Mountain Equipment Citadel Men's Jacket

Our iconic belay jacket. The Citadel Jacket is an incredibly warm and protective insulated jacket that will keep you going even in the most challenging conditions.

The Citadel is a contender for the warmest and most protective synthetically insulated jacket available today, a refuge from the most hostile conditions imaginable. Shaped by long Scottish winter climbing days where gale force winds, driving snow, high humidity and freezing temperatures are a standard, it’s an equally reliable choice for extended use in similarly challenging environments anywhere in the world. Whether climbing remote Norwegian ice in wet conditions or on a multi-day Alaskan test piece, even the best down jackets have their limits and that’s where the Citadel thrives.

Designed as an overlayer the Citadel can easily be thrown over your shell to provide instant warmth, wet or dry. With a slightly longer, ultra-protective cut it still maintains the mobility to second a steep pitch or continue moving across technical terrain as conditions deteriorate and darkness falls. Key to this is the Super Alpine HC Insulated Hood, this easily swallows a helmet and any other layers with substantial protection around your face. Easily adjusted it works just as well for climbing as it does when you’re trying to disappear inside the jacket, willing the rope to move upwards on an exposed belay.

Extensive testing has shown us that PrimaLoftⓇ Gold Hi-Loft Ultra insulation with Cross Core™ aerogel technology is the best synthetic fill currently available for this application. Highly thermally efficient, even when wet, fast drying and resilient in the face of constant packing and unpacking, it’s also softer and more comfortable than previous generations of synthetics. The WINDSTOPPERⓇ shell is totally windproof and exceptionally weatherproof, combined with the robust fill it means the Citadel gives you a much greater margin in situations where other comparable jackets may leave you vulnerable.