I need to pull the jacket pocket to the side, otherwise it’s uncomfortable bending around my phone. (I’m not just trying to look gangster.)

This isn’t an issue everyone will have, especially because many folks will be carrying a smaller device, and everyone’s body shapes and sizes differ. But it’s one worth noting.

After 14 days of field tests, the lavender color — though beautiful — is starting to look dirty, so a lighter color might require more general maintenance to stay looking fresh.

Also, a tiny hole has appeared on the jacket’s left side, beneath the seam of the underarm vent, where the vertical tape extends downward. That’s a strange spot to get a snag, and I haven’t been riding through glades much this season, yet.

I would try to push the brand to cover this issue under the original manufacturer’s warranty, given the tear is along the edge of the heat-sealed water-repellent tape. But, there’s no guarantee it would be covered.

While the powder skirt is nicely integrated, and I can hardly tell it’s there, it’s fixed, which some riders might not prefer.

Conclusion

Made for snowboarders by snowboarders, the L1 Premium Goods Axial Jacket looks good. Even more so, this jacket is made with fabric that blocks wind, snow, and rain on bell-to-bell stormy powder days. While the textile feels like it has a moderate weight, it dishes out a four-way stretch and doesn’t hinder movement, whether you’re freestyling or strapping in.

I really appreciate the variety of pockets, burly zippers, helmet compatible hood, and the attention to details. For instance, shock cords inside the hand pockets that let you cinch up the jacket hem, and another shock cord on the back of the hood. Additions like the detachable goggle cloth and far-reaching chin guard are highly appreciated for long days at the resort.

As a season-long and lifelong rider, the Axial Jacket has quickly made my shortlist of pieces that I enjoy wearing at the resort regardless of the weather conditions.